The Voters Have Spoken, and Now the Work of Governing Begins
Since the murder of George Floyd in late May 2020, millions of people living in America have exercised their rights to assemble, calling for a better path forward for their families and communities. And over the last several weeks, a record number of more than 160 million Americans have voted to determine the shape of that path and who would lead us through it. It’s now time to build upon these historic moments and levels of engagement to create the kind of good governance the United States needs and deserves.
Elections are critical as are all efforts to peacefully but firmly hold policymakers to account. But what happens in between those moments is where most of us living in America experience government. Safety, public health, schools, housing, roads and bridges, mass transit, parks, and economic development—particularly at the state and local level—as well as immigration and health policy—particularly at the federal level—are just some of the core services government provides. Whether our experiences with government are good or bad depends on whether the people setting and implementing policies have the right information, skills, community participation, and oversight to ensure that these core services are designed to work for and be equally accessible to everyone and every community.
This means that what happens next is not simply up to our newly elected officials. From philanthropic and research institutions to community-based organizations and community members, we all have a role to play to ensure our government is fair and effective. And the current stakes could not be any higher. The pandemic continues to rage, more than 20 million people still receive some type of unemployment benefit, and cities and states are facing their most serious fiscal crisis in decades. These are hopeful but serious times. They will require serious people both in and outside of government to work together to ensure that all of us, regardless of our backgrounds or zip codes, have decent communities to live in and a fair shot at opportunities for ourselves and our families. There’s no time to hesitate. Let the work of good governance begin.
Michael Jacobson
Executive Director
CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance