When we attend social gatherings like weddings and are seated with people who don’t know us, one of the obligatory first questions exchanged is “And what do you do for a living?”
Whatever our tablemates answer, we always seem to have tons of questions for them. But when we talk about our work in terms of “helping states and local governments to run better,” instead of being beset by queries, frequently the response ranges from a polite quizzical smile to outright laughter. Few questions follow.
The very idea that states and localities can and do improve the way they deliver services seems to be a humorously implausible notion to these new acquaintances.
We think that this phenomenon has just gotten worse. We read all kinds of local newspapers, in order to do our work, and there seems to be a sad consensus forming that governments are just growing steadily less capable of solving the hard problems. We’ve written a fair amount recently about the decline of trust in government and we suspect that this point of view is largely responsible.
Since most of the people reading this B&G Report work with states and localities, we may be preaching to the choir, but just in the last couple of months here are some examples of the way governments are making accomplishments that are worthy of note:
In mid-May, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a 35% reduction in shootings and 37% decrease in gun-related deaths between 2021 and 2023. Data from the first four months of 2024 also show a 35% drop compared to the average number of shooting victims over the past five years.
A Tulsa Oklahoma initiative called Women in Recovery works with the courts and local governments to create a national model to take women off the path to prison and onto a road to a fulfilling self-sufficient life.
A growing number of states are adapting ways in which workplaces can adapt so that individuals with disabilities can thrive.
A national movement led by sheriffs has been growing education programs in jails, improving internal conditions and culture and reducing recidivism.
We could go on and on. And that’s not because we see the world through rose-colored glasses. We see plenty of things that aren’t heading in the right direction. It’s just that we care about solutions as much as we care about problems.
Clearly, the increasingly partisan nature of government has provided another cause for doubt in governments’ capacity to solve problems.
Let’s say that General Motors ran a series of ads claiming that Ford cars were likely to explode; and Ford ran its own series of ads claiming that General Motors vehicles had brakes that were defective. Nobody would be inclined to buy either brand.
We think that’s very much the way things are working as people running for elective office run attack ads come election season. And the hyper-partisan world of the federal government has trickled down, like acid rain, on the governments of counties, cities and states.
As long as there’s an insistent drumbeat about the perceived failures of previous administrations, how can anyone expect people to think that new administrations will be any better?
Another factor contributing to the suspicion about the capacity of government to improve lives is that there’s been a trend to want quick solutions to long-standing problems. But overnight solutions to problems like homelessness, flaws in policing, or unsafe bridges just don’t exist. Patience is key.
We’ve devoted our careers observing state and local government to exploring the incremental changes that can lead to major advances. For example, we’ve written extensively about the need for better data upon which to make decisions. Right now, we’re working on developing a webinar – a joint venture between the American Society for Public Administration’s H. George Fredrickson Center for Social Equity and its Center for Performance and Accountability – about the use of data to help provide the tools necessary to develop a more equitable nation.
But while we think that event will help provide information that will help cities and states to see their way to more equity, we know that one little webinar isn’t going to change the world. It’s just a small step in the process. But we feel confident that armed with appropriate information, progress can be made, not just in trying to create a more equitable nation, but in dealing with a whole host of problems that beset us.
And that’s why we do what we do. Any questions?
#DedicatedToStateandLocalGovernment #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentData #StateandLocalPerformanceMeasurement #StateandLocalPublicAdministration #StateandLocalDataGovernance #StateEquityandDEIPolicyandManagement #CityGovernmentPerformance #CityGovernmentManagement #CountyGovernmentManagement #StateEquityandDEIPolicyandManagement #CityEquityandDEIPolicyandManagement #StateLocalPolicyImplementation #AmericanSocietyForPublicAdministration #ASPA #HGeorgeFredericksonCenterforSocialEquity #CenterforAccountabilityandPerformance #CityandStateInnovation #StateandLocalEvidenceBasedPractice #StateandLocalEvaluation #B&GReport #BarrettandGreeneInc
Comments