By John Bridgeland and Michael Nutter

In an era of gridlock and hyper-partisanship — when avoiding a federal government shutdown is cause for celebration — it’s easy to be pessimistic about government’s ability to change people’s lives for the better.

Count us among the optimists. As a Democrat who served two terms as Mayor of Philadelphia and a Republican who served as White House Domestic Policy Director under President George W. Bush, we know that progress is possible. We see it happening all around us.

While Washington lurches from one manufactured crisis to the next, committed public servants in red states and blue states — from the coasts to the heartland — are quietly transforming the way government works with a relentless focus on data, evidence and results.