democracy

An informal portrait of retired U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson, hands clasped, smiling thoughtfully

Law

Thelton Henderson: Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act, the struggle continues

The civil rights icon and former federal judge, now a visiting professor at UC Berkeley Law, was a witness to the violent efforts to block Black people from voting in the 1960s South. Today, he says, some want to turn back the clock.

image of a drag queen in a green feather headress reading a book to a group of children

Politics & society

‘Gender issues’ are being used as cover to erode democracy, UC Berkeley report finds

Side-by-side headshots of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Politics & society

In red state redistricting wars, Democrats have few good options, scholar says

an eerie illustration, in stark red and black, of the US Capitol inverted and mirrored

Politics & society

Two-thirds of Californians believe US democracy is ‘under attack,’ says new Berkeley IGS Poll

A horizontal poster of two blue-black hands cupped and holding the words,

‘We hold these truths’: UC Berkeley law dean leads bi-partisan pro-democracy project

an illustration showing a crowd of people inside a head, with a cord and plug extending from the brain. The cord is unplugged from a US flag superimposed on a map of the nation.

‘We the people’ is a timeless ideal of American democracy. What’s gone wrong?

arcing rows of empty chairs in a legislative chamber

Global study finds most people want gender-balanced government, even if quotas are needed

The dome of the California state capitol in Sacramento, with flags

Good news, bad news, in report on the state of California democracy

With a row of American flags on the left and right side of the frame, Donald Trump walks in the distance while supporters cheer

UC Berkeley scholars say the economy, sexism and conspiracies fueled Trump’s reelection

paired campaign-event images of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, and former president Donald Trump, the Republican candidate

A close presidential election could turn ‘messy’ — and maybe worse, scholars say

illustration featuring two views of the U.S. Capitol, mirror images in red and black

In a time of bitter polarization, Berkeley researchers find a promising solution

Kamala Harris speaking at a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, with a crowd of people cheering behind her.

A UC Berkeley linguist explores what Kamala Harris’ voice and speech reveal about her identity

President-elect Donald Trump in December, 2015, at a rally in Pennsylvania

After Trump’s election, women of color had more underweight, premature babies, study finds

Donald Trump looks toward a camera after a jury found him guilty.

Trump’s conviction ‘a triumph for the rule of law,’ but election impact is unclear, Berkeley scholars say

A mob of men, some wearing assault gear, pass by a

Racial resentment fueled Jan. 6 rebellion and opposition to House probe, scholars find

$photo illustration of a fractured political landscape, alternating fragments of red and blue, with protesters, U.S. flags and bullhorns$

Berkeley political scientists chart a promising course to ease toxic polarization

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