Public Policy and Society (Video)

As voters prepare to head to the polls on Election Day, join the Goldman School of Public Policy and Cal Performances for a critical look at the moment we’re in, the issues that have shaped and led us to this year’s tumultuous election, and the future of American democracy. UC Berkeley experts from former presidential administrations—Janet Napolitano, former Secretary of Homeland Security under the Obama administration (2009-2013); Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under the Clinton administration (1993-1997); and Maria Echaveste, former Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Chief of Staff under the Clinton Administration (1998-2001)—as well as PolicyLink founder-in-residence and Chief Vision Officer for the Goldman School of Public Policy’s new Democracy Policy Initiative, Angela Glover Blackwell. Series: "The Goldman School - Berkeley Public Policy" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 40302]

How did Ronald Reagan’s vision of the American Dream lead to Donald Trump’s success? Looking back to 1983, Diane Winston, professor of journalism and communication at the University of Southern California, discusses how evangelical religion, the news media, and social turmoil culminated in MAGA’s Second Coming. Winston shows that many journalists uncritically adopted Reagan’s religious rhetoric and broadcast his otherwise unpopular evangelical ideas about limited government and individual responsibility. Winston’s lecture is based on her recent book, Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan’s Evangelical Vision. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 40173]

This program discusses humanist and scholar Walter Capps’ political career and the ongoing value of public service. The panel discussion features four people who have all worked as public servants: former U.S. Senator and Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey; Lois Capps, former Congresswoman who served as a U.S. Representative from 1998-2017 representing Santa Barbara and the Central Coast, Laura Capps, the Second District Supervisor for Santa Barbara County; and Todd Capps, founding Executive Director of the Common Table Foundation. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 39721]

Across the United States, homelessness has been on the rise. In California, there have been over 181,000 people without a stable place to call home—about 30 percent of the nation’s homeless population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, those numbers continued to rise as earnings dropped and the housing affordability crisis worsened. What interventions have prevented people from becoming homeless? What lessons have we learned from local, regional, and statewide efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness in the Bay Area and beyond? The Terner Center for Housing Innovation, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and a diverse panel of cross-sector experts and advocates collaborated for a discussion on reducing poverty and addressing homelessness in California. Series: "The Goldman School - Berkeley Public Policy" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 39849]

In this program, Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA, examines how police in the neoliberal era–in tandem with other state and corporate entities—have become engines of capital accumulation, government revenue, gentrification, the municipal bond market, the tech and private security industry—in a phrase, the profits of death. Kelley argues the police don’t just take lives; they make life and living less viable for the communities they occupy. The growth of police power has also fundamentally weakened democracy and strengthened “thanatocracy”—rule by death– especially with respect to Black communities.

Kelley says these same communities have produced a new abolition democracy, organizing to advance a different future, without oppression and exploitation, war, poverty, prisons, police, borders, the constraints of imposed gender, sexual, and ableist norms, and an economic system that destroys the planet while generating obscene inequality. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 39780]

The 2021-2022 term of the U.S. Supreme Court is widely considered to be the most consequential in living memory. Bruen, West Virginia v. EPA, Dobbs—the Court’s rulings in these controversial cases weakened gun restrictions, hobbled the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to fight climate change, and overturned the constitutional protection for abortion rights nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade. In The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, Brennan Center for Justice president Michael Waldman examines the term’s major cases, the meaning of “originalism”—a new, extreme method of interpreting the Constitution—and offers proposals for reform. Join Waldman and Maria Echaveste, President and CEO of the Opportunity Institute and former senior White House official, for an in-depth look at the tumultuous 2021-2022 term and a discussion of how these decisions will affect every American for generations to come. Series: "The Goldman School - Berkeley Public Policy" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 39848]

In this program, Professor Martin Hilbert, Chair of Computational Social Sciences at UC Davis, discusses AI and ethical policy-making. He looks at the tradeoffs between unimaginable wealth and existential risks, and new roles for human minds. Series: "UC Center Sacramento" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39708]

In this program, Professor Matthew Harding distills the current state of the economic literature on AI, explores the major industries in California that are likely to be impacted by AI, and considers gaps that could hinder California’s ability to manage and harness the potential benefits of an AI-led boom.

Series: "UC Center Sacramento" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39652]

What role should AI play in the functioning of governmental processes? In this program, Michael Karanicolas, Executive Director of the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law & Policy, discusses the need for safeguards and guidance in using AI across the administrative state. It provides a straightforward and accurate assessment formula for agencies to assess whether or not algorithmic tools are appropriate for a particular process and, if so, what safeguards and strategies for oversight, public consultation, monitoring, and assessment are appropriate for each case. Series: "UC Center Sacramento" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 39651]

What's the root cause of poverty in America? And how do we fix it? In this discussion, Matthew Desmond, renowned Princeton sociologist and author of "Poverty, by America," talks about why poverty persists in the U.S. with Marc-Andreas Muendler, economic professor at UC San Diego. Desmond argues we can end poverty through grassroots activism and a willingness to target systems that perpetuate it, like local zoning laws. Desmond was catapulted into the national spotlight as a leading authority on modern American poverty when his Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” made its debut in 2016. His work has been supported by the Gates, Horowitz, Ford, JBP, MacArthur, and National Science, Russell Sage, and W.T. Grant Foundations, as well as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39385]