Seizing control of the Senate, House and presidency for the first time since 2010, the new Biden administration must leverage the Democratic legislative majority to lay out a moonshot initiative and make affordable housing attainable for all Americans. This idea is certainly not new. In 2016, reporter Jake Blumgart proposed a similar plan to rally the presidential campaigns before President Trump’s eventual election win, and author Matthew Desmond has been advocating for this policy through his research and…

The insurrection of Wednesday, January 6th in our nation's Capitol building that attempted to subvert the electoral process not only reveals the anti-democratic stance of President Trump (see the blog post here and below), it also exposes the pressing need to restore democratic practices, norms, and laws. Public policy schools play a vital role in preparing people for public service and in providing advice to governments. As the Dean of a public policy school and…

By Jessica Newfield (MPA Candidate ‘21) On January 30th 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Five weeks later, COVID-19 was labelled a pandemic. On March 11th, in a briefing in Geneva, the WHO Director General expressed his concern for “the alarming levels of spread, severity, and inaction”. This pivotal period begs the question of why COVID-19 was taken more seriously in some countries than others.…

 What drives you every day? I am a daughter of Hmong refugees from the Secret War in Laos. I grew up the middle child of five in the humble city of St. Paul, Minnesota. It was very much my community’s and their personal struggles that informed my parents’ outlook on public service. Even though they didn’t have much, they gave everything they had to give back to their community with interpretation services, as one…

The Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley invites applications for a quarter time, non-tenure track academic year Full Adjunct Professor position. GSPP is seeking a path-breaking scholar-practitioner who can provide leadership for its efforts to expand its curriculum in the social justice area and who can immediately teach a course in that area. GSPP is looking for a senior policy scholar or professional with a JD or a PhD who has extensive…

In light of November being Native American Heritage Month, Equity in Public Policy (EQUiPP) wanted to share resources to honor ongoing Indigenous resistance and acknowledge the true history of Thanksgiving. Thank you to Students of Color in Public Policy (SCiPP) and the Native American Student Development (NASD) office at Berkeley for providing some of these resources. First and foremost, we offer this land acknowledgment from NASD: UC Berkeley sits on the territory of xučyun …

By Jessica Newfield (MPA Candidate '21) Speakers: Sunshine Hillygus, Professor of Political Science, Duke University Veronica Terriquez, Associate Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Cruz          Ben Wessel, Director, NextGen Rising; Executive Director, NextGen America Moderated by Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, Vice President of Communications, DoorDash The US elections have historically witnessed low young voter turnout. Though still in lower percentages than their older counterparts, this 2020 election saw a sharp increase in the youth vote. On…

The Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, invites applications for a pool of qualified temporary instructors to work as lecturers, teaching courses in a School that confers professional graduate degrees (MPP and MPA) and the PhD degree in Public Policy. The courses may encompass both core curriculum (Economics, Quantitative Methods, Law & Public Policy, Introduction to Policy Analysis, Advanced Policy Analysis, and Politics & Public Policy); as well as its breadth curriculum (policy applications in…

Economist Hilary Hoynes explores her research in the COVID-19 crisis. She discusses the effects on low wage worker and the tripling of food insecurity in children. She also looks at the consequences of the delays and lack of inclusion in relief packages. Hoynes is a Professor of Public Policy and Economics and Haas Distinguished Chair in Economic Disparities at the UC Berkeleys Goldman School of Public Policy. Watch the video on YouTube. 

By Jessica Newfield (MPA Candidate '21) The 2020 US election has been called “historic” for several reasons, including the highest voter turnout since 1968, the most votes for a presidential candidate in history, and the first incumbent American head of state to not concede and incite violence in the face of a certain victory for his opponent. In a recent interview for Democracy Now, Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under…