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The reasons that voters appear to be either undecided or shifting loyalties to the Democrats are discussed. Democrats have captured a fair amount of the Republican votes mainly on contentious issues.

The contribution of Randi Weingarten, the head of American Federation of Teachers, one of the two national teachers unions who try to and get back most of the teachers into the union fold is discussed. America looks all set to look at a new education policy with new union presidents as well as a new U.S. President is presented.

The long-running undercover operation by the FBI to investigate charges of corruption against senators and state official is reported. For the future of democracy, it will be better if states enforce ethical and tough laws to regulate their politicians and state officials rather then having federal prosecutors convicting them for corruption.

The steep rise in foreclosure rates has very different long-term consequences for regions across the U.S. Continued economic growth in cities such as Las Vegas will soften the impact of the housing crisis, whereas the situation is far more serious in Daytona, which is struggling to cope with a falling job market.

State and federal authorities are investigating Alabama's community-college system that operates more as a huge patronage operation favoring politicians and state officials.

The problems faced by the states when the requests for local issues were turned down are discussed. It is suggested that states and localities need to rethink some strategies to build a new political relationship with the federal government to solve this issue.

The risks that Indiana governor Mitch Daniels is willing to take in an effort to improve the financial position of the state economy by privatizing non performing sectors are presented.

The problems faced by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine in pursuing the hugely successful management style he practiced earlier as CEO of Goldman Sachs are presented.

The article describes the uses to which the data collected by schools for No Child Left Behind can be put to improve student performance.

The article examines the reasons why even after having the worlds best universities the United States of America still lack in enough graduates.

Charlie Crist is working closely with Democrats on various issues and his bipartisan approach of administration has been hugely successful. The question Crist faces is whether his compromises will ultimately prove to be good policy and the Florida Democrats are worried whether too much cooperation and agreement might seal their fate as the minority party in the years to come.

The initiatives taken by several states independently for provision of universal health insurance for citizens are discussed.

Overcrowded prisons and the rising costs of maintaining huge numbers of prisoners is leading states like California to push for liberal policies on prison reforms. The focus is on rehabilitation of the prisoners with parole, housing with access to community schemes and drug rehabilitation, although the public are supportive of the existent harsh measures regarding prisoners.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush was a transformative figure in both state and national politics, and when his term ended on January 1, 2007, he left behind not only a radically new Florida reshaped in his own image but also a conservative template for state governance in the US. In every aspect of administration Bush shook up institutions, rolled over opposing forces and centralized power to pursue the most ambitious agenda of any governor in the state's history.

Legislative campaigns in the run-up to the November 2006 midterm elections are reverting to patterns of long ago where the decisions come down from above and the candidate, as well as he or she may be at the local level, is more an instrument of party purpose than an independent player. A new era of party control is starting to emerge where increased technical expertise is resulting in high-tech campaigns and sophisticated targeting that do not give much control to the candidate.

The Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack proposed to bring a radical change in the local government structure, but failed miserably to make the municipalities consolidate. The counties in Iowa are not ready to consolidate, but they are ready for collaboration at the grassroots levels.

The real estate agents have stepped up job as their industry is under serious competitive challenge and they have proven themselves adaptable in answering every challenge to their way of doing business. It is believed that if they can't fix the specific prices, they can at least control the terms on which their competitors are doing business.

Colorado state governors are increasingly concerned over the shortage of pension funds. With the new government accounting rule forcing states and localities to budget for future promises of retiree health coverage, retirement benefits are soon turning into a potential political crisis and a major-budget-buster.

State's term limit law forced Steven Rowe, an attorney general of Maine out of the office of Maine's House as he believe that early childhood interventions can help reduce of mental illness, learning disability and ultimately criminal behavior. Rosenthal, the Rutgers political scientist feels that the public voted initially for term law, as they do not like politicians and political institutions.

The tax revolt has turned tepid and despite the setbacks in Colorado and California, tax- and spending-limitation measures are scheduled for consideration in several states, including Ohio, Oregon and Wisconsin. The characteristics of crisis leadership and Topeka voters are weighing a city-county merger.

People saw the city of San Diego, California as a model for good government, but closer inspection reveals a pension fund that is US$1.4 billion short and US$3 billion backlog on deferred maintenance for capital assets. Some civic leaders argue that it was the cityEs sterling reputation and pristine surroundings that helped lead to its downfall, while lulling citizens and local watchdog groups into a complacent believe that nothing too awful could be happening at City Hall.

Paul Vallas, the superintendent of the William D. Kelley School in North Philadelphia is brimming with ideas about how to improve things. Vallas has leaned on the local businesses in virtually every way he could think of, persuading them to donate batteries and sneakers, sponsor after school chess clubs and propose engineering curricula.

The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his first year did one thing at a time and was strikingly successful at blending the state government at his will. In the year 2005, he chooses to take on just every big issue he could think of and the huge price he paid for it is discussed.

Outsourcing is popular in political circles; however it has led to investigations into stealing involving public officials and private contractors. The process of issuing contracts for privatization has resulted in a string of incidents involving sweetheart deals and political favoritism.

The different strategies adopted by President Bush and John Kerry for their campaigns for the U.S. elections in November 2004 are presented. The democratic voters have gained good position in few districts and there is no way for them to break out their minority status.

The US federal government's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education law demands a 95 percent participation rate on a testing day over a period of two years, so that schools would not discourage weaker students from taking the tests. One of the major innovations of the law is to force schools to break down test results by numerous demographic sub-groups, reflecting race, income level and proficiency in English.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is demonstrating an ability both to read people and to get up to speed on complex issues. Schwarzenegger has won significant policy victories on tax, budget and policy issues and is the first governor to address the California State Association of counties in 20 years.

Every state, due to prolonged fiscal crisis, has squeezed the child care, health and welfare programs. However, even after the tightening of the budget, Minnesota state still is one of the most generous states in providing human services and most of their program cuts sounding severe were in programs not even offered by the other states.

There is a lot that state political parties still do not know about the new campaign finance law. The law creates new categories of money and makes it much more complicated for parties at various levels.

State representative Steve Buehrer challenged manufacturing of furniture by the prisoners of Ohio as their work products were displayed for sale on the Web by the state. He introduced a legislation drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to block state agencies from offering any service or information on the Internet.

Southern Politics is divided into a pattern of two parties, which consist of African American Democrats and white Republicans. Both sides can help each other politically by making a fuss about racially charged matters but only the Republicans will be advantageous.

Some states are engaged in boundary disputes, which are not know in U.S. history. Other disputes arise due to the global positioning system (GPS) and other high tech tools, along with drop in price for accurate GPS readers.

Local governments intend to keep asking Washington for money despite the fact that tax cuts and war are the only items currently on the federal government's agenda. The best way to get the funds is to focus on specific projects instead of general policies.

The United States has two dozen new governors, many of whow were elected on a campaign platform of change. Almost all the states have large deficits.

The consolidation of the city of Louisville, Kentucky with Jefferson County, Kentucky will create the nation's 16th largest city. However, the merger was due as much to the personality of former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson as it was to economics and political savvy.

Alan Greenblatt describes the potential impact of escalating tensions between cities, towns and state governments. He focuses on examples from California to illustrate the trend.

Nebraska is just one state that has begun to veer from the widespread faith, on the part of many teachers and elected officials, in the beneficence of standardized tests. The article elaborates on how some districts are changing their attitudes towards standardized testing.

The Republicans and Democrats are very evenly balanced as 2002 begins. They both control 17 state legislatures, but the Republicans are slightly ahead in terms of governorships. It is likely that this situation will persist for some time.