The Democracy Policy Initiative is a program created by the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy that opposes election integrity policies. The organization is critical of Republican state legislators and lawyers for seeking to prosecute potential election fraud. ^{1 2}

Background

In March 2024, the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy created the Democracy Policy Initiative. It was founded using a $3.5 million grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Levi Strauss Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, and the Peter E. Haas, Jr. Fund. ³

Regarding the founding of the Democracy Policy Initiative, Goldman School of Public Policy Dean David C. Wilson stated that it was created in response to an alleged “historic moment” of attacks on democracy. The Democracy Policy Initiative uses democratic ideals to oppose election-integrity policies through its policy briefs. ⁴

Policy Briefs

The Democracy Policy Initiative criticized Republican state legislators for enacting policies that criminalize voter fraud in a policy paper titled, “The Rise of Election Policing.” It advocates against allocating state budgets toward investigating and prosecuting voter fraud. It is critical of Republican prosecutors for pursuing alleged election crimes and claims that some election-related felonies are “honest mistakes.” The brief also opposes states enacting “election integrity” offices as well as imposing civil penalties on election workers who fail audits regarding whether they follow the election code. ⁵

In a policy brief about replacing the Electoral College with a popular vote system, the Democracy Policy Initiative advocated for states to join the National Popular Vote Compact under which each state would agree to allocate all of its electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote nationally to bypass the Electoral College system. The brief is also critical of the Electoral College system for allegedly overrepresenting lower-population states and incentivizing political candidates to place too much focus on swing states. It goes on to argue that because these states have higher a population of white individuals, the Electoral College system “disenfranchises” Black voters. ⁶

The Democracy Policy Initiative’s policy brief on voter identification laws opposed them, claiming that the amount of voter fraud that occurs when voters are not required to provide identification is negligible. It also claims that voter identification laws are discriminatory against Black people and Democratic Party voters. The policy brief describes research on the racial impact of voter ID laws as “not conclusive,” and asserts that since some research shows a correlation, voter identification laws are discriminatory against ethnic minorities and transgender individuals. ⁷

Leadership

Angela Glover is the chief vision officer of the Democracy Policy Initiative as well as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. In 1999, Glover founded PolicyLink to advocate for government spending on entitlement programs in housing, health care, and other sectors for low-income individuals and ethnic minorities. Prior to PolicyLink, she served as senior vice president for the Rockefeller Foundation and founded the Urban Strategies Council. Glover has also served as an advisor to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as a member of the inaugural Community Advisors Council. ⁸

1. “UC Berkeley Launches New Democracy Policy Initiative.” Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, March 19, 2024. https://www.haasjr.org/resources/uc-berkeley-launches-new-democracy-policy-initiative.
2. Larsen, Liz. “The Rise of Election Policing.” Goldman School of Public Policy, April 5, 2023. https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/policy-initiatives/democracy-policy-initiative/policy-briefs/the-rise-of-election-policing
3. “UC Berkeley Launches New Democracy Policy Initiative.” Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, March 19, 2024. https://www.haasjr.org/resources/uc-berkeley-launches-new-democracy-policy-initiative.
4. “UC Berkeley Launches New Democracy Policy Initiative.” Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, March 19, 2024. https://www.haasjr.org/resources/uc-berkeley-launches-new-democracy-policy-initiative.
5. Larsen, Liz. “The Rise of Election Policing.” Goldman School of Public Policy, April 5, 2023. https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/policy-initiatives/democracy-policy-initiative/policy-briefs/the-rise-of-election-policing
6. Larsen, Liz. “What Is the National Popular Vote Compact?” Goldman School of Public Policy, May 24, 2023. https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/policy-initiatives/democracy-policy-initiative/policy-briefs/what-is-the-national-popular-vote-compact.
7. Larsen, Liz. “Voter ID Laws: What Do We Know So Far?.” Goldman School of Public Policy, March 19, 2023. https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/policy-initiatives/democracy-policy-initiative/policy-briefs/voter-id-laws-what-do-we-know-so-far.
8. “Angela Glover Blackwell.” Goldman School of Public Policy | University of California, Berkeley, April 24, 2024. https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/faculty/angela-glover-blackwell