Democracy IRL: Bruce Cain on the Politics of Climate Adaptation

About Stanford's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law podcast, Democracy IRL:

Fostering and maintaining democracy, development and the rule of law is the great challenge of our time. Join Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law and our host, political scientist Francis Fukuyama, for a series of conversations with thought leaders and academics alike that touch on the ways in which democracy and development are being challenged today by authoritarian resurgence, misinformation, the perils of a changing climate, and more.

About this episode:

Bruce Cain, professor of Political Science at Stanford and Director of the University's Bill Lane Center for the American West, joins Francis Fukuyama to talk about the new book he is writing on the political challenges of adapting to a changing climate in California and other western states.

Bruce Cain is an expert in U.S. politics, particularly the politics of California and the American West. A pioneer in computer-assisted redistricting, he is a prominent scholar of elections, political regulation and the relationships between lobbyists and elected officials. 

Prior to joining Stanford, Professor Cain was director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley from 1990-2007 and executive director of the UC Washington Center from 2005-2012. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000 and has won awards for his research (Richard F. Fenno Prize, 1988), teaching (Caltech, 1988 and UC Berkeley, 2003) and public service (Zale Award for Outstanding Achievement in Policy Research and Public Service, 2000). He is currently working on state regulatory processes and stakeholder involvement in the areas of water, energy and the environment.