News

IGS Co-Director Schickler connects Californians' "heightened sense of public disorder" to election of new LA District Attorney Hochman, CNN reports

December 1, 2024
Emma Tucker

In the aftermath of the 2024 general election, August Berkeley IGS poll data showing 60% of likely Los Angeles County voters thought public safety declined in the previous three years proves prophetic: Los Angeles elects former Republican candidate for California attorney general and federal prosecutor, Nathan Hochman as the new district attorney for the largest district in the nation. California voters also voted to recall overwhelmingly for Proposition 36, which imposes stricter penalties for some drug and theft crimes, as Oakland voters chose to recall progressive DA Pamela...

Co-Director Schickler cited in WaPo article on the historical precedents of electing a Speaker of the House

January 3, 2023
Matthew Brown

In the midst of an historic and contentious vote for the next Speaker of the House, Washington Post interviews IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler to discuss the the history of how political alliances were formed and shaped to consolidate a party's political power around this consequential position of leadership.

To read the full article, click here.

Co-Director Schickler's book "Racial Realignment" highlighted in NYT newsletter on SCOTUS Voting Rights Act ruling

June 9, 2023
Ezra Bristow

In the latest issue of the Interpreter, Amanda Taub outlines several crucial readings that help contextualize the significance of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act. Seen as a surprising move by the conservative bench, the ruling upheld and reaffirmed one of the crucial remaining powers of the landmark act. Taub identifies "Racial Realignment:The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932–1965", by IGS Co-Director and UC Berkeley Professor of Political Science, Eric Schickler, as a key perspective to help explain how "a bottom-up alliance of powerful trade unions...

IGS Co-Director Schickler featured in Berkeley News article as Cal's top political scholars weigh in on Biden's announcement to withdraw his candidacy

July 22, 2024
Edward Lempinen

With Biden stepping down, Vice President Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom are seen as Democratic frontrunners. UC Berkeley's Co-Director of IGS Eric Schickler believes Harris has the edge, especially with Biden's backing, and her nomination could be historic as the first Black woman president. Republicans may struggle to cast Harris as weak on crime due to her prosecutorial background.

From the article: It is a moment of extraordinary significance in U.S. political history: Joe Biden, 81 years old and seemingly frail, is stepping away from his...

IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler's political analysis cited in the New York Times

December 30, 2025

In answer to the question “Why does Trump get away with it?” NYT Opinion columnist Thomas Edsall quotes IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler’s recent Political Science Quarterly article, “What Donald Trump has Taught us about American Political Institutions,” stating: "it would be difficult to match or improve upon” Schickler’s “overarching analysis of the contemporary dilemma over American democracy.” Read Prof. Schickler's article here.

Dusty Shelves and the Quiet Work of Democracy

December 2, 2025
Sophia Hahn

Dusty Shelves and the Quiet Work of Democracy


Since December 2023, I’ve been pulling local government documents—usually issued by cities, towns, and regional authorities—from our library stacks, preparing them for our digitization partners, and then reshelving them once again. In the process of playing this middle-man student assistant role for...

IGS Co-Director Mora co-authors a new UCLA study highlighted in LA Times showing California Republicans are divided on Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, IGS Poll finds

November 17, 2025
Itzel Luna

A new study found that Republicans in California are more divided on Trump’s immigration policies.

Latinos, young people from 18 to 29 and moderate women in the Republican Party also more significantly diverged from Trump’s policies. 46% of Latino Republicans disagreed with deporting immigrants who have resided in the country for a long time, compared with 30% of their white counterparts.

“At least some subset of Republicans are seeing that these immigration strategies are a step too far,” said G. Cristina Mora, a sociology professor and co-director of the UC Berkeley...

Spotlight on Local Planning: The Loyola Corners Specific Plan

October 30, 2025
Paul King

The Loyola Corners Specific Plan cover
Digitized in February 2025 as part of the California Local Government Documents Collection, the Loyola Corners Neighborhood Commercial Center Specific Plan (City of Los Altos, 1990) offers a vivid example of how local governments use specific plans to...

Berkeley IGS Poll in Progress this Week (Oct 20 - Oct 27)

October 20, 2025
Berkeley IGS Poll in Progress This Week

This week the Institute of Governmental Studies will be conducting another of its periodic polls of the California public about major political and public policy issues facing the state. It is a legitimate non-partisan poll sponsored by the University that is carried out by distributing email invitations via Qualtrics to a carefully constructed random sample of the state’s registered voters. Data collection will continue through Monday, October 27.

The opinions of all survey participants will remain confidential and not be...

Addressing Homelessness: California Local Government Documents

September 26, 2025
Paul King
a five year strategic homeless plan Note about the document type: The Continuum of Care (CoC) program is a key initiative administered by the U.S. Department of...