Local boards were designed to take politics out of education. But increasing politicization of the boards themselves has led to calls to eliminate them.

California’s lieutenant governor, widely seen as a potential gubernatorial candidate, writes about the importance of citizen engagement in his new book “Citizenville.”

Many municipalities prohibit sex offenders from living near parks. L.A. and Miami are taking it one step further and calling patches of grass “parks” in order to rid their cities of the offenders who currently reside there.

Most state lawmakers supplement their legislative job with one in the private sector. To reduce the conflicts of interest that inevitably arise from this, states are considering revising their ethics laws.

The laboratories of democracy have reopened after the recession. But they’re not delivering the results that most experts have been conditioned to expect from them.