Departments and Research Centers

Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Showing 31 - 60 of 645 results

News

Michigan local leaders report widespread support for community recycling programs

Mar 15, 2023

A strong majority of Michigan local government leaders feel that good governance includes promoting environmental sustainability and “being green”, according to a survey of nearly 1,400 leaders across the state. The survey, a special wave of the...

Michigan local leaders report widespread support for community recycling programs

News

Michigan local government leaders report increased problems with workforce recruitment and retention

Feb 22, 2023

The number of Michigan local government leaders reporting problems retaining their jurisdictions’ workers nearly doubled in 2022 compared with five years earlier. In addition, jurisdictions of all types and sizes have faced increased difficulty...

Challenges continue for state-local relations, according to Michigan local government leaders

News

Ford School welcomes local and state elected officials to boost collaborative work

Feb 16, 2023

Elected officials from local, county, and state government came to the Ford School to hear about the potential for collaborations with their offices and the School’s faculty, research centers, and students. Fifteen members of the Michigan State...

Ford School welcomes local and state elected officials to boost collaborative work

News

Leiser shares expertise on government financial reporting in webinar

Jan 29, 2023

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) has been partnering with XBRL US, to work with the City of Flint to explore whether a new fiscal reporting mechanism for governmental entities can help create transparency—and prevent future...

Leiser shares expertise on government financial reporting in webinar

News

Research centers give U-M students hands-on, practical policy experiences

Jan 27, 2023

With the guidance and support of the Ford School’s research centers, graduate and undergraduate students are creating a real-life impact in a range of areas by working with external partners. The Ford School is deeply integrated with a wide range of...

Research centers give U-M students hands-on, practical policy experiences

News

Michigan local government officials: public employee workforce wages increasing, room for improvement

Jan 24, 2023

Michigan’s local governments report a long trend of increasing employee pay, but a third of local leaders say wages are still too low. The issue is relevant for their finances as 92% of Michigan local governments report having some type of paid...

Michigan local government officials: public employee workforce wages increasing, room for improvement

In the Media

Ivacko reflects on 2022, and what it means for future elections

Jan 5, 2023 Hour Detroit

Tom Ivacko, Hour Detroit: Tom Ivacko, executive director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan, nailed it: “The 2022 election outcomes will be the hot topic — including what they mean for Trump and his hold...

Ivacko on federal infrastructure dollars in Michigan

In the Media

Leiser applauds Financial Data Transparency Act

Dec 26, 2022 XBRL US

Stephanie Leiser, XBRL US: "Making government financial data open and accessible to all is the right thing to do, and it is long overdue. Financial transparency is absolutely essential to maintaining trust between governments and the public. Equally...

Leiser on building a better local government financial reporting system

Publication

New law on data transparency will improve governance - Leiser

Dec 20, 2022

Increasing transparency in how local government works got a boost when the U.S. Congress passed the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) on December 15, 2022. The act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt data standards related...

New law on data transparency will improve governance - Leiser

State & Hill

Think local: CLOSUP checks in with local government officials

Dec 19, 2022

By Tom Ivacko (MPA ’93), executive director, Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy Democracy in the United States and across the globe has been in decline for years, as documented with rigorous tracking methodologies. Freedom House has tracked...

Michigan local governments face ARPA spending challenges with inflation and supply chain issues

In the Media

CLOSUP report highlighted

Dec 14, 2022 American City & County

American City & County: Politically driven incidents over the last few years at all levels of government have fundamentally shaken public perception about the health of America’s democracy. Administrators have likewise been impacted. A new study...

Publication

Local government fiscal outlook in Michigan a mixed picture: near-term improvement, long-term challenges

Dec 14, 2022

A majority of Michigan local leaders' assessments of their fiscal stress this year remain essentially unchanged compared to both 2021 and 2020, despite significant infusions of federal and state aid in recent years. The findings come from the...

News

An assessment of Michigan's redistricting process

Dec 5, 2022

In the aftermath of the first election that used newly-drawn districts in Michigan, created by an independent citizen’s commission, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy and the Program in Practical Policy Engagement hosted a Policy Talk to...

An assessment of Michigan's redistricting process

In the Media

CLOSUP redistricting event featured in Detroit Free Press

Dec 5, 2022 Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press: "'I think Michigan is going to play a very important poster child role moving forward,' said Moon Duchin, a mathematician at Tufts University who helped Michigan's commission review mapping input during the redistricting...

CLOSUP redistricting event featured in Detroit Free Press

News

The impact of Michigan’s redistricting efforts on the 2022 midterms

Nov 23, 2022

The results of the 2022 elections in Michigan were marked by a narrow Democratic sweep of all the major statewide offices and both houses of the state legislature. The election is also notable for its use of new districts that were drawn for the...

Ford school faculty available to weigh in on 2024 elections

News

Michigan local leaders give high marks on the state of local democracy while federal outlook remains grim

Nov 16, 2022

Michigan local leaders are generally optimistic about how democracy is functioning in their jurisdictions, but are far less praiseworthy about the national picture, according to a new University of Michigan report. When asked to rate the...

News

Ford School experts available for Michigan election 2022 analysis

Nov 3, 2022

The eyes of the country are on Michigan, as voters consider ballot initiatives on whether to enshrine abortion rights into the swing state's constitution and expand opportunities to vote. The highest offices in the state are also up for grabs, with...

News

Former Michigan legislators overwhelmingly favor reforming or abolishing term limits

Nov 1, 2022

As voters in Michigan consider a ballot measure to change the state's legislative term limits, a survey of former legislators shows overwhelming support for reforming or abolishing the limits. The survey, conducted in 2020 and 2021 by Rusty Hills,...

In the Media

Fair elections on the ballot - Ivacko

Oct 31, 2022 CBC

CBC: Tom Ivacko at the University of Michigan says the fair administration of elections is absolutely an election issue this fall. Yet it's unclear how many Americans care: Ivacko noted polls indicating that 70 per cent view democracy as under...

News

Ivacko discusses voter priorities in 2022 election

Oct 30, 2022

Ahead of the midterm election, Tom Ivacko, executive director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, joined WXYZ Detroit to discuss what's on voters' minds. "This is a very interesting election cycle. Typically, the economy is one of the...

In the Media

Ivacko breaks down Michigan Public Policy Survey for MLive

Oct 27, 2022 MLive

Tom Ivacko, MLive: "We released a report recently that found over half of Michigan local governments reporting their personnel have been harassed or abused by the public in the last few years, and much of what passes for public discourse on national...

News

Michigan State-Michigan collaboration to measure Partisan Advantage in redistricting

Oct 27, 2022

The effect of redistricting will be a major topic as the results of the 2022 elections are analyzed in the weeks and months ahead. In some states, districts were drawn by partisan legislatures; in others those maps were challenged in the courts with...

Michigan State-Michigan collaboration to measure Partisan Advantage in redistricting

Publication

Local government officials offer mixed reviews to Michigan's new approach to redistricting

Oct 26, 2022

Local officials in Michigan have rendered a mixed verdict on the state's new constitutionally mandated approach to redrawing electoral maps with the goal of reducing gerrymandering and promoting fairer elections. Only 24% of local officials are...

U-M survey finds early lack of awareness among local leaders with state’s new approach to redraw legislative districts

News

Michigan local government officials cite good rapport with each other and public, despite divisive discourse

Oct 13, 2022

Michigan’s local government leaders report generally good relationships among officials and residents, despite well-documented examples of coarsening discourse and antagonism in public gatherings, according to a new University of Michigan...

News

Ivacko provides advice to local officials worried about election tampering

Oct 9, 2022 Michigan Advance

With less than a month until the 2022 election, local officials are worried about election fraud conspiracists sabotaging the election. Tom Ivacko, executive director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, gave advice to concerned...

Publication

Confidence in election security high, according to Michigan local government officials, disinformation causes concerns

Sep 22, 2022

Michigan township and city officials are now even more confident in their jurisdiction’s election security and ability to administer an accurate election than they were when asked a similar question in 2020, when confidence was already high,...

News

Big Ten mayors convene to address shared challenges

Sep 21, 2022

Staying close to constituents and at the same time forging regional partnerships are the keys to solving many of the problems confronting American cities. That message emerged in an hour-long discussion that convened mayors from Detroit, Chicago,...

Big Ten mayors convene to address shared challenges

News

"Democracy in Crisis" series taps award-winning journalists for insights

Sep 16, 2022

U.S. democratic institutions are under attack. While law enforcement agencies and a Congressional committee still work to investigate the January 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol, a wave of subsequent efforts have continued to seek to undermine the...

"Democracy in Crisis" series taps award-winning journalists for insights

News

More than half of Michigan local governments report personnel harassed, abused for doing their jobs

Sep 8, 2022

A majority of Michigan's local governments are experiencing some form of harassment or other abuse from the public, according to a statewide survey conducted by the University of Michigan. Officials from 53% of jurisdictions report harassment,...

More than half of Michigan local governments report personnel harassed, abused for doing their jobs

In the Media

Macomb County government turmoil reflects statewide trend: Ivacko

Aug 30, 2022 The Detroit News

A conflict between Macomb County's executive and prosecuting attorney, from different political parties, reflects statewide trends in the deterioration of relationships between elected officials and their own confidence in Michigan's democracy,...