Quality of governance in California is hugely important for the U.S. and for the world. California is home to over 39 million Americans, and 14% of national GDP. Its high tech sector is a major engine for the national economy. Despite its importance, political scientists have long overlooked California, as academic incentives push researchers to national or cross-state analysis.
This moment calls for greater attention to California politics and governance. Poor governance, particularly in housing production, has fueled unaffordability and poverty. Between 2020 and 2024, California had the second highest out-migration of any state, after New York. Across a number of policy domains — housing, childcare, food, unemployment benefits, and others — California government has struggled with policy implementation. Negative views of California, even if they are only partially rooted in facts, are weakening the Democratic Party at a time when Democratic strength is critical to facing down threats from the White House.
Our mission is to help improve policy and governance in California by producing research and insights that help practitioners achieve reforms. Utilizing social science methods, we produce original analysis and draw insights from existing research to contribute usable knowledge on California’s governance challenges and develop workable policy solutions.
Our research and analysis draws on sophisticated methods and the newest social science research to better understand the issues facing California today. Through our applied research, we provide new perspectives that can help practitioners to achieve critical reforms.
Our convenings provide a structure for policy advocates, researchers, and other stakeholders to share insights about California’s challenges — and how to overcome them.
May 21, 2026
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BESI welcomes inquiries from UC Berkeley faculty and graduate-level scholars working in political economy. To learn more about our research programs and how to get involved in BESI, please use our contact form.
July 31, 2026
California, with its progressive tax system and dynamic economy, has some of the highest levels of per-capita government spending in the country. But state programs systematically suffer from fragmentation and complexity. Part 4 of our white paper series argues that, to make the state more affordable, we need to streamline and simplify public programs to more effectively help residents cope with high costs.
June 18, 2026
To address its unaffordability problem, California must reform regressive regulations. Time and time again the state has pursued progressive goals through policies that raise the cost of essentials — hitting low-income residents hardest. This regressively funded progressivism is a major driver of California’s high cost of living. Part 3 of our white paper series explores how these costly and often ineffective regulations work and offers a path toward durable reform.
May 14, 2026
The primary driver of California’s unaffordability and poverty is our high cost of living. And the foremost driver of high costs in California is a policy regime that makes it difficult to build the physical infrastructure we need to deliver essentials, particularly housing. Part 2 of our white paper series on making California more affordable explains the origins of growth restrictions in California, explores the implications of those restrictions, analyzes the politics of pro-growth policies, and offers a path forward to achieve sustainable growth.
March 12, 2026
California is less affordable and poorer than it should be given the strength of our economy. Part 1 of our white paper series on making California more affordable presents the basic facts on California’s unaffordability problem. Most strikingly, California’s high costs and insufficient incomes give California the highest poverty rate in the country when accounting for cost of living.
March 12, 2026
Read BESI director Paul Pierson’s introduction to our four-part white paper series on addressing California’s affordability problem.
April 24, 2025
Liberal-leaning states governed by Democrats have faced criticism in recent years for their high cost of living. This policy brief draws on rigorous data and evidence to analyze the blue-state cost-of-living problem. We show that the red-blue cost-of-living divide is driven primarily by high housing costs in blue states, which are in turn driven primarily by restrictions on growth in blue-state metro areas.
California suffers from an affordability crisis. Our white paper series explores the drivers of unaffordability in California and presents policy reforms to make the state more affordable. Policy failures are generally rooted in political failures, so we also propose upstream political and governance reforms to help affordability-enhancing measures take hold and endure.
