For many older Americans, the concept of retirement has a different meaning in 2017 relative to thirty, twenty, or even just ten years ago. The traditional notion of retirement at age 65 is becoming a thing of the past—and a growing number of older adults are opting to stay in the workforce into their late […]
Every day, 10,000 Americans turn age 65. Adults over this age now make up more than 15 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Census Bureau – by 2029, this number will surpass 20 percent. Our 2017 Better Government Competition is focused on ensuring a better future for older Americans – and some of […]
Ensuring adequate health care for justice-involved individuals is a critical responsibility of corrections systems. This is especially true regarding those within the justice system who have mental health and/or substance abuse disorder needs—a group that makes up 65 percent of the total justice-involved population and faces higher risk of victimization, recidivism, and suicide. Unfortunately, providing […]
The policy proposal discussed in this article, from Dr. Charles Levy, was a finalist in Pioneer’s 2016 Better Government Competition. Over the last fifteen years, the U.S. has coordinated an enormous mobilization of U.S. military personnel to Iraq and Afghanistan—over 1.5 million members of the service have been deployed to these countries since 2001. As […]
The potential of virtual schools and other electronic-enabled channels for instruction is well-recognized in education reform circles today. Pioneer identified this potential in 2008, when it awarded the Florida Virtual School as the most innovative idea of that year’s Better Government Competition. With several proven models of success—the Florida Virtual School being one of the […]
In recent years, consumers have developed a new reflex. Accepting “terms and agreements” for any sort of application, software, or website has become so instinctive that few stop to question their purpose. If one were to read the lengthy legal contract that stands between the user and his or her destination, they would understand that […]
One of the central concerns surrounding government today is the difficulty of effectively including ordinary citizens in policymaking—more specifically, the barriers that restrict constituents from influencing the rulemaking process. Although rulemaking has a formally participatory structure, the numerous complex, technical documents typical in the process make effective, democratic participation difficult. As such, federal rulemaking is […]
The digital revolution has changed the way we look at government, and more specifically, government transparency. As an increasingly large percentage of citizens get their news and information from internet-enabled devices and electronic sources, it follows that achieving legislative transparency will require the use of these forms of technology to establish accessibility and usability sufficient […]