The National Governors’ Association conference continues today in Providence, Rhode Island. Attendees are talking about policy issues ranging from trade to technology to cyber challenges.

States have long been thought of as “laboratories of democracy” as former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis described them in a 1932 case.

But as politics generally have become more polarized, are states taking a more active role in experimentation?

With me to talk about this is Richard Herrera, an associate professor of political science in ASU’s School of Politics and Global Studies.