Center for Policy and Democracy

The Center for Policy and Democracy is a hub for research, teaching, and community engagement on public policy and democracy. Working across disciplines, states, and countries, we bring various perspectives to study and inform how policies and politics impact the most important issues facing democratic societies today. This research informs our unique approach to teaching public policy, showcased in the Policy Workshop Seminar and the Master of Public Policy and PhD in Public Affairs degree programs.

The deLeon Legacy

The Center on Policy and Democracy honors the legacy of Dr. Peter deLeon, a giant in the field of policy studies and policy sciences. In his work first at RAND/UCLA, then Columbia, and finally the School of Public Affairs at CU Denver, Peter pioneered several subfields of policy and authored many insightful books and articles that continue to be cited by scholars in the field. Peter mentored at least half of the students graduating from the school's PhD in Public Affairs program during the period 1990-2010 and was a generous mentor to many junior faculty members during his time at the school. We miss him dearly. 

Many thanks to Peter’s wife Linda deLeon, also a former faculty member of the school, who continues to support policy scholarship and was instrumental in the launch of the Center for Policy and Democracy through a generous gift from the Linda and Peter deLeon Fund for Policy and Democracy.

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Research and Resources

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Ongoing research projects staffed by our affiliated faculty and students are an important part of day-to-day operations at the Center for Policy and Democracy.

We are in the process of curating a collection of publications and resources showcasing both our work and work from the previous Workshop on Policy Process Research. Please check back soon!

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Teaching Policy and Democracy

The Policy Workshop Seminar

The Policy Workshop Seminar features critical analyses of policy and democracy scholarship, in-depth discussions of student research, exploration of contemporary events, and guest lectures by scholars and practitioners. 

Master of Public Policy

The Master of Public Policy (MPP) program combines the analytical features of traditional MPP degrees with the emphasis on democracy and the policy process unique to CU Denver. Learn more.

PhD in Public Affairs

The PhD in Public Affairs program has a long and proud tradition of training both practitioners and future academics. Learn more.

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Awards & Publications

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• Prof. Tanya Heikkila is the PI on a recently funded NSF Grant ($1.8 million), "Building regional climate resilience and social equity through housing and land use policy” through their Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems program.
• PhD student Anna Crawford was selected as an Emerging Scholar by the Society of Family Planning and was awarded a $7,500 grant for her dissertation research on abortion and intersectionality.
• PhD student Anna Crawford and Prof. Chris Weible had their article "The political polarization over abortion: An analysis of advocacy coalition belief systems" published in Policy Sciences.
• PhD candidate Allegra Fullerton and Prof. Chris Weible had their article "Examining emotional belief expressions of advocacy coalitions in Arkansas' gender identity politics" and blog post published in Policy Studies Journal.
  

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Featured Research: Building regional climate resilience and social equity through housing and land use policy

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Professor Tanya Heikkila, from the School of Public Affairs, is the PI on a $1.8 million National Science Foundation grant called “Building regional climate resilience and social equity through housing and land use policy." This research is in collaboration with eight CU Denver faculty from the College of Architecture and Planning, the College of Engineering, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the School of Public Affairs. The research will examine the urban designs and policies that support climate-resilient and equitable transit-oriented communities (TOCs). Specifically, the research aims to offer evidence about the conditions that enable or constrain policies that support dense, affordable, and green TOCs. Second, it will develop new analytical tools and data to help policymakers and stakeholders understand the effects of TOCs on climate resilience and housing equity. Third, the research will test how different decision-making processes can help diverse stakeholders explore and visualize potential benefits and tradeoffs associated with TOCs in urban areas. The benefit of this three-pronged approach will be identifying policy, planning, and decision-making pathways to support housing equity, while advancing critical urban climate resilience goals such as extreme heat mitigation. The project will also fund several graduate and undergraduate students from across these departments and schools for five years.

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Featured Publication

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Learning for Environmental Governance
By Tanya Heikkila and Andrea K. Gerlak

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 April 2024

Summary
Learning is critical for our capacity to govern the environment and adapt proactively to complex and emerging environmental issues. Yet, underlying barriers can challenge our capacity for learning in environmental governance. As a result, we often fail to adequately understand pressing environmental problems or produce innovative and effective solutions. This Element synthesizes insights from extensive academic and applied research on learning around the world to inform both research and practice. We distill the social and structural features of governance to help researchers and practitioners better understand, diagnose, and support learning and more adaptive responses to environmental problems.

Hear from Drs. Heikkila and Gerlak about their new book in the video below:

Elements in Earth System Governance from Cambridge University Press on Vimeo.

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Herrick Roth Lecture Series

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The Herrick Roth Lecture Series at the School of Public Affairs was established to honor the late activist, labor leader, and founder of the Colorado Forum, Herrick Roth. Mr. Roth was deeply committed to understanding what he called “horizon issues,” which he defined as long-term public concerns that needed thoughtful reflection, discussion, and understanding in order to facilitate Colorado’s meaningful and healthy growth. Thus, the Herrick Roth Community Seminar Series on Democracy aims to support and promote discussions around issues of civic engagement, political polarization, and other complicated public policy issues amongst communities within and beyond the University of Colorado Denver.

About Herrick Roth

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Connect with Us

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We’d love to connect with you! Please contact spa.cpd@ucdenver.edu to learn about ways to connect with us and to join our mailing list to receive periodic newsletters and announcements from the Center for Policy and Democracy.

There are many ways to support our work. You can make an online donation to the Linda and Peter deLeon Fund for Policy and Democracy, or contact CU Denver’s Advancement Office for other ways to give: advancement@ucdenver.edu or 303-315-3601.

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Center News

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Upcoming Seminars

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