Current Projects at the PPI
The PPIs major projects are described below. 

1) Best Practices of Government in Western North Carolina:  Many local governments in western North Carolina are solving the problems of governance and administration in innovative and effective ways.  In this project, we will initially survey governments in the region to determine what they are doing and what they are doing well.  We will then follow-up with in-depth, qualitative case studies of governments that the surveys reveal are leaders in one area or another.

2) Deliberative Polling: Western is a proud member of the American Democracy Project—a multi-campus initiative focused on preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy.  One of the primary initiatives of the ADP is deliberative polling—a social science method to determine how deliberation can improve dialogue and lead to a more informed, vigorous democracy.  As a key partner in this project, the PPI will conduct a deliberative poll this year in the western region. 

3) Political Polling on Campus: U-Wire, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and CBS News are polling University students about politics in key battleground states. Western was selected as an institution to participate in this program and the PPI has worked with these groups to provide a high quality random sample of Western students We will also be analyzing the WCU data and publicizing the results of the survey. Stay tuned for those results.

4) National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project: