Social media sentiment has become a powerful force across most aspects of society, and state and local government is no exception. In new research, Justin Marlowe tracks the social media output of state and local finance officials from 2014 to 2020, finding that their sentiment became more negative following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He writes that these […]
It is a commonly held belief that subprime lenders, who issue loans to risky borrowers, provide credit to high-risk communities that would not be able to get credit from low-risk lenders. Eglė Jakučionytė and Swapnil Singh challenge this view. They show that policy changes introduced in 1995 by US institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased securitisation costs for lending […]
On January 9th, 17 people lost their lives in a fire at the Twin Parks apartment block in the Bronx in New York City. Glyn Robbins draws parallels between this tragedy and the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London. He writes that policies of private sector provision of affordable housing on both sides of the Atlantic have failed – […]
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across the US have also included falling revenues for cities and municipalities. Using data from counties in Florida, Hai (David) Guo and Can Chen have developed a new forecasting model which predicts municipal revenues. They find that Florida’s municipal governments are likely to see a more than $5 billion fall in their revenues over […]
Just how important are individuals in the policymaking process in the US? In new research, Joel Vallett studies the impact of so-called policy entrepreneurs in how policies are adopted by and diffused through the US states. Using Erin’s Law, a child sex abuse prevention education policy, as a case study he finds that the influence of a policy entrepreneur was […]
In the US metropolitan areas can be organized in different ways, with some areas having more or fewer local governments, with competing schools of thought over which structure leads to greater economic growth. In new research which examines over 300 US metropolitan areas, Christopher Goodman finds that the structure of local governments can be important, but it is often […]
For public servants working in government, understanding citizens’ needs is incredibly important, and those working in small towns are no exception. In new research, Jason D. Rivera looks at the techniques policymakers in Grand Island, New York, use to understand the needs of their citizens. He finds that while public meetings, townhalls and social media can give a sense […]
For much of the 20th century, Black communities and other communities of color were systematically denied mortgage loans – in a practice known as redlining which was backed by the Federal government – leading to decades of disinvestment. Lila Asher examines historical redlining maps in Columbus, Ohio, and finds that they align with present-day areas with greater levels of […]
In the spring of 2020, in addition to the COVID-19 public health emergency, US state governments were also facing budgetary crises as revenue sources such as sales and fees fell as lockdowns began. Using North Carolina as a case study, Whitney Afonso looks at municipalities’ budget strategies in the face of falling revenues. Rather than following best practice by […]
The growth in the film industry outside Hollywood raises questions about its impact on local communities. Using Atlanta Georgia, as a case study, Velma Zahirovic-Herbert examines how the opening of film production studios influences surrounding house values. She finds that studios tend to be located in lower-priced neighborhoods and are linked to increases in surrounding house prices following their […]
Americans are in favor of interracial marriage until they are asked about their own family
The 2022 Midterms: Kentucky is shaping up to be one of the Democrats’ most uphill electoral battles this November
What Happened?: Arizona turned blue in the 2020 presidential election, but the Republicans still control the state.
What Happened?: The 2020 election confirmed that Ohio is no longer a swing state.
Sam di Bella reviews Cut/Copy/Paste: Fragments from the History of Bookwork by Whitney Trettien
Nupur Pattanaik reviews COVID-19 and Psychology: People and Society in Times of Pandemic by John G. Haas
Dinyar Patel reviews Unexpected Voices in Imperial Parliaments edited by Josep M. Fradera, José María Portillo and Teresa Segura-Garcia 
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