About Governing

Governing

Governing is a website covering state and local government policy, politics, and management in the United States, edited and published in Washington, D.C. Originally a national monthly magazine published in print from 1987 to 2019, Governing has chronicled the devolution of American governance for nearly four decades — covering the government finance, land use, economic development, environmental, technology, and transportation issues that shape states, counties, and cities. Founded by publisher Peter A. Harkness under Congressional Quarterly (then a subsidiary of Times Publishing Company), acquired by e.Republic in 2009, and relaunched as a digital-only publication with a technology-forward focus after its print closure, Governing today publishes daily content for "the people making government work" — the state and local leaders navigating an era of dramatic shifts in technology, demography, climate, and the economy.

Founding Vision: Power Shifting to States and Localities

Governing was founded in 1987 by publisher Peter A. Harkness on a prophetic hunch: that power and responsibility were shifting from the nation's capital to the states and localities, and that the absence of serious journalism about state and local government was a glaring gap. As Harkness wrote in the first edition, the shift was "not a theory, it's a fact" — and so was the absence of information and analysis about it. The magazine's intellectual godfather was sociologist and futurist Daniel Bell, whose mid-1970s prophecy — that the national state would decline as a force and the initiative for change would come from higher up or further down — drove Governing's coverage and editorial mission from the start. "We started Governing on a hunch that the large forces of governmental change were moving our way," the magazine later reflected; "as the past 15 years have unfolded, it has become more than a hunch."

The Magazine Era: 1987–2019

For 32 years, Governing published as a national monthly magazine from Washington, D.C. — originally under Congressional Quarterly, Inc., a subsidiary of the Times Publishing Company of St. Petersburg, Florida (publisher of the Tampa Bay Times). In 1994, Governing acquired its primary competitor, City & State magazine from Crain Communications, merging it into its operations and consolidating the state-and-local government publishing space. The magazine built a circulation of nearly 80,000, reaching governors, mayors, legislators, county officials, and the professionals who staff state and local governments. Its coverage — policy, politics, and the management of government enterprises — treated state and local governance with the seriousness Washington journalism reserved for the federal government, winning the loyalty of readers who governed far from the capital's spotlight.

Acquisition by e.Republic

In 2009, Governing was sold to e.Republic, the Folsom, California-based media company behind Government Technology. The sale was controversial: The New York Times reported concern among Governing staff over e.Republic's associations, and the cultural fit between a Washington policy magazine and a California govtech events company was questioned. But the acquisition kept Governing alive through the print industry's collapse, giving it corporate backing and shared infrastructure. Under e.Republic, Governing continued its print monthly while building its digital presence — a bridge period that sustained the magazine's journalism even as the economics of print deteriorated.

Print Closure and Digital Relaunch

On August 7, 2019, Governing announced it would discontinue publication, with the September 2019 issue as its last print edition — ending a 32-year run. Initially, the company announced an intention to close the website and other operations as well. But the brand proved too valuable to abandon: Governing relaunched as a digital-only website with a new focus — "what state and local government looks like in a world of rapidly advancing technology" — and a new subtitle: Governing: The Future of States and Localities. The relaunched site publishes daily content on public policy, aimed at state and local leaders governing through technological transformation. The pivot preserved Governing's journalism while reorienting it toward the future its founder had always emphasized.

Coverage: Policy, Management, and Innovation

Governing's subject areas span the full domain of subnational governance: government finance and budgeting, land use and housing, economic development, the environment and climate, technology and AI, transportation, public safety, and health. Its approach extracts lessons and emerging practices in innovation and performance — telling the stories of state and local leaders and drawing out what works. Signature franchises include the Public Officials of the Year awards, recognizing exemplary state and local leaders, and the "Common Thread" interview series, in which CEO Cathilea Robinett sits down with governors, legislators, and innovators to discuss AI policy, digital identity, and the future of public service. The coverage is practical and peer-oriented: written for people who govern, about people who govern.

The Devolution Thesis — Validated

Governing's founding thesis — that states and localities were becoming the primary problem-solvers in American federalism — has been validated repeatedly. The magazine documented the pattern early: Congress failing to act on health care and utility deregulation while state legislatures moved; states passing air pollution laws while Washington debated climate change; state attorneys general leading corporate accountability after Enron; local governments making the critical decisions after 9/11. Employment data told the same story: state and local workforces growing while the federal workforce shrank. Through every era — the Reagan devolution, the Clinton reinventing-government years, the post-9/11 security state, the pandemic's federalism stress test — Governing chronicled the shift of initiative downward, proving Harkness's 1987 hunch correct many times over.

Audience: The People Making Government Work

Governing's tagline — "For the people making government work" — captures its audience: governors, mayors, legislators, city managers, agency heads, and the policy professionals who staff state and local governments. These readers make decisions affecting hundreds of millions of Americans, often with little media scrutiny, and they rely on Governing for peer learning, policy ideas, and recognition of excellence. The site's LinkedIn presence and executive interviews reflect this professional orientation. In a media environment fixated on Washington drama, Governing serves the vast majority of American governance that happens elsewhere — the 90,000+ state and local governments where most public services are actually delivered.

Why Governing Endures

Nearly four decades after Peter Harkness founded it on the hunch that power was shifting to states and localities, Governing's thesis has been validated beyond dispute. The publication chronicled devolution through every era — from the Reagan years through the pandemic's federalism stress test — always insisting that the most important governance stories happen in state capitols, city halls, and county courthouses. Its 2019 print closure could have been the end; instead, the digital relaunch as "Governing: The Future of States and Localities" reoriented the brand toward technology's transformation of government. Under e.Republic's ownership, Governing continues to serve the people making government work — the vast majority of American governance that happens far from Washington's spotlight.

Governing Today

Today, Governing publishes daily at governing.com as a digital publication of e.Republic — covering state and local government policy, politics, and management for the leaders navigating technological, demographic, and economic transformation. From Peter Harkness's 1987 founding hunch through 32 years of print, acquisition, closure, and digital rebirth, the publication has remained true to its founding insight: that the most important governance stories in America are happening in state capitols, city halls, and county courthouses — and they deserve journalism as serious as anything in Washington. Its official website is https://www.governing.com.