Reform
Sunset Commissions: How States Delete Their Own Agencies
Roughly half the states run agencies on expiration dates, and the mechanism quietly decides more about government's shape than most elections do.
Valentina Sokolov · March 8, 2026
Reform
Accounts of attempts to remake public bodies: mergers, devolution, staffing overhauls and shared service centers. Each piece records the case made for the change, the money spent, and the measurable result several years later. Written for officials planning reorganizations and for the auditors who eventually assess them.
Reform
Shared Services Centers: What Twenty Years Actually Delivered
The federal government's long experiment in consolidating back-office work cut some costs, stranded some agencies, and left a marketplace that still runs on handshakes.
Valentina Sokolov · February 14, 2026
Reform
Probationary Periods: The Two-Year Clock That Decides Federal Careers
A federal employee's first one to two years carry far fewer protections than most readers assume, and the rules turn on a clock that starts at hiring, not at trouble.
Valentina Sokolov · January 22, 2026
Reform
Agency Mergers: Why Consolidations Rarely Save Money
Merging two government agencies changes org charts faster than it changes budgets, and the transition costs usually arrive before any savings.
Valentina Sokolov · December 30, 2025