In State Governments: Institutions and Issues, a dialogic approach is used to provoke discussion regarding the major institutions of state governments today (federalism, tribal governments, governors, legislatures, judiciaries, and elections). Public policy issues (sprawl, educational choice, welfare and health care reform, water, taxes, living wages, and lotteries) also are subjected to dialogic treatment. Unlike the function of textbooks that provide general, descriptive coverage, these dialogues focus on the arguments and principles and the reasoning and evidence that bear on the lively practices of our political institutions and public policy debates.

Some major overriding questions are: Where is power and leadership best located? What is the proper role of state government? What makes for social justice in a capitalistic democracy? Where and when should our state governments take the initiative to improve citizens' quality of life? Readers are invited to use their decision-making and conflict-resolution skills (often this means a balancing and weighing process) to fashion reasonable public policy outcomes. These dialogues also serve as a springboard for discussion and/or doing research that would dig more deeply and thoroughly into public policy issues.