The measure of America at 250: Q&A with the Tulane economist hoping data can help Americans find common ground

Tulane economics professor Douglas Harris likes to call the United States a "laboratory for democracy." And as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, Harris is examining the American experiment where much of it has always taken place: in the states.

Harris is director of the State of the Nation Project, a wide-ranging research initiative funded by Tulane's Murphy Institute and devised to answer a question that sounds simple enough: How is America doing?

This year, Harris and his team released the State of the States report, which delved into 31 metrics across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The project is guided by Harris and a bipartisan group of scholars, policy experts and advisers to former presidents from both parties, all looking to measure the country's progress across a broad set of indicators. The result is a portrait of a country that remains materially strong but emotionally and civically strained. Every state is improving in child mortality and state income, for example. However, no state is improving on individual measures such as life satisfaction, depression, trust in the federal government and income inequality.

"At a time of such polarization, misinformation and pessimism, it's important to get a clear sense of how we're really doing on what matters most. It turns out that states - red and blue - mostly share the same struggles," Harris said. "This is the first report of its kind to examine not only economic outcomes but social, civic and personal outcomes by state."

We asked Harris about the State of the States report, what he learned and the conversations he hopes to spark.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The full report and state-by-state findings are available at stateofnation.org.

It's no small feat to attempt to place a finger on the pulse of a nation, let alone one of America's size. Why was this such an important undertaking?

There's a saying that 'what gets measured gets done.' What we're saying is, let's measure what's important so we can get important things done. The 250th anniversary is a celebration of the country, and the country is a nation of states. So, we need to rediscover the "laboratory of democracy" and learn from each other. Our State of the States report can help by pushing states to look at where their neighbors are getting better outcomes and learning what they're doing differently.

You've spent years assembling data that paints a picture of modern America, from the State of the Nation project last year to this year's State of the States project. What have you learned?

Over the last three decades, we have seen two things. One, the economy is strong, and there's every reason to think it's going to continue to head in a good direction. Certainly, some people are not feeling those benefits, but overall, compared to other countries, there's not much question that the U.S. is one of the best in the world by any measure. On the other hand, we're doing a pretty poor job of converting that into well-being. So, if we think about it in terms of the 250th, what the founders were trying to accomplish in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness doesn't seem to be happening. Incomes are rising, but well-being is not. At least people don't feel it. The good news is we have a lot of resources to work with. We just need to do a better job of harnessing them to improve well-being for the country.

This latest report compared all 50 states and Washington, D.C., across 31 topics in areas such as children and families, mental health, education and civil liberties, important topics that influence everyday life. How difficult was it to assemble this data into accurate analysis?

It's difficult. It began with a simple question of 'How are we doing?' We identified 37 measures for the State of the Nation report, and 31 of those could be applied at the state level. With each metric reported three different ways across 50 states and the District of Columbia, we had 4,000 indicators. And then the herculean task of assembling it into something useful. Luckily, we had incredible web designers and research analysts - including many Tulane undergraduates - assisting in that process.

But to go back further, this began with almost three years of work creating and meeting with this very wide-ranging board from across the political spectrum, a group of Democrats and Republicans that included advisers to the last five U.S. presidents. In the beginning, we were not even sure we would be able to agree enough that we'd actually produce anything, so the fact that we have produced anything at all is, I think, actually a hopeful sign.

You referred to America as a laboratory of democracy, but it also seems like the bipartisan meetings that powered this project were exercises in democracy themselves.

Absolutely. We did a survey of the American people last year to get their views, and then we - the board - voted to get a topic or measure in the report. Everybody on the board voted and everybody's vote counted the same. A topic had to have 75% of votes or more to be included. Then we put this exact same vote to the American people and asked them which topics they prioritized. The results were not exactly the same between the board and the public. And that's why an important part of this is the process and the willingness to listen to everybody in this age of polarization. If we can do the same for policy, we could put differences aside, focus on what's important and get a lot done.

Your study has found polarization increasing in recent years and addressed the gap between economic success and personal well-being. But you've also framed these findings as an opportunity for unity.

In areas of personal and social well-being, basically every state is declining or at least not improving, and I think that should make us band together in ways usually reserved for times of war. Many of us share the same fears and maybe the same hopes. We know we're not going to suddenly change the world with our reports, but hopefully the project can move that conversation forward in some small way. If we could get people talking about the things that matter most, we might be able to address the problems that matter most.

America began as a conversation, right?

Exactly.