The States Forum

The States Forum Founders Announce Lise Clavel as Executive Director - The States Forum Clavel to serve as the first Executive Director of The States Forum after the initiative’s July launch

Meet our Executive Director: Lise Clavel 🎉

Lise leads the effort to build The States Forum’s network to generate bold policy ideas that advance state policymaking and the American Promise. And she’s a mom to four boys, so she’s not easily frightened.

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Why healthcare should unite abundance and antitrust Over the last few months, internecine battles between abundance and antitrust advocates have been fought across book reviews, podcasts, and social media.

Americans’ healthcare is declining, outcomes are suffering, & care is more expensive than ever – if patients can get past the red tape.

The good news? Americans are more aligned than we think on the solutions. More from @niskanencenter.bsky.social.

hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/why-health...

Nationhood Lab An initiative of the Pell Center at Salve Regina University

We’re so excited to check out Nationhood Lab and @colinwoodard.bsky.social’s new book, Nations Apart, and dive deeper into the stories and narratives that bring Americans together. www.nationhoodlab.org

The Stranglehold of Interest-Group Taboos - The States Forum Whatever else their political struggles, Democrats have almost always secured the position of being the party that voters trust more on education issues.

President Obama called the education system the “civil rights issue of our time.”

@mattyglesias.bsky.social discusses how catering to interest groups rather than thoughtful discourse has weakened the left’s authority on education issues.

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The Shared Work of Realizing the American Promise Celebrating the new voices in our network who are pushing democracy forward

Resuscitating American democracy & delivering on the American promise is bigger than one organization, project, or person.

We’re excited to highlight the work of
@theargumentmag.bsky.social, @therenovator.bsky.social, @searchlightinst.bsky.social.

statesforum.substack.com/p/the-shared...

Why States Must End Junk-Fee Creep - The States Forum Convenience fee. Processing fee. Late fee. Amenity fee. Rather than competing on the basis of a clear, upfront price, some American companies have built

Don’t miss this piece from @choprausa.bsky.social on the proliferation of junk fees, their unfair impact on fair markets, and how states can use their power to help consumers.
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American students are getting dumber It started before Covid, and it keeps getting worse.

In the latest from the Slow Boring, TSF contributor @mattyglesias.bsky.social brings us some bad news: America’s students are getting dumber.

The education system takes up a huge part of state budgets, & there’s hope to fix it - if we ask the right questions.

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The Kids Are Not Alright A viral assassination video shows tech platforms need to take more responsibility

In our latest Substack piece, Editor-in-Chief Michael Laskawy discusses the increasingly grim algorithm that makes violent, traumatic content unavoidable to kids on phones — and how we can work to protect them.

open.substack.com/pub/statesfo...

Electric Utility Reform in an Age of Electrification - The States Forum The United States is subject to the same drivers transforming the global power sector: the rapid growth of renewable energy, data centers, battery storage,

We’re not just here to talk about the problem. We want to uplift real solutions that state governments can implement right now to modernize the electric utility sector.

Robert A.F. Currie shares some ideas for the advancement of the U.S. power sector.
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States are the Answer to Building Sustainable and Enduring Political Coalitions And according to the data, voters agree

People want to have faith in a government that works on their behalf and elected officials they can believe in to represent them.

This week, we take a deeper look at what voters across the country think about political leadership and more:

Listening to MAHA - The States Forum The year 2020 was a universally difficult time, after which many aspects of life seemed to become a little harder and a little worse for everyone. The COVID

Personal freedom is one of the MAHA movement’s main concerns. It also happens to be one of the four principles of the American Promise.

Rachael Bedard details why those of us who care about public health need to do more listening:
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Image of a hand holding a phone with the Instagram application open and text that reads "Follow us on Instagram: @statesforum"

We’ve joined the Instagram community!

Give us a follow and join the conversation on how we can fight for the American Promise.

An image with "The American Promise" journal in the background and text overlayed that reads: Introducing the American Promise, Our leaders need a new appeal to win over a cynical body politic.

We believe the pathway to finally and fully achieving the American Promise lies in the states.

In our latest Substack, The American Promise’s Editor-In-Chief, Michael Laskawy, shares what we’ve been up to for the past month — and what’s to come:
open.substack.com/pub/statesfo...

This is what we mean when we say the power for meaningful change is in the states.

Why We Need a New Working-Class Movement, Not Just Another Political Campaign - The States Forum During the many hours I spent talking to swing voters during the 2024 election, one interaction has come to illustrate the dynamic that I believe ultimately

No better day than Labor Day to take a few minutes to read Matt Morrison’s piece on why working-class movements are so important in the fight for change, and some ideas on how states can get us there.

Opinion | MAHA Is a Bad Answer to a Good Question

What if, instead of blindly defending the status quo of our public health systems, we took a step back and paid attention to *why* the MAHA movement has caught fire?

The American Promise journal contributor Rachael Bedard and @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social talk about why MAHA raises a good question:

"In many domains, new rules are layered upon old ones [...] We need lawmakers eager to channel their inner Marie Kondo to do the life-changing work of tidying up." - Jennifer Pahlka, The American Promise

Statutory and regulatory complexity has held our systems back from resilience and scalability. But the good news is that state governments have the power to fix that.

Here are a few ideas from @pahlkadot.bsky.social on how we can tidy up: statesforum.org/journal/issu...

New Democratic Group Says Answer to the Party’s Woes Lies With the States

Oh, and if you’re curious about the how, when, and where of our launch, check out this NYT Exclusive:

Curious about who we are and what we do? Here is some info ⬇️

Meet Our Executive Director “This is an opportunity to bridge ideas and action at a moment when states are shaping the direction of the country.”

Get to know Lise in our latest Substack post:

The States Forum Founders Announce Lise Clavel as Executive Director - The States Forum Clavel to serve as the first Executive Director of The States Forum after the initiative’s July launch

Help us welcome our new Executive Director: Lise Clavel 🎉

In this new role, she will continue to build our founding network to generate and elevate bold policy ideas that advance the American Promise within the national conversation.

Learn more at:

We’ve got some news for you 👀 www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Detoxifying the Democratic Brand A pair of increasingly influential inside-game Dems are trying to cure what ails their party by looking beyond the Beltway and way downballot—to the blue team’s signs of life in the nation’s state legislatures

The only way to do the on-the-ground work of fighting for democracy is to answer what you believe in.

Adam Pritzker and Daniel Squadron share how we are working to bring state-level policy ideas into the national discussion.

Electric Utility Reform in an Age of Electrification - The States Forum The United States is subject to the same drivers transforming the global power sector: the rapid growth of renewable energy, data centers, battery storage,

If you’re interested in exploring more ideas about how state and local governments can reform the electric utility sector, we recommend this read:

Energy costs and energy supply are growing concerns. Clean energy provides solutions – if state leadership sees the opportunities.

@rockymtninst.bsky.social rounds up 6 great ideas.

Yes, it’s true. We are obsessed with state governments — and for a good reason, too.

Listen to @dsquad.bsky.social in conversation with Marshall Kosloff on The Realignment about why we are laser-focused on the power of state and local government.
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You'll want to tune in for this one ⬆️

According to a survey conducted by Data for Progress, a majority of Americans believe that state governments are more focused on their everyday needs and concerns than the federal government.

We went to Philadelphia, the birthplace of our democracy, to hear directly from the people.