Downsizing Local News Contributes to Crumbling Infrastructure
Reading strong local journalism is tied to greater support for funding dams, sewers and other basic infrastructure vital to climate resilience, according to new research from UCLA and Duke University. The study, published this month in the journal Political Behavior, found that reading fictionalized samples of news coverage with specific local details about infrastructure maintenance requirements led to as much as 10% more electoral support for infrastructure spending compared to reading bare-bones reporting. Just a few extra paragraphs of context in the mock news stories not only increased support for spending, but also increased voters’ willingness to hold politicians accountable for infrastructure neglect by voting them out of office. “Heat, floods, drought and fire are putting new stress on aging and deteriorating infrastructure, which must be maintained to protect communities against these growing climate risks,” said Megan Mullin, faculty director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation and co-author of the study. “Our study shows that investing in facilities that improve our resilience to climate hazards requires investing in the health of local news.” Deep cuts to local news staffs nationwide have led to reduced original reporting and local political stories in favor of national news that can be centrally produced and shared in many newspapers within the same ownership structure, the study’s authors noted. “Empty newsrooms and AI reporting don’t provide communities with the information they need to make investments for their own health and security,” said Mullin, a UCLA Luskin professor of public policy whose research focuses on environmental politics. — Alison Hewitt
Weisburst Selected as National Bureau of Economic Research Fellow
Emily Weisburst, assistant professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, has been named a faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Weisburst, a labor economist who studies the economics of crime, criminal justice and legal policy, education and immigration, is one of 54 fellows chosen this year. Appointees were selected after a review by directors of NBER’s 20 research programs, who consulted with steering committees made up of leading scholars. Weisburst will work with NBER’s Law and Economics Program, which studies the economic dimensions of specific legal rules and the broader legal system. She also has affiliations with UCLA’s California Policy Lab and California Center for Population Research, and is a research affiliate at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). Weisburst’s recent scholarship sheds light on the factors that impact police decision-making and public trust in police, and how interactions with the criminal justice system affect individuals, families and communities.
Public Affairs Grad Named 2024 Young Alumnus of the Year
Born at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, UCLA quarterback Chase Griffin has been a true lifelong Bruin, earning a bachelor’s degree in public affairs in 2021 and a master’s in education in 2023. Now he’s poised to add a UCLA master’s in legal studies to the list. Recently named the 2024 Young Alumnus of the Year for his leadership and philanthropic commitment, Griffin has leveraged his status as one of college football’s most recognizable athletes to raise awareness of social justice issues and encourage corporations to invest in community organizations. Griffin, a leader in the NIL (name, image, likeness) licensing, which gives student-athletes power over their personal brand, launched the Chase Griffin Foundation to help combat food insecurity and has donated more than $50,000 of his NIL earnings to the Los Angeles Food Bank and other local groups. He has served on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Student-Athlete Task Force, mentored students at the Horace Mann UCLA Community School and in 2023 was initiated into the Order of the Golden Bruin, UCLA’s oldest honorary society, for his service to the university and community.
Read more about Griffin and the other 2024 UCLA Alumni Award recipients
Democracy Challenged? The 2024 Berggruen Governance Index Updated report examines new data about the relationship between the quality of democracy, governance and life around the world over time
The world has taken a small step backward on the path of democracy since 2010, according to a global index released this week by an international group of researchers. The 2024 Berggruen Governance Index, or BGI, shows slippage of measurable benchmarks of democratic accountability across 145 countries — from a 2010 average of 67 on a 100-point scale to 65 points in 2021, the latest year for which data is available. The global average had risen from 64 to 67 points between 2000 and 2010. The 96-page report, “Democracy Challenged,” was unveiled Wednesday by researchers at UCLA who collaborated on the project with the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute and the Berlin-based Hertie School. The report led by Helmut Anheier of UCLA Luskin examines the relationship between the quality of democracy, the quality of governance and the quality of life in over 140 countries over 20 years. The finding of slippage in the BGI’s Democratic Accountability Index is only a small setback, which “tempers some of the more dire assessments about the future of democracy,” the authors wrote. Countries with some of the largest declines in the democracy index are India, China, Venezuela, Thailand, Turkey, Yemen and Russia. In the European Union, Poland and Hungary saw significant backsliding, according to the report. The United States, which had risen from 91 to 95 points in the decade through 2010, has since fallen back to 86 on the democracy index. State capacity in the U.S. is also sliding, from a steady 79 points in 2010 to 64 in 2021. Yet on the public goods index, the country has steadily climbed from 84 points in 2000 to 87 in 2021. — Democracy News Alliance
Millard-Ball Receives Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
Adam Millard-Ball, professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, has received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments by scientists and scholars from around the world. Trained as an economist, geographer and urban planner, Millard-Ball conducts research on transportation, the environment and urban data science. Award recipients are invited to collaborate with scholars based in Germany, and Millard-Ball is currently on sabbatical at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin. Each year, the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award, named after the noted German astronomer and mathematician, is given to 10 to 20 internationally renowned academics. The awards are funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research and administered by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which promotes scientific advances, academic exchanges and cultural dialogue across borders. Award recipients were honored at a symposium in Bamberg, Germany, in March.
Persistent Gaps for Black Californians Would Take Over 248 Years to Close
Almost two decades ago, the inaugural State of Black California report, authored by UCLA Luskin Public Policy Professor Michael Stoll, was the first to provide a comprehensive look at how the material conditions and socioeconomic outcomes for Black Californians fared compared to other racial and ethnic groups. The latest report, published by the Black Policy Project, an initiative of the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, builds upon its predecessor by providing a comparative analysis with a sobering message: Despite improvements in the quality of life for Black communities in California since 2000, racial inequality stubbornly persists and may continue to do so for centuries to come unless more is done. Using an extensive set of census data, researchers found:
- Black Californians’ overall socioeconomic outcomes improved by an average of 21.7% from 2000 to 2020, yet they still have the lowest index score of all racial minority groups and a 30% lower score than white Californians.
- For the first time in decades, the Black Californian population decreased in size, from 2.2 million to 2.1 million, and many moved out of urban centers.
- The biggest improvements in outcomes were bolstered by policy changes, particularly in relation to education and criminal justice.
Stoll, the faculty director of the Black Policy Project who also authored this year’s report, noted that Black Californians closed the overall racial gap in social and economic outcomes with whites by only 4% since 2000. “According to that rate of change, closing the racial gap between Black and white Californians would take over 248 years,” he said. — Kacey Bonner and Barbra Ramos
View the 2024 State of Black California report
Breaking Old Cycles and Envisioning New Futures
A new book by UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Professors Laura Wray-Lake and Laura Abrams tells the stories of Black youth in Los Angeles who tap into the strength of their communities to challenge injustice. “Young Black Changemakers and the Road to Racial Justice,” written with a third lead author, Elan C. Hope of North Carolina State University, and several students and recent graduates, tells the stories of 43 young Black people and their journey into a life of civic engagement. Drawing strength from their Black identities, families, communities and civic organizations, they work for a future of dignity and equality for all Black Americans. “We aim not to intellectualize the Black experience but to portray young Black changemakers’ humanity by sharing their stories in their own words,” the authors write. The book’s subjects are 13 to 18 years old, a time when they are “actively figuring out who they are, who they want to be and what they stand for. … Because young people are less entrenched in ‘the way things are’ in society, they can better envision new futures and break old cycles.” Contributors to the book with UCLA affiliations include Mariah Bonilla BA ’23 in public affairs; Elena Maker Castro PhD ’23 in human development and psychology; social welfare doctoral students Domonique Kianna Henderson and Sara Bloomdahl Wilf; Dominique Mikell Montgomery PhD ’23 in social welfare; Victoria Millet MSW ’22; and Jason Anthony Plummer PhD ’22 in social welfare. Channing Mathews of the University of Virginia also contributed. Authors of the book will join some of the young people profiled at a March 21 book launch.
