Welcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
Why New York’s free college program is still costing its students
Christina Animashaun/VoxWelcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
The policy: Fully paid tuition for students from families that earn under $125,000 per year
Read Article >“King-Lee Day” and other ways states bend MLK’s legacy
Zac Freeland/VoxWelcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
The policy: States have stretched the meaning of the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday to honor everything from “human rights” to Confederate generals.
Read Article >Almost 90 years after Prohibition, some places are still dry. Why is that?
Zac Freeland/VoxWelcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
The policy: Alcohol sale restrictions
Read Article >Hundreds of wacky, obsolete laws still exist. Why don’t more states remove them?
Christina Animashaun/VoxWelcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
The policy: Create commissions that sleuth out obsolete laws that could cause harm
Read Article >Hurricane Katrina inspired a national pet evacuation policy. The plan could save human lives, too.
Christina Animashaun/VoxWelcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
The policy: Pet evacuation plans for natural disasters
Read Article >Prop 65 was meant to protect Californians from toxic water. How did warning stickers end up on everything?
Christina Animashaun/VoxWelcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
The policy: Chemical warning labels on products, better known as Proposition 65
Read Article >Affordable housing is disappearing. So cities are designating parking lots to sleep in.
Christina Animashaun/VoxWelcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
Read Article >These laws were meant to protect people from HIV. They’ve only increased stigma and abuse.
Christina Animashaun/VoxLaboratories of Democracy is a series that looks at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: Criminal penalties for knowingly exposing someone to HIV
Read Article >How a brief socialist takeover in North Dakota gave residents a public bank
Christina Animashaun/VoxLaboratories of Democracy is a series that looks at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: public banks
Read Article >Austin’s failed attempt to regulate Uber and Lyft foreshadowed today’s controversies
Christina Animashaun/VoxLaboratories of Democracy is a series that looks at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: Background checks for Lyft and Uber drivers
Read Article >Do plastic bag taxes or bans curb waste? 400 cities and states tried it out.
Zac Freeland/Vox; Getty ImagesLooking at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: Plastic bag bans and taxes
Read Article >Washington, DC, showed how to do universal pre-K right
Christina Animashaun/VoxLooking at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: Universal public prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds
Read Article >San Francisco voters rank their candidates. It’s made politics a little less nasty.
Zac Freeland/Vox; Getty ImagesLooking at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: Ranked-choice voting
Read Article >How a Bay Area ban on feeding squirrels and birds ended up saving their lives
Javier Zarracina/VoxLooking at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: Wildlife feeding ban in public spaces
Read Article >Laboratories of Democracy: what Seattle learned from having the highest minimum wage in the nation
A nationwide campaign and series of strikes led Seattle to adopt the highest minimum wage in the nation five years ago. Christina Animashaun / VoxLooking at the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
The policy: $15 minimum wage
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