Event Recap

Democratic backsliding in the United States

On February 11, BESI invited legal and political scholars from across the UC Berkeley campus to help contextualize a rapidly infolding constitutional crisis.

Event Recap

Brian Judge: Democracy in default

Since the 1980s, liberal democracies have turned to finance as a way to depoliticize distributive conflict.

A balance scale with a sunset in the background.
Event Recap

Daniel Chandler: Free and equal

Chandler's take makes the case for a progressive agenda that would reshape society for the better.

Smoke surrounds a fortune teller's crystal ball.
Event Recap

Rachel Weber: Seizing the means of prediction

Analysts and speculators don't have any special cognitive access to the future. But that doesn't stop them from trying their hand at divination, says Rachel Weber. The consequence is our dysfunctional real estate market.

Event Recap

BESI hosts lunch with Ezra Klein, graduate students

On October 5, BESI hosted a lunch conversation between New York Times journalist and podcast host Ezra Klein and Ph.D. students from the Designated Emphasis in Political Economy and Jurisprudence and Social Policy programs.