News

Berkeley IGS Poll in Progress This Week

This week the Institute of Governmental Studies will be completing 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 Tuesday, July 25.

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

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 Resident Scholar Thomas E. Mann weighs in on the pandemic’s impact on the way Congress does business, the 2020 presidential election, and the future of American democracy, with Kelly Jones for the Institute of Governmental Studies.

IGS: What are the likely impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for the 2020 presidential election? Is the pandemic—and the Trump Administration’s handling of it—likely to hurt or help President Trump’s chances to win in November?

Thomas Mann (TM): I preface my response...

William Brandt, Chair Emeritus of IGS’s National Advisory Council, was awarded the Magis Medal for civic achievement by the National Jesuit Honor Society.

The Magis Medal is given annually by Alpha Sigma Nu, the Honor Society of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, to members who have demonstrated scholarship, loyalty and service in their work. It was established in 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Society.

“Mr. Brandt, a graduate of Saint Louis University and the University of Chicago, has a longstanding commitment to higher education, seen in his service...