Governing States and Localities

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, states and localities were forced to make stark choices over funding and public services as they battled to balance their budgets. While the worst of the economic hardships have passed, federal stimulus money has run dry and federal–state relations are more contentious than ever. So what′s next?

Smith and Greenblatt chart the future for states and localities as they deal with new federal regulations, a decrease in public sector employment, the consolidation of agencies, and the weakening of labor unions′ political clout. The fourth edition of Governing States and Localities continues what has always set this introductory text apart: its expert blend of the latest scholarship with engaging journalistic writing. Along with their crisp storytelling, the authors employ a comparative approach to explain how and why states and localities are both similar and different in institutional structure, culture, history, economy, geography, and demographics.

State Stats: Reliable, easy-to-use data from more than 80 different sources.
Have you seen State Stats? A new and powerful data product from CQ Press, State Stats gives students the ability to investigate reliable, easy-to-use data from more than 80 different sources, covering such areas as health care, crime, and education. Access is FREE with purchase of a new book. Intuitive mapping and graphing tools, along with a set of exercises in each chapter, are sure to get students comparing states through data visualization.

Kevin B. Smith is the Leland J. and Dorothy H. Olson Chair of Political Science at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the author or coauthor of 10 books on politics and policy,

as well as numerous scholarly articles on state politics and policy. Prior to becoming an academic,

he covered state and local politics as a newspaper reporter. You can follow him on Twitter at @

nivek_htims.

Alan Greenblatt is a reporter at Governing magazine and has been writing about politics and

government in Washington, D.C., and the states for more than two decades. As a reporter for

Congressional Quarterly, he won the National Press Club’s Sandy Hume Memorial Award for

Excellence in Political Journalism. At Governing, he has covered numerous issues of concern to

state and local governments, such as budgets, taxes, and higher education. Along the way, he has

written about politics and culture for many other outlets, including NPR, the New York Times,

and the Washington Post. He’s on Twitter at @AlanGreenblatt.