University of North Texas 
Center for Public Management
Welcome to the Center for Public Management
The Center for Public Management (CPM) is the professional development arm of the
Department of Public Administration. For nearly 35 years CPM has been building capacity
in the public and nonprofit sectors through training, research, and community engagement.
CPM's programs and services directly support the Department of Public Administration’s mission to become a leader in addressing the community needs of this region and the state. CPM contributes to UNT’s effort to cultivate partnerships with educational institutions at all levels, government agencies, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of education and serve as a resource for lifelong learning and professional education.
News and Updates
The Southern Political Science Association's (SPSA) annual conference will be held January 13-16, 2027 at the Tradewinds Resort in St. Pete Beach Florida. The Center for Public Management will host a Coffee Meet-Up again. We hope you will join us!
Each year, the Local Governance Working Group uses SPSA's "Conference within a Conference" mechanism to create an annual conference that brings together scholars from multiple disciplines (political science, public administration and management, public policy, urban planning, among others) to explore how our collective research endeavor is responding to these new types of challenges. Scholars from across the U.S. and around the world are encouraged to submit a proposal for the "Conference within a Conference" to the members of the program committee (noted below) by August 27, 2026.
Jered Carr, University of Illinois Chicago, jbcarr@uic.edu
Meghan Rubado, Cleveland State University, m.rubado@csuohio.edu
Eric Stokan, University of Maryland Baltimore County, stokan@umbc.edu
Call for Papers for the “Conference within a Conference”
Confronting the Emerging Challenges to Local Governance
Local governments in the United States are navigating some of the most disruptive challenges in recent history. Local governments must deliver policies and programs in the face of federal and state preemption, a changing technological landscape driven by generative AI, rapidly deteriorating infrastructure, growing environmental and public health concerns, declining intergovernmental transfers and revenues, and widening inequities of opportunities. Our local governments must address these challenges efficiently, effectively, equitably, and transparently at a time when they face diminished public trust in government, hyper-localized political polarization, and increasingly fraught relations with their state governments.
The Local Governance Working Group is again organizing a Local Governance Conference at the 2027 meeting of the Southern Political Science Association. We are using SPSA’s Conference within a Conference mechanism to create an annual conference that brings together scholars from multiple disciplines (political science, public administration and management, public policy, urban planning, among others) to explore how our collective research endeavor is responding to these new types of challenges. We seek to encourage research that advances our understanding of the emerging challenges to local governance and supports local government practice under these changing conditions.
Local governments operate in an environment with diminished trust in our core institutions and unfavorable views of science and evidence. Scholars of local governance are engaged in research to understand the implications of regional fragmentation, state government actions, and federal-level policy on the economic, social, and environmental decisions and consequences of communities. The annual Local Governance CwC provides a forum for scholars to share new ideas that can support local governments in ways that are consistent with public administration’s long-held values of effectiveness, equity, and efficiency. Given these challenges, the Local Government Working Group is soliciting individual paper proposals and pre-organized panels for presentation at the 2027 SPSA Local Governance CwC.
We anticipate a two-day program of 8-10 panels organized around these general themes.
Individual paper proposals should include the paper title, list all authors, and indicate up to two program themes the research addresses. Abstracts should not exceed 200 words. Pre-organized panels should be limited to four papers and include a description of the panel theme, the presentation titles, and the names, email address, and affiliations of each author.
Important note: Please DO NOT also submit your proposal for this CwC to SPSA’s All Academic website. The program committee will coordinate the development of the Conference within a Conference program with SPSA. The specific date(s) and time(s) the Local Governance CwC is held during SPSA will be determined in consultation with SPSA.
CPM's programs and services directly support the Department of Public Administration’s mission to become a leader in addressing the community needs of this region and the state. CPM contributes to UNT’s effort to cultivate partnerships with educational institutions at all levels, government agencies, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of education and serve as a resource for lifelong learning and professional education.
News and Updates
The Southern Political Science Association's (SPSA) annual conference will be held January 13-16, 2027 at the Tradewinds Resort in St. Pete Beach Florida. The Center for Public Management will host a Coffee Meet-Up again. We hope you will join us!
Each year, the Local Governance Working Group uses SPSA's "Conference within a Conference" mechanism to create an annual conference that brings together scholars from multiple disciplines (political science, public administration and management, public policy, urban planning, among others) to explore how our collective research endeavor is responding to these new types of challenges. Scholars from across the U.S. and around the world are encouraged to submit a proposal for the "Conference within a Conference" to the members of the program committee (noted below) by August 27, 2026.
Jered Carr, University of Illinois Chicago, jbcarr@uic.edu
Meghan Rubado, Cleveland State University, m.rubado@csuohio.edu
Eric Stokan, University of Maryland Baltimore County, stokan@umbc.edu
Call for Papers for the “Conference within a Conference”
Confronting the Emerging Challenges to Local Governance
Local governments in the United States are navigating some of the most disruptive challenges in recent history. Local governments must deliver policies and programs in the face of federal and state preemption, a changing technological landscape driven by generative AI, rapidly deteriorating infrastructure, growing environmental and public health concerns, declining intergovernmental transfers and revenues, and widening inequities of opportunities. Our local governments must address these challenges efficiently, effectively, equitably, and transparently at a time when they face diminished public trust in government, hyper-localized political polarization, and increasingly fraught relations with their state governments.
The Local Governance Working Group is again organizing a Local Governance Conference at the 2027 meeting of the Southern Political Science Association. We are using SPSA’s Conference within a Conference mechanism to create an annual conference that brings together scholars from multiple disciplines (political science, public administration and management, public policy, urban planning, among others) to explore how our collective research endeavor is responding to these new types of challenges. We seek to encourage research that advances our understanding of the emerging challenges to local governance and supports local government practice under these changing conditions.
Local governments operate in an environment with diminished trust in our core institutions and unfavorable views of science and evidence. Scholars of local governance are engaged in research to understand the implications of regional fragmentation, state government actions, and federal-level policy on the economic, social, and environmental decisions and consequences of communities. The annual Local Governance CwC provides a forum for scholars to share new ideas that can support local governments in ways that are consistent with public administration’s long-held values of effectiveness, equity, and efficiency. Given these challenges, the Local Government Working Group is soliciting individual paper proposals and pre-organized panels for presentation at the 2027 SPSA Local Governance CwC.
We anticipate a two-day program of 8-10 panels organized around these general themes.
- Data-Driven Decision-Making & AI Integration, such as Smart Cities initiatives for automated decision-making and surveillance.
- Citizen Engagement & Distrust, expanding digital democracy, transparency and the spread of mis/disinformation.
- Sustainability & Resilience Research, such as climate mitigation and adaptation strategies for local governments.
- Governance Innovations, such as the future of collaboration among local governments, between local governments and other levels of government, and between local governments and businesses and/or nonprofits; new models for funding local/regional public services; and roles of regional/national/global purpose-oriented networks.
- Workforce & Public Administration Evolution, such as trends in automation and outsourcing of functions and personnel challenges.
- Global Perspectives & Local Adaptations, comparative research on local government innovations, programs or policies; impacts of global phenomena (pandemics, populism, migration) on local governance.
- Social Equity and Vulnerability, such as how local governments can – through planning, legislation, collaboration and/or administration – deliver policies and programs in ways that reduce or eliminate inequities and maintain their core service functions.
- Public Budget and Fiscal Resource Pressures, such as how local governments are navigating a changing fiscal landscape.
- Emerging Scholar Panel: We are planning at least one panel comprised of doctoral students. The program committee will recruit one discussant for each paper. Students interested in consideration for this panel should indicate interest in their proposal.
Individual paper proposals should include the paper title, list all authors, and indicate up to two program themes the research addresses. Abstracts should not exceed 200 words. Pre-organized panels should be limited to four papers and include a description of the panel theme, the presentation titles, and the names, email address, and affiliations of each author.
Important note: Please DO NOT also submit your proposal for this CwC to SPSA’s All Academic website. The program committee will coordinate the development of the Conference within a Conference program with SPSA. The specific date(s) and time(s) the Local Governance CwC is held during SPSA will be determined in consultation with SPSA.
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