The Program on Public Life

Here is a selection of our most recent publications. You may download these publications from this website, and we appreciate your citing them in your work.

NC DataNet
NC DataNet Archives		 2014: Voters Born Elsewhere in N.C. Electorate
The July 2014 issue of NC DataNet describes the geographic dispersion of voters who recently registered in North Carolina after moving from another state. You will find the full report through three links:
1) A 12-page issue of DataNet that you may download
2) a collection of interviews of in-migrant voters by UNC journalism students, and
3) an interactive graphic that allows you to click on an icon and see how many voters to a particular state have registered to vote in each North Carolina county.

Interviews & Data Interactive
NC DataNet
NC DataNet Archives		 2012: The Year of a Republican Wave
How did North Carolina, which swung to Democrats in 2008, swing so decisively to Republicans in 2012? This issue of NC DataNet explores this question by examining the 2012 exit poll on both the presidential and gubernatorial races in the state.  There is also an examination of trends in voter performance in the major metropolitan counties.
NC DataNet
NC DataNet Archives		 Profile of a Battleground Electorate
There was an error on page four of this DataNet describing NC voters by party and ideology. We have posted a correction in the link below this summary.The October 2012 issue of NC DataNet offers three views of North Carolina as a battleground state in presidential elections:
1) through the prism of exit polls,
2) through voter-registration trends, and
3) through an examination of spending on TV spots.
This DataNet serves as a profile of the North Carolina electorate for the 2012 election. The next issue will present an examination of the results of the 2012 election in North Carolina.
Electorate Change Correction
NC DataNet
NC DataNet Archives		 Will ‘Obama spike’ re-emerge in 2012?
The May 2012 issue of NC DataNet examines patterns of party registration and voter turnout in North Carolina in the 2000-2010 decade. Among the findings is that Democratic registration has consolidated in metropolitan counties, while Republican registration has a more suburban and rural orientation. Issued shortly before North Carolina voters take part in the 2012 primaries, DataNet also presents a short history of presidential primaries in the state.
NC DataNet
NC DataNet Archives		 North Carolina’s Big 15 in Voter Turnout
The July 2011 NC DataNet assesses political implication of population shifts that have positioned metropolitan counties as prime election battlegrounds. This issue focuses on the 15 counties that accounted for 53 percent of the total votes cast in the 2008 presidential and gubernatorial elections. Metro areas feature Democratic vs. Republican divides, a growing base of unaffiliated voters and substantial numbers of unregistered Hispanic residents.
Carolina Context
Carolina Context Archives		 Eastern NC: Greenville Rises to the Top as a Strong “Hub”
The July 2011 Carolina Context presents the findings of the Program on Public Life’s project in collaboration with North Carolina’s Eastern Region, one of the state’s seven economic development partnerships. Looking at the 13-county region through a metropolitan lens, the paper holds out the prospect of Greenville serving as a strong “hub” for the region, and it calls on young professionals to step up their engagement in determining the future of Eastern North Carolina.
Carolina Context
Carolina Context Archives		 North Carolina’s “Dealmakers” in the Energy and Green Economy Sectors
The June 2011 Carolina Context contains two interrelated essays, using the “dealmaker” framework of Ted Zoller to explore the potential and challenges facing North Carolina as it seeks to advance in the energy and green-economy sectors. Zoller, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, and his colleague Frank Ethridge are the authors for this issue, which stemmed from collaboration with the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.