PREFACE ABOUT THE EDITOR I. FEDERALISM 1. Are States Still "Labs of Democracy"? - Donald F. Kettl, Governing 2. Is Federalism Breaking Down? - Donald F. Kettl, Governing 3. Beyond North Carolina's LGBT Battle: States' War on Cities - Alan Greenblatt, Governing 4. Constitutions: Amend with Care - Jennie Drage Bowser, State Legislatures Magazine II. ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT 5. Voter Identification in the Courts - Justin Levitt, The Council of State Governments 6. Voter ID History - National Conference of State Legislatures 7. Aging Voting Machines Are a Threat to Democracy - Lawrence Norden and Christopher Famighetti, Brennan Center for Justice 8. Vote-by-Mail Rates More than Double since 2000 - Sean Greene and Kyle Ueyama, Stateline III. POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS 9. Stronger Parties, Stronger Democracy: Rethinking Reform - Daniel I. Weiner and Ian Vandewalker, Brennan Center for Justice 10. Rex Sinquefield: The Tyrannosaurus Rex of State Politics - Alan Greenblatt, Governing 11. Why Democratic Governors and Republican Mayors Have Become Rare - Louis Jacobson, Governing IV. LEGISLATURES 12. Who We Elect: The Demographics of State Legislatures - Karl Kurtz, State Legislatures Magazine 13. Stalled Progress for Women in State Legislatures - Rebecca Beitsch, Stateline 14. Birds of a Feather - Suzanne Weiss, State Legislatures Magazine V. GOVERNORS 15. Experience Preferred - Louis Jacobson, State Legislatures Magazine 16. Rocky Roads Ahead for Governors with Failed Presidential Bids - Louis Jacobson, Governing 17. Scott Pruitt Will See You in Court - J. B. Wogan, Governing 18. After Spending Millions Suing Obama 39 Times, Has Texas Seen a Return on Investment? - Lauren McGaughy, Governing/ Tribune News Service VI. COURTS 19. Cases with Consequences - Lisa Soronen, State Legislatures Magazine 20. States at a Crossroads on Criminal Justice Reform - Rebecca Beitsch, Stateline 21. The Unintended Consequences of California's New Criminal Justice - Cindy Chang, Marisa Gerber, and Ben Poston, Governing/ Tribune News Service 22. Legislators Attempt to Strip Courts of Power - Maggie Clark, Stateline VII. BUREAUCRACY 23. Can Government Hiring Get Out of the Stone Age? - Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing 24. States Employ Temporary Workers, but Often Know Little about Them - Sophie Quinton, Stateline 25. What Does It Take to End a Teacher Shortage? - Sophie Quinton, Stateline 26. Wisconsin Tenure Fight Likely to Spread to Other States - Karen Herzog, Tribune News Service/ Governing VIII. LOCAL GOVERNMENT 27. The Illusion of Cities' Recovery from the Recession - Zach Patton, Governing 28. A Checklist for Alternatives in City-County Consolidation Decisions: From Separation to Unification - Amy B. Uden, State and Local Government Review 29. What Is a Smart City? - Sophie Quinton, Stateline IX. BUDGETS AND TAXES 30. Summary: Fall 2015 Fiscal Survey of States - National Association of State Budget Officers 31. For First Time, Tax Revenue Has Recovered in Majority of States - The Pew Charitable Trusts 32. The Curious Case of Disappearing Corporate Taxes - Liz Farmer, Governing 33. State Spending and the Search for Hidden Efficiencies - Charles Chieppo, Governing X. POLICY CHALLENGES 34. Has School Choice Been All It Set Out to Be? - Alan Greenblatt, Governing 35. States to Colleges: Prove You're Worth It - Sophie Quinton, Stateline 36. Southern Louisiana Picks a Fight with Big Oil to Save the Wetlands - Chris Kardish, Governing 37. Why Colorado's Obamacare Co-op Is Falling, and Connecticut's Isn't - John Daley and Jeff Cohen, Governing/ Kaiser Health News TEXT CREDITS