public management

Publication

Local governments in Michigan concerned about problems spurred by state, federal funding cuts

Aug 13, 2025

Many of Michigan’s local government officials—especially at the city and county level—believe a temporary or permanent loss of public funding will cause financial problems, though fewer are preparing for such cuts. The findings come from the latest i...

Local governments in Michigan concerned about problems spurred by state, federal funding cuts

News

U-M develops free tool to empower municipalities, modernize financial reporting

May 19, 2025

Free webinar June 4 will demo the Excel to iXBRL Conversion toolA free, open-source tool designed by the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy is now available to help local governments make financial data more accessible. Developed ...

U-M develops free tool to empower municipalities, modernize financial reporting

Alumni spotlight, State & Hill

Building tech to support small towns: U-M team develops digital tool for SEC compliance

May 9, 2025

When Congress passed the Financial Data and Transparency Act (FDTA) in 2022, it required all municipalities in the U.S. to modernize and digitize their financial reports. This is a heavy lift for small towns and school districts, most of which still ...

Building tech to support small towns: U-M team develops digital tool for SEC compliance

Publication

Local leaders in Michigan sound alarms over hiring, keeping law enforcement officers

Sep 17, 2024

Concerns about hiring and keeping law enforcement officers have skyrocketed among local government officials in Michigan in the past decade. Local law enforcement officials themselves are even more pessimistic about recruitment and retention within t...

Nearly half of Michigan law enforcement officials concerned about funding, according to U-M survey

News

Ford School researchers to study Michigan’s education governance

May 1, 2024

In partnership with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), a team of researchers from the Ford School will conduct a study into how Michigan’s education governance system can be improved for the benefit of public school students. “An effective s...

Ford School researchers to study Michigan’s education governance

In the Media

Ivacko on federal infrastructure dollars in Michigan

Nov 15, 2021 The Detroit News

“The federal (infrastructure) funding is probably a once-in-a-lifetime lifeline, and it certainly is going to move the needle. But Michiganders need to understand that we have a long-term challenge. This federal money will last for a while, it will i...

Meijer's impeachment vote makes it "significantly more challenging" for Republican Senate nomination - Ivacko

News

Barry Rabe expects Midwest to refocus on climate issues

Nov 14, 2018

With a change of governorships after the midterm elections, one previously passed-over issue is seeing a resurgence. Governors-elect are already showing signs of making climate issues a top-priority in Midwestern states. Daniel Cusick, reporter for E...

News

Barry Rabe calls midterm climate initiatives an “amazing compilation of policy”

Nov 8, 2018

The 2018 midterm elections set an unprecedented amount of campaign spending, with one cause taking a surprising lead. In their November 5, 2018, article in E&E News titled “4 States Have Ballot Measures That Could Shape U.S. Climate Policy,” Benjamin...

News

Rabe, NSEE: with warmest May on record, Americans' acceptance of global warming reaches new high

Jul 12, 2018

Over the last 10 years, the National Surveys on Energy and the Environment (NSEE) has fielded 19 surveys in which Americans have been asked if they believe there is solid evidence of global warming. In the latest version of this ongoing research in...

News

Rabe speaks with Michigan Radio's Environment Report on public support for carbon pricing

Jun 22, 2018

Professor Barry Rabe spoke on air with Michigan Radio's Rebecca Williams on June 21 about the tricky politics of climate change policies such as carbon taxing and cap-and-trade. The interview took place as the National Surveys on Energy and Environ...

News

Rabe & Mills: "State energy policy in the Trump era: Insights from public opinion"

Feb 5, 2018

An article by Barry Rabe and Sarah Mills, "State energy policy in the Trump Era: Insights from public opinion," was published in the December 2017 edition of the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. Abstract In light of President Trump’s...

Governors have emerged as President Trump's main opposition, according to Rabe

News

Rabe joins NAPA Panel of Fellows assessing Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Feb 2, 2018

Barry Rabe, director of the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, has been appointed to a five-member National Academy of Public Administration Panel of Fellows that is charged with assessing the Oklahoma Corporation Com...

News

For Brookings, Barry Rabe discusses state and federal tension around climate policy

Jan 30, 2018

In a new blog for the Brookings Institution, Barry Rabe looks into the difficulties surrounding climate policy in America, detailing how fluctuating positions at the federal level have impacted states and their individual commitments. Barry Rabe is a...

News

In Brookings, Barry Rabe talks "Carbon pricing durability and the case of California"

Aug 31, 2017

“Collectively endorsing carbon pricing as the preferred route to achieve pledged [greenhouse gas] reductions is relatively easy,” writes Barry Rabe in his latest Brookings blog. “Much harder is navigating the politics upon returning home.” Rabe’s for...

News

Michigan News release: In climate policy, Americans want states to pick up federal slack

Jun 9, 2017

A majority of Americans across the political spectrum believe states are responsible for addressing climate change in the absence of federal policy, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers. The National Surveys on Energy and E...

News

Rabe’s influential book on climate change policy to receive prestigious APSA award

May 31, 2017

Barry Rabe’s influential book about the politics behind U.S. climate change policy, Statehouse and Greenhouse: The Emerging Politics of American Climate Change Policy (Brookings 2004), will be honored with the American Political Science Association’s...

News

Rabe examines Pennsylvania's unorthodox resistance to energy taxes in new journal article

May 31, 2017

A new publication by Rachel Hampton and Barry Rabe, titled "Leaving money on the table: Pennsylvania exceptionalism in resisting energy severance taxes," was published in Commonwealth this month. In it, Hampton and Rabe reflect on Pennsylvania's ongo...

News

Rabe in MLive on Trump's plan to review auto industry fuel economy targets

Mar 17, 2017

An MLive article published on March 15, “University of Michigan professors discuss Trump’s fuel economy review,” discusses President Trump’s plan to challenge the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) emissions targets that were central to Pr...

News

In Brookings, Rabe asks “What will Scott Pruitt do if he cannot sue EPA?”

Dec 14, 2016

While we know a great deal about President-elect Trump’s EPA nominee, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Barry Rabe writes for the Brookings Institution that it is highly unclear "just what he will do in his role.” The article, titled “What will...

News

Barry Rabe discusses the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline on Wisconsin Public Radio

Sep 8, 2016

Wisconsin Public Radio’s John Munson interviewed Barry Rabe for "A look at the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline," about the controversy over the multi-state Dakota Access Oil Pipeline on September 6. Rabe provided extensive background information and answe...

News

In Brookings, Barry Rabe sees policy potential in renewed U.S.-Canada relations

Mar 10, 2016

Barry Rabe’s latest blog for Brookings explores how President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau might leverage their new relationship to make progress on climate, water and infrastructure. “Methane may offer some real opportunity for cross-...

News

Rabe comments on new U.S. climate and security task force in VOA

Nov 12, 2015

In the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference in December, the U.S. will organize a task force to incorporate climate and security analysis into its foreign policy agenda. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the new group at a speech in No...

News

Newsweek features Barry Rabe, CLOSUP survey on climate change acceptance

Nov 9, 2015

Barry Rabe is quoted in a November 7 Newsweek article on climate politics. The article by Emily Cadei, “After Keystone rejection, climate politics are just heating up,” focuses on political reactions—left and right—in the wake of President Obama’s re...

News

Rabe and Mills discuss “the Francis effect” on global warming beliefs

Nov 3, 2015

According to a new CLOSUP report, more Americans than ever have accepted global warming, influenced in part by Pope Francis’ recent Papal Encyclical on climate change. American acceptance of global warming is at its highest level since 2008, with the...

Rabe and Mills discuss “the Francis effect” on global warming beliefs

News

CLOSUP climate belief poll results covered by a number of global news outlets

Oct 16, 2015

Only 16 percent of Americans currently believe that there is not solid evidence of global warming, according to the latest CLOSUP survey on energy and the environment released earlier this week. This is one percentage point less than the previous low...

News

Barry Rabe to co-chair EPA subcommitee on Clean Water Act dredge-dumping regulations

Oct 8, 2015

Last month, Barry Rabe was nominated to co-chair the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assumable Waters Subcommittee. The subcommittee will take on the Clean Water Act's (CWA) Section 404 program, which enables states and tribes to regulate the ...

News

Rabe speaks with NPR about changing attitudes on climate action and Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Aug 8, 2015

In “Obama's Climate Plan Faces Huge Political Challenges,” which ran on Monday, NPR reporter Scott Horsley outlined the President’s “ambitious new climate regulations” and the political opposition to them. He turned to Barry Rabe to provide insight w...

News

Global warming skeptics cite personal weather observations as the key reason for their views

Jul 8, 2015

The number of Americans who believe there is evidence of global warming rose to 63 percent after a memorable winter that included record cold and snow in the Northeast and historic warmth and drought in the West, according to a University of Michigan...

Global warming skeptics cite personal weather observations as the key reason for their views

News

Rabe cited in coverage of new EPA report on fracking

Jun 8, 2015

Barry Rabe, a Ford School professor and director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), was recently cited by both the Financial Times and the U.S. News & World Report in coverage surrounding the last week's release of findings by...

News

Barry Rabe talks to Inside Energy as North Dakota seeks to lower oil severance taxes

May 4, 2015

Barry Rabe, who was traveling through North Dakota for ongoing research on state energy taxes in the shale era, was interviewed by Emily Guerin for “Inside Energy: North Dakota oil taxes.” The story, which aired on Prairie Public Radio on May 4, expl...