The most obvious example right now is with artificial intelligence, but there are plenty of other challenges.
Too many of our elected officials have stood quietly by in the face of idolatry and a cult of personality in our government. We need a return to the values of honesty, human rights and caring.
The crippled response to COVID-19 is just one example of why we need to revive our ability to sort out the roles of the federal government and the states.
They can play a larger role in rebuilding economies, breathing life into broken communities and enhancing diversity. Providing 14 years of free public education is an idea that deserves a closer look.
As newsrooms shut down across the country, good governance takes a hit and partisanship worsens. It's more important than ever to find ways to preserve local journalism.
It can maintain distinctive urban character, but excessive mandates also can impede the dynamic evolution that cities need. There are market-driven policy reforms to reduce its negative impacts.
Our democratic experiment in self-governing is on trial. In government at all levels, we need to get back to the place envisioned by our Constitution's fathers, however flawed they might have been.
A tiny agency did important work on our intergovernmental system for decades. It's unlikely that the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations can be revived, but we still need what it did.
Political exploitation of pain and fear has diverted our attention from the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement. Public officials need to work to bring us back to the more important issues.
They can't completely replace in-person meetings, but conducting more public business online reduces costs, gives more people a voice and cuts down on disruption. It also can lead to better policy.
Too little progress has been made to ensure that high-speed Internet is available to all. As the pandemic has demonstrated, far too many still don't have what they need to function in a virtual world.
There was a time when state and local governments could work out deals with Washington. But as the pandemic struggle illustrates, the glory days of big intergovernmental initiatives have ebbed away.
With the COVID-19 pandemic raging across much of America, a return to full-scale classroom instruction poses too grave a risk to students, teachers, school staff, parents and their communities.
Private investors want to build bullet trains across America, but in too many cases they're having trouble finding right-of-way. There's a lot that state and local governments could do to help them along.
In fighting for the downtrodden and the forgotten, not only on the national stage but also in local government, he led a life that ought to provide a moral imperative for today's public officials.
Over a long career, Eugene Jones Jr. has led several big-city public-housing agencies. In an interview, he discusses the federal landscape, affordable housing and political accountability.
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