Institute of Governmental Studies
Encyclopedia
The Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) is an interdisciplinary organized research unit at UC Berkeley, located in Moses Hall. Founded in 1919, IGS and its affiliated centers spearhead and promote research, programs, seminars and colloquia, training, educational activities and public service
in the fields of politics
and public policy
, with a strong focus on national and California politics. Current IGS research focuses include institutional policy and design, political reform
, term limits, campaign finance
, redistricting
, direct democracy
, presidential and gubernatorial politics, representative government, the politics of race and ethnicity, immigration
and globalization
.
, teaching, and public service, IGS expands understanding of governmental institutions and the political process, builds the intellectual capital
and practical skills of the next generation of political teachers and leaders, and informs and invigorates public debate
on important issues.
The IGS mission is to conduct and disseminate research on topics related to state and national politics and public policy, with a particular focus on institutional design and reform. IGS serves as the University's primary center for advancing research and public service on applied political science
and public policy. IGS serves students, faculty, researchers and the general public.
, public policy, law
, business
, and history
. The core faculty have published widely on many topics within the areas of institutional design, policy and politics. In addition, several of them have extensive experience working with government
s, the media
, and public commissions, adding a practical perspective to their work on institutional design and reform issues.
Berkeley Center for Globalization and Information Technology
Center for the Study of Representation
Center on Race, Immigration and Ethnicity
Building Resilient Regions
be reformed? What impact has the change in primary rules had on the political system
? In addition, IGS sponsors an extensive array of seminars on topics from game theory
to political history
, creating an intellectually stimulating environment that facilitates new advances in the social sciences.
and other campus social science units. The Institute publishes an occasional magazine called The Public Affairs Report and a new e-journal called the California Journal of Politics and Policy.
s and seminar
s, IGS provides valuable public service to the campus and state of California
in various ways. The Institute regularly hosts visits by public officials to the campus and provides outreach to state government leaders. The Institute is the key campus resource for information about politics and public policy for members of the press and general public. The IGS Library answers thousands of public queries every year and recently launched a 2.0 website that has received much acclaim for its ability to break down state propositions in a clear and accessible manner.
Milton Chernin (Acting Director): 1955-1958
Dwight Waldo: 1958-1967
Eugene C. Lee: 1967-1988
Nelson W. Polsby: 1988-1999
Bruce E. Cain
: 1999-2007
Jack Citrin: 2007–Present
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
in the fields of politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
, with a strong focus on national and California politics. Current IGS research focuses include institutional policy and design, political reform
Political Reform
The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia supports the promotion of a democratically governed Saudi Arabia. Due to its influence on an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims around the world, and its location with relation to the world's oil market, The Center believes that "Saudi Arabia...
, term limits, campaign finance
Campaign finance
Campaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...
, redistricting
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
, direct democracy
Direct democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
, presidential and gubernatorial politics, representative government, the politics of race and ethnicity, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
.
IGS Mission Statement
Through an active program of researchResearch
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, teaching, and public service, IGS expands understanding of governmental institutions and the political process, builds the intellectual capital
Intellectual capital
The value of an enterprise is made of physical assets, various financial assets and, finally, intangible assets, i.e., intellectual capital . The term intellectual capital conventionally refers to the difference in value between tangible assets and market value. ....
and practical skills of the next generation of political teachers and leaders, and informs and invigorates public debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
on important issues.
The IGS mission is to conduct and disseminate research on topics related to state and national politics and public policy, with a particular focus on institutional design and reform. IGS serves as the University's primary center for advancing research and public service on applied political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
and public policy. IGS serves students, faculty, researchers and the general public.
Faculty
IGS has an active interdisciplinary core faculty that draws from several schools and departments. In addition to political science, those disciplines include sociologySociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, public policy, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
, and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. The core faculty have published widely on many topics within the areas of institutional design, policy and politics. In addition, several of them have extensive experience working with government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s, the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, and public commissions, adding a practical perspective to their work on institutional design and reform issues.
Programs and Centers within IGS
The Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public ServiceBerkeley Center for Globalization and Information Technology
Center for the Study of Representation
Center on Race, Immigration and Ethnicity
Building Resilient Regions
Research
IGS has demonstrated in recent years an ability to organize and fund path-breaking research in the areas of institutional design and reform. The Constitutional Revision and Blanket Primary projects drew together scholars from across the UC system and in several disciplines to analyze important contemporary institutional issues — for instance, how should the California ConstitutionCalifornia Constitution
The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...
be reformed? What impact has the change in primary rules had on the political system
Political system
A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems...
? In addition, IGS sponsors an extensive array of seminars on topics from game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
to political history
Political history
Political history is the narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, and leaders. It is distinct from, but related to, other fields of history such as Diplomatic history, social history, economic history, and military history, as well as constitutional history and public...
, creating an intellectually stimulating environment that facilitates new advances in the social sciences.
Resources and Facilities
Part of the IGS mission is facilitating and disseminating research. IGS has several resources that cannot be found anywhere else in the state that allow it to play this role. The IGS Library is a valuable and unique national collection of fugitive research materials. IGS Press is a small press publisher and has entered into more formal collaborations with the University of California PressUniversity of California Press
University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
and other campus social science units. The Institute publishes an occasional magazine called The Public Affairs Report and a new e-journal called the California Journal of Politics and Policy.
Public Service
In addition to conferenceConvention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
s and seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
s, IGS provides valuable public service to the campus and state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in various ways. The Institute regularly hosts visits by public officials to the campus and provides outreach to state government leaders. The Institute is the key campus resource for information about politics and public policy for members of the press and general public. The IGS Library answers thousands of public queries every year and recently launched a 2.0 website that has received much acclaim for its ability to break down state propositions in a clear and accessible manner.
IGS Directors
Samuel C. May: 1921-1955Milton Chernin (Acting Director): 1955-1958
Dwight Waldo: 1958-1967
Eugene C. Lee: 1967-1988
Nelson W. Polsby: 1988-1999
Bruce E. Cain
Bruce E. Cain
Bruce E. Cain is the Heller Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley and Executive Director of the University of California, Washington Center. Professor Cain’s fields of interest include American politics, democratic theory and state and local government. He has written extensively on...
: 1999-2007
Jack Citrin: 2007–Present