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Michael Adams

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by Michael Adams

Substack
Class 3 Homework - District Supervisor Map

Map time! It’s good to know your city, so let’s get a lay of the land! For this assignment, test your knowledge of the city supervisor district map.

Reposts 0 8d

by Michael Adams

Substack
How SF Gov Works: Applications Open

A civics class delivering expertise on the SF city government. Applications for cohort 7 are open until September 17! How SF Government Works is a seven-week civics class delivering expertise on the San Francisco city government. This is the final cohort of 2025. Apply here.

Reposts 0 Sep 3

by Michael Adams

Substack
Introducing a New Type of Civic Tech

Tools for good government in the age of AI Every citizen should have a live, systems view of their government and today we’re bringing that to SF! You can track government entities, spending, news, public meetings, and more in real time.

Reposts 0 Aug 27

by Michael Adams

Substack
Political Capital is a Measure of Power

How powerful are you? Power is the ability to make stuff happen. In complex systems like government, making stuff happen usually means coordinating people, resources, and attention in the direction of the thing you want. The amount of coordination you can accomplish is the amount of power you have, and it can be measured in political capital.

Reposts 0 Aug 25

by Michael Adams

Substack
How the SF Budget is Made

Did San Francisco run a deficit this year? Note: This is part one of a two-part series on the SF budget. This post covers the budget-making process, and the next post covers where the money goes.

Reposts 0 Aug 1

by Michael Adams

Substack
Homework 5

Civic Research Generating political capital and having serious political opinions requires rigorous exploration of government. Use what you’ve learned about governmental mechanics so far to explore a topic area of interest to you.

Reposts 0 May 14

by Michael Adams

Substack
Homework 4

News Article Analysis Apply the frameworks we have learned in class to analyze a news article on a topic of interest.

Reposts 0 May 8

by Michael Adams

Substack
Homework 3

Supervisor Map and City Spotlight It’s good to know your city, so let’s get a lay of the land! For this assignment, first test your knowledge on the city supervisor map, then research a part of SF that is meaningful to you for your city spotlight presentation.

Reposts 0 Apr 30

by Michael Adams

Substack
Board of Supervisors Meeting Debrief

Watching the legislative body in action! Watching the legislative body in action!

Reposts 0 Apr 24

by Michael Adams

Substack
Commission Meeting Debrief

I attended a ______ Commission meeting I attended a ______ Commission meeting

Reposts 0 Apr 24

by Michael Adams

Substack
Homework 2

Learning about law makes me feel: _____ (I prefer "jubilant" but pick your fav) We learned about the types of law and how they’re made in San Francisco; now let’s look at real examples! First, fill out the complete hierarchy of law as we discussed in class, then research local examples of statutory and administrative law.

Reposts 0 Apr 24

by Michael Adams

Substack
Homework 1

Elected Officials: Mayor, Supervisor, and (other elected) We learned about the elected offices in San Francisco, now let’s learn about the people who hold them. For this assignment, research the mayor, your district supervisor, and one other elected official according to the instructions below.

Reposts 0 Apr 17

by Michael Adams

Substack
Rebuilding the Civic Industrial Base

"State Capacity" doesn't come from the State No one trusts government to solve hard problems. Housing, homelessness, climate - it doesn’t matter. And the fact that it doesn’t matter points to a fundamental problem: a general decay of state capacity. Much of the discussion on state capacity targets specific policy interventions like

Reposts 0 Apr 8

by Michael Adams

Substack
How SF Gov Works: Applications Open

Applications for cohort 6 of How SF Government Works are open now until April 11! Applications for cohort 6 of How SF Government Works are open now until April 11! Apply below or check out the announcement post for more info.

Reposts 0 Apr 1

by Michael Adams

Substack
[Update] Funding Secured for Gov Graph Development

Good news - we secured funding for the next phase of Gov Graph development!

Reposts 0 Mar 18

by Michael Adams

Substack
How to Attend a Board of Supervisors Meeting

A guide to what you will see and how it all works The Board of Supervisors is the legislative body for the City and County of San Francisco, and you can watch them make the laws. Witnessing government is both mundane and magical, and you’ll get more out of it if you understand what’s happening and know what to expect.

Reposts 0 Mar 10

by Michael Adams

Substack
DOGE is Here

A quick review of the Executive Order establishing DOGE DOGE is officially here thanks to an Executive Order signed by Trump shortly after his inauguration on January 21, 2025. The EO is short—only 658 words total. Here’s a quick rundown of the text and some thoughts on what it might mean:

Reposts 0 Jan 21

by Michael Adams

Substack
How SF Gov Works: Applications Open

Applications for cohort 5 of How SF Government Works are open now until January 31st! Applications for cohort 5 of How SF Government Works are open now until January 31st! Apply below or check out the announcement post for more info.

Reposts 0 Jan 7

by Michael Adams

Substack
SF Government Graph v2 is Live

Building our way toward good government Citizens in San Francisco and beyond have demanded change, and in 2025, they’re going to get it. Incoming Mayor Daniel Lurie is set to prioritize government accountability, while the newly elected Board of Supervisors will start the process of commission reform as mandated by the passage of

Reposts 0 Dec 18

by Michael Adams

Substack
Competing Ballot Measures

How political games shape your ballot Ballot measures are laws we vote on directly, and in San Francisco, we vote on a lot of them. Competing ballot measures are proposed laws addressing the same or similar topic that appear on the ballot at the same time and are mutually exclusive.

Reposts 0 Nov 5

by Michael Adams

Substack
Structural Reform on the Ballot

Analysis of November 2024 Prop D I think we are unlikely to achieve good government if the majority of voters have no ability to reason about ballot measures they’re voting on. But it’s also pretty hard to make sense of these things. Learning the fundamentals of government is an important step, but so is finding reliable sources of information. This analysis of November 2024 Prop D is …

Reposts 0 Nov 3

by Michael Adams

Substack
Voting On Things You Don’t Understand

Why direct democracy isn't working and how to do it better. Our governments are failing us and we’re mad about it. Our solution is… voting on things we don’t understand once every couple years. As the cycle repeats, we lose faith in each other and the system itself.

Reposts 0 Oct 26

by Michael Adams

Substack
Research Resources for SF Government

What you can find and where to find it. There is more information about government available to you than you might expect. This is a list of resources I refer to often. You’ll find legal sources, budget data, meeting information, and much more!

Reposts 0 Sep 28

by Michael Adams

Substack
Bowling Alone in San Francisco

Living through the story of collpase and renewal in Robert Putnam's classic on American community. Living through the story of collpase and renewal in Robert Putnam's classic on American community.

Reposts 0 Sep 1

by Michael Adams

Substack
Introducing the SF Government Graph

The first complete map of San Francisco's government The first complete map of San Francisco's government

Reposts 0 Aug 27

by Michael Adams

Substack
How SF Government Works: Applications Open

Applications for cohort 4 of How SF Government Works are open now until September 2! Applications for cohort 4 of How SF Government Works are open now until September 2! Apply below or check out the announcement post for more info.

Reposts 0 Aug 19

by Michael Adams

Substack
How SF Government Works: Applications Open

Applications for cohort 3 of How SF Government Works are open now until July 8. Applications for cohort 3 of How SF Government Works are open now until July 8! Apply below or check out the announcement post for more info.

Reposts 0 Jun 24

by Michael Adams

Substack
A Complete List of SF Government Entities

How "bureaucratic" is SF, exactly? Any decent conversation about government includes a lament about endless “bureaucracy”. But how bureaucratic is government, exactly? That would be helpful to know if you wanted to lament with confidence, and it would be essential to know if you wanted to do something about it.

Reposts 0 Jun 6

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