Category Domestic Policy
A Closer Look at Universal Child Care
Maya Pendleton, MPP Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives As an idea, universal child care is not new. In fact, the United States briefly implemented universal child care as a part of the 1940 Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act (or the Latham Act). Under this law, all families were eligible for child care […]
Regulatory Sludge: Reducing Paperwork to Preserve Our Time
Julie Balla, MPA Candidate Time is the most precious commodity – let’s see if we can find ways to give our fellow citizens more of it. – Cass Sunstein Cass Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard and former Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), delivered keynote remarks at the Society […]
More Evidence, Better Policy: Understanding the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act
Lena Nour, MPP Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives The American people are more skeptical of public institutions today than they have been for the better part of five decades. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that fewer than one in five Americans has confidence that their government will “do what is right” the majority of […]
Not-So-Affordable Housing: Addressing Impacts on Low-Income Renters
Maya Pendleton, MPP Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives A growing body of research suggests that increasing housing costs uniquely impact renters, particularly low-income renters. Researchers have linked eviction to a lack of affordable housing; over one million renters are evicted each year. For comparison, over one million homes were foreclosed during the peak of America’s financial […]
Legalization of Medical Cannabis as a Policy Response to the Opioid Epidemic
Thomas J. Rachko Jr., MPA Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives An advertisement displayed on a bikeshare dock near GW’s campus proclaims “Choose Plants Over Pills.” The advertisement is part of an educational series created by the National Holistic Healing Center, a Washington, D.C. and Maryland-based medical cannabis dispensary. The dispensary aims to share “both the anecdotal […]
Understanding Linguistic Discrimination: Consequences and Policy Responses
Lena Nour, MPP Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives Could the sound of your voice be subject to discrimination? This year marks the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), a landmark Supreme Court case which declared racial discrimination in public schools unconstitutional. However, many forms of racial discrimination remain prevalent today and some […]
The Promise of Free Community College and What States Deliver
Caitlyn Valadez, MPA Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives Mamie Voight of the Institute for Higher Education Policy once noted that ”free is a message that works.” The phrase “free community college” is often used to describe and promote scholarship programs that cover tuition costs for community college students. This policy approach to making college more […]
