The Rockefeller Institute of Government – public policy research arm of the State University of New York (SUNY) – has released a new report on the effectiveness of state laws in the dissolution of villages by Lisa Parshall, a fellow at the institute and a political science professor at Daemen.
Lisa Parshall
The research examines village dissolutions in New York State and Ohio to better understand the role of state-level policy choices in facilitating municipal reorganization.
The report – which can be read in full here – provides new insights for policymakers to consider as they update their efforts to reform municipal government and evaluate the impact of state-level policies on the dissolution of villages.
The structure of local government in New York, in large part, is built on a structure of laws and policies with 19th century foundations, Parshall said. And since the 1930’s, reforming the structure of local governments has been part of the agenda in Albany, to varying extents.
“It’s useful to look at which state policies work and which don’t when it comes to local government reorganization,” said Parshall.
Relaying the report’s findings, Parshall appeared on public radio station WAMC in January on the topic. SUNY Press will also publish a book on local government reorganization by the Daemen professor by the end of the year.
At the Rockefeller Institute, Parshall was named an inaugural Richard Nathan Fellow in 2019.
Parshall also currently serves as the chair of the State and Local Politics Section of the New York State Political Science Association and is a past president of the Northeastern Political Science Association.