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Governing States and Localities, 2nd Edition

Winner of the 2008 Textbook Excellence Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association (College Humanities/Social Sciences category)!

The fifty states and the many cities and localities are about as diverse as can be—but why do they differ? And how do political scientists account for those differences? In a unique collaboration, political scientist Kevin Smith has teamed up with Governing magazine journalists Alan Greenblatt and Michele Mariani to provide the answers. In this comprehensive, well researched, and engaging text, the authors present the most current information on states and localities in fresh, accessible prose. Similarities between states make meaningful comparisons possible.

But their differences—in institutional structures, laws and regulations, culture and history, demographics, economy, and geography—provide the perspective students need to answer crucial questions about politics and government.

For more information, including the table of contents, what’s new to this edition, pedagogy, and ancillaries, click here!

State and Local Government, 2009-2010 Edition

Every year, editor Kevin Smith samples from publications such as Governing , State Legislatures, State News, and Campaigns & Elections to grab your students’ interest with highly readable and up-to-date articles that hit close to home. Nearly 40 new articles cover significant issues facing state and local governments with the same context and currency you have come to expect from this reader. Back on its summer publication schedule, you can bring the latest articles to your students a semester earlier. This 2009–2010 edition is a sure fit for state and local government courses. For more about the new edition of this trusted reader, including the table of contents, click here.

Kevin B. Smith is professor of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of The Ideology of Education and numerous scholarly articles on state politics and policy. He is also a former associate editor of State Politics & Policy Quarterly. Prior to becoming an academic he covered state and local politics as a newspaper reporter.

Alan Greenblatt has been writing about politics and government in Washington and the states for more than a decade. As a reporter at Congressional Quarterly, he won the National Press Club’s Sandy Hume award for political journalism. Since joining the staff of Governing magazine, he has covered issues of concern to state and local governments, including budgets, taxes, and higher education. Along the way, he has written about politics and culture for numerous publications, including the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Michele Mariani is a senior associate with The Pew Center on the States, a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she counts among her projects the Government Performance Project, a regular assessment of government management. Prior to joining the Pew Trusts, she wrote for Governing magazine.

Governing States and Localities, 2nd Edition

State and Local Government, 2009-2010 Edition