state and local government

Rick Scott’s (MPA ’12) journey into public service was inspired by the events of September 11, 2001. “I just remember feeling like I wanted to do something,” he recalls of his high school senior year. This feeling led him to an ROTC scholarship,...

Sociologist Jessica Gillooly (PhD ’20) has used her deep knowledge of call taking and dispatching, along with some compelling new theoretical ideas, to become one of the leading experts on this issue. Her expertise is helping inform and shape the...

You can’t get good government without good oversight.” That quote from U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) is a touchstone for the work of Ben Eikey (MPP ’19) and that of the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, where he serves as a manager for the...

When Emma Renzi Wise (BA ’19) got hooked on learning about environmental policy at the Ford School, she never imagined working for the New York City Department of Sanitation. But nearly six years after leaving Ann Arbor, Wise is the community...

As vice president of regional initiatives for the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership, Tayrn MacFarlane (MBA/MPP ’08) unites local officials, business leaders, educational institutions, and community organizations from northern Indiana and...

The challenges facing big cities such as Detroit and Cleveland have been widely examined by experts over the decades, as each has dealt with the loss of population and major industries. Stephanie Leiser chronicled the situations in small- to...

By its very definition, democracy gives people a voice in the decisions that affect their communities, but the practice of incorporating citizen voices in government decisions can be complicated and challenging.Last semester, three students from the...

Upon graduating from the Ford School, Lishaun Francis (MPP ‘09) headed to DC to work as a Management and Program Analyst at the United States Department of Education (DoE). Although she felt she was making an impact on public education, working at...

Each year, approximately 20 percent of Ford School master’s students explore policy at the local or state levels through their required 10-week internship, and this summer was no different. Ford School faculty and staff helped students find...

In a Bridge Michigan op-ed, Leiser and Ivacko call for COVID relief to foster greater cooperation, trust in government built at the local level.  "Across the country, nearly three quarters of U.S. adults say they have a "great deal" or a "fair...

Findings from the most recent Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), reveal broad concern by local leaders and administrators over property tax appeals. The survey...

Nearly two-thirds of Michigan’s local leaders believe that the state’s system of funding local government is broken and in need of reform. This belief is shared by a majority of local leaders from jurisdictions large and small, from every region of...

The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board asks, “Lansing, are you listening to Michigan cities?” The piece draws attention to the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey on the fiscal health of the state’s local governments. The University of...

After five years of steady statewide improvement, fewer Michigan communities report that they are better able to meet their fiscal needs this year.A University of Michigan survey polled top elected and appointed officials in the state's 1,856 units...

In 2004, the Ford School’s newly launched Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) sponsored its first internship partnership with the City of Ann Arbor administrator’s office.  “Part of the center’s mission is to help bring the resources...

The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), finds that local leaders are less optimistic about the state’s direction.Statewide, only 44 percent of local leaders...

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) is offering a new undergraduate course for students looking for opportunities to work with survey research...

As national concern for addressing global warming grows, more and more Americans are looking for governmental action to speed a transition to low-carbon energy...