Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pointing to a busy retirement next year. She and the University of California, Berkeley, are partnering to form a new nonpartisan academic institute they say will be dedicated to strengthening democracy.
Pelosi, a Democrat who has represented San Francisco for nearly 40 years and is not seeking reelection, will also participate in the organization’s academics by co-teaching a course on Congress. The Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy will launch in January.
“I am honored to partner with this exceptional community of scholars and students so we can equip the next generation with the tools they need to strengthen our democratic institutions and forge a future that serves the public good,” Pelosi said.
The university says the institute will be focused on four pillars: strengthening America’s democratic institutions; overcoming challenges to society, the economy and the planet; promoting human and civil rights; and ensuring political leadership that represents the full spectrum of perspectives and backgrounds.
Examples of the research that will be pursued include how to address climate change and wealth inequality and which electoral changes could be made to reduce voter polarization.
The Nancy Pelosi Institute has already received more than $35 million in philanthropic commitments. UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said the institute aligns with the university’s commitment to foster civil discourse and prepare students to lead with integrity on the global stage. The institute will be anchored in the university’s political science department.
“We intend to do more than simply study democracy,” Lyons said. “We are building this institute to strengthen it.”
The institute will also be home to an exhibit chronicling Pelosi’s career, a remarkable arc that included two stints as House speaker. Republican George W. Bush was completing the final two years of his presidency when she became the first female speaker. She continued during Democrat Barack Obama’s first two years as president, helping muscle his landmark Affordable Care Act into law.
The second stint served as a check on President Donald Trump, a Republican who was impeached twice by the House but acquitted in the Senate.
One of Pelosi’s most enduring images will be of her tearing up her copy of Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address. She held up what remained of the address to her family in the gallery and explained to reporters that “it was a manifesto of mistruths.” Republicans were harshly critical of her action.
Trump was no fan of Pelosi. He responded to news of Pelosi’s retirement last year by telling reporters he was glad she would be leaving Congress.
Pelosi, 86, remains a powerful figure in Democratic politics, particularly in her home state of California. Since stepping aside from leadership in 2023, she has served as a rank-and-file member of the House unlike any other, a speaker emerita engaged in the daily business of legislating while providing counsel to the next generation of Democratic leadership.
