The Forum: Spring 2020 Introduction

The subject of state and local politics has not always received sufficient attention from either the national news media or the discipline of political science. But as the COVID-19 crisis has illustrated, states and municipalities are key components of our system of government - responsible for providing critical services, protecting public safety and health, and granting representation to communities of citizens with specific needs and concerns. It could hardly be a more appropriate time for an issue devoted to the analysis of recent developments in state and local politics.