September 3, 2025
The University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative (SDRI) is pleased to announce a Roundtable on State and Local Governance: Agencies, Institutions, and Infrastructure, to be held on Friday, April 10, 2026. The Roundtable will be co-hosted by Professors Miriam Seifter and Rob Yablon and Professors Alexandra Klass, Nina Mendelson, and Christopher Walker of the University of Michigan Law School, and will be held at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The purpose of the Roundtable is to bring together scholars from around the country to present new academic research and works in progress and to continue to build community in the field of state public law. We seek papers on state and local governance, with a focus on agencies, institutions, and infrastructure, broadly construed. Potential topics of interest include, but are not limited to, energy and environmental regulation, including energy infrastructure; land use and zoning; state capacity, effective government, and the concept of abundance; procedural issues that arise in state and local institutions, including administrative procedure, public participation, and the role of state courts; issues of fairness, equity, and distributive justice in state and local governance; and state and local affordability, including on housing, healthcare, and more.
We anticipate workshopping approximately eight papers over the course of one day, with each paper introduced by a scholar who will comment on the work and then facilitate a discussion with all participants. Scholars who have already committed to attend the event as commentators are listed below.
Scholars interested in presenting a paper and participating in the Roundtable should submit a one-to-two-page abstract by November 15, 2025, to SDRI’s Executive Director Bree Grossi Wilde at bgwilde@wisc.edu. (You may also contact her with any questions.) Applicants should include their title, institutional affiliation, and number of years teaching in the academy. Applicants will be notified by mid-December whether or not they have been selected to participate. Complete submissions will be due by late March 2026.
All travel costs, accommodations, and meals will be provided, including a group dinner the night of April 9, 2026. In addition, participants will receive a $1,000 honorarium.
Committed Commentators to Date:
- Sara Bronin, George Washington University Law School
- Sheila Foster, Columbia Law School & Columbia University Climate School
- Sharon Jacobs, University of California Berkeley School of Law
- Alexandra Klass, University of Michigan Law School
- Nina Mendelson, University of Michigan Law School
- Miriam Seifter, University of Wisconsin Law School
- Ganesh Sitaraman, Vanderbilt University Law School
- Kevin Stack, Vanderbilt University Law School
- Christopher Walker, University of Michigan Law School
- Rob Yablon, University of Wisconsin Law School
