Policy in Motion

POLICY IN MOTION State leadership isn’t just close to the people, it’s close to our only shot at delivering effective government, fair markets, personal freedom, and representative democracy. We’ve assembled a network of thought leaders who are excited and ready to fight to uphold America’s founding promise. Learn more about their ideas and our work […]

Message from the Founders: First Principles in the 11th Hour

Message from the Founders: FIRST PRINCIPLES IN THE 11TH HOUR Why have we started The States Forum? Let’s start by stating the obvious: The 250-year-old experiment of American democracy is in real danger. The Republican Party, in power in Washington, D.C., is working to dismantle it, and the Democratic Party, locked out of power in […]

Power-Sharing Liberalism

POWER-SHARING LIBERALISM Notes toward a new paradigm of constitutional democracy Around the globe, democracies are under strain as leaders seek to navigate a world where global conflict has destabilized borders and technology has reordered economic opportunity and cultural life. The paralysis and dysfunction of democracies in face of this crisis have led intellectuals on the […]

The Stranglehold of Interest-Group Taboos

The Stranglehold of Interest-Group Taboos The real reasons Democrats lost credibility on the issue of education—and how they can win it back Whatever else their political struggles, Democrats have almost always secured the position of being the party that voters trust more on education issues. Democrats are the party that favors higher levels of spending […]

Let’s Tidy Up State Government

Let’s Tidy Up State Government The life-changing art of identifying and eliminating policy clutter As the pandemic put millions of people out of work, states developed a backlog of unemployment insurance claims. Many governors blamed COBOL, a programming language developed in 1959 and still in widespread use. But COBOL was not the real culprit. In […]