By Andrew Cohen
For many, what used to be the domain of exaggeration and paranoia now feels all too real. From gerrymandering to voting restrictions to money’s growing influence in electoral politics, America’s very foundation — democracy and the rule of law — seems increasingly fragile.
Recognizing this broad concern, Berkeley Law’s newest research center aims to expand knowledge of underlying causes and train students to become effective guardians of our political system. The Edley Center on Law & Democracy, named after former dean Christopher Edley Jr., also wants to hit the ground running.
“There is a justifiable widespread sense that American democracy is in serious trouble,” says Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. “We, as a leading law school with a strong public mission, must be part of helping to find solutions.”
Chemerinsky announced the center’s creation Aug. 27 at a packed memorial service for Edley — his classmate at Harvard Law, Berkeley Law’s dean from 2004 to 2013, and a fierce advocate for strengthening governmental effectiveness and democratic institutions — who died in May. He noted that students will be heavily involved in the center’s research, programs, and advocacy.
Professors and constitutional law experts Daniel Farber and Jonathan S. Gould will serve as faculty co-directors of the center, and help lead its search for an executive director. Farber’s most recent book, Contested Ground: How to Understand the Limits on Presidential Power, targets one key area of concern: executive branch overreach.
“We’re looking for leverage points, issues that haven’t gotten the deep analysis and focused advocacy we can offer,” he says. “One initial focus will be efforts to politicize the entire executive branch and make it a tool for authoritarian government.”
The Pew Research Center has tracked public trust in government for more than six decades. The current figure of 20% is a far cry from the high-water mark of 77% in 1964, and a September 2023 poll showed that just 4% believe the American political system “works well.”
“We look forward to engaging the community in the work of the center,” says Gould, whose research centers on the intersection of politics and public law. “We have already hired three student research assistants and assembled a terrific faculty advisory committee, and we’re working to build relationships with lawyers and leaders outside of Berkeley as well.”
Growing anxiety
With claims of a rigged process fueling violence after the last presidential election and a number of states subsequently making it harder to vote, concerns leading up to this year’s election are rising. Meanwhile, Farber and Gould point to growing income inequality, online misinformation, apathy, and authoritarian regimes across the world as cautionary tales for the United States.
“American democracy is in trouble, trust in government is at all-time lows, we’ve just had the most troubled presidential transition since the Civil War, and an increasing number of Americans are losing faith in democracy,” Farber says. “Law is the scaffolding for our entire system of government, but legal protections for democracy aren’t nearly as robust as they need to be. Law schools are best situated to find solutions.
“As for why Berkeley: the exceptional talents of our faculty and students, the extraordinary intellectual resources of the Berkeley campus, and the law school’s unmatched commitment to public service.”
Edley dedicated much of his career to improving government and making democracy work, and served in major White House positions under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. For Clinton, he oversaw budgets and legislative initiatives for five cabinet departments spanning more than 40 independent agencies — with budget responsibility totaling hundreds of billions of dollars.
Edley was also a member of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform (known as Ford/Carter Commission), organized as a result of the contentious 2000 election. Many of the commission’s recommendations became a part of the Help America Vote Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002.
In addition to his prominent work in administrative law, education policy, and civil rights, Edley was instrumental in significantly expanding the law school’s faculty, physical space, public interest grants for students, and research centers.
“Our family is tremendously excited about the new Edley Center,” his son Christopher Edley III said at the memorial service. “We feel it will do great things for Berkeley and the world.”
Focal points
With deep legal expertise and strong connections with other schools on campus, the center will zero in on understanding the connections among and between growing inequality, eroding faith in government, and efforts to restrict civic engagement — including participation in the electoral process — working to provide actionable research and leadership on these issues.
“We’re not just planning to come up with new ideas: We want to make sure they’re effectively presented to policymakers and judges,” Farber says. “If we’re successful, our work will be reflected in new policies and court rulings … We’re not doing this for fun. If we haven’t made a difference, we’ve failed.”
The center will prioritize structural protections for democracy and the rule of law in the U.S. Gould says that because democracy requires effective institutions — including electoral institutions, the presidency, bureaucracy, courts, Congress, and state and local governments — the center’s activities will likely feature research, white papers and reports, proposed legislation and regulations, and public engagement.
A key area of emphasis will be involving students in every aspect of the center’s work, including partnering with law school clinics.
“We must involve our students as the next generation of leaders in law and society,” says Chemerinsky, whose new book No Democracy Lasts Forever asserts that the Constitution has become a threat to democracy rather than a protector of it. “The center will provide programs for students, likely lead to more classes, and provide opportunities for students to be engaged in research on important issues.”
Toward that end, the center’s first offering is a five-part speaker series this semester with leading experts addressing pivotal topics: the state of American democracy; democracy, the press, and social media; democracy, elections, and the courts; presidential power and democracy; and democracy and judicial power.
“We wanted to engage the Berkeley Law community in conversation about many issues facing democracy and the rule of law,” Gould says. “We quickly realized just how many in-house experts we have — on the courts, executive power, electoral issues, the press and social media, and other key issues. With the election approaching, a speaker series seemed especially timely.”