Our Mission
Governance Studies brings together people interested in improving the performance of our national government and bettering the economic security, social welfare, and opportunity available to all Americans.

Our Focus
Governance Studies research is organized around three primary areas:

• Governance and Institutional Reforms: building cooperation between branches and across party lines
• Leadership and Coalition Building: encouraging and rewarding decisive leadership
• Civic Discourse: taking concrete steps to raise civic understanding of issues facing the country

Our Research
Governance Studies has established a reputation for outstanding scholarship and research in U.S. politics, and regularly examines the major institutions of our democracy, including the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.  Our research can be found under Research & Commentary and is featured on the following pages:

• Brown Center on Education Policy: Conducts research and provides policy recommendations on topics in American education.
• Democracy in the Age of New Media: Explores ways to “re-engineer” the news industry and improve coverage of public affairs.
• E-Government: Explores ways public officials can take maximum advantage of technology to stregthen democracy and make governments more accessible, effective, and accountable to the needs of their citizens.
• Election Reform Project: Develops a bipartisan, practical national policy agenda for election reform and monitor the implementation of HAVA and its proposed amendments.
• Governing Ideas: Broadens the discussion of governance issues through forums on timely and relevant books on history, culture, legal norms and practices.
• Government Partnerships with Faith-Based Organizations: Examines government partnerships with religious and secular groups that serve people in need, and the current administration’s approach in its Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
• GovWatch: Monitors the progress of the economic recovery, examines how our political institutions—Congress, the executive branch and administrative agencies—are performing, and analyze how the public and media are responding.
• Health IT: Explores the benefits of health IT and, in particular, how it can improve quality and value in health care.
• Issues in Governance Studies: Papers from Governance Studies that evaluate the strength of civic and governing institutions in the U.S.
• Judicial Issues Forum: Addresses the major legal and juridical debates and events of the day and weigh their potentially far-reaching implications.
• Legal Architecture for the War on Terror: Explores the challenge of creating laws tailored to fighting terrorism in the twenty-first century.
• Red and Blue Nation: Explores the causes and correction of partisan polarization in the U.S.

Our Staff
The program is directed by Darrell M. West. Learn more about who we are by visiting our Expert pages.

Bethany Hase, Director of Budget and Administration
Courtney Dunakin, Development Officer l email
Ellen Higgins, Program Manager
Christine Jacobs, Communication Officer
Jenny Lu, Assistant to the VP
Raffaela Wakeman, Research Assistant
Emily Luken, Project and Outreach Coordinator
Korin Davis, Special Projects Coordinator
John Seo, Program Assistant