Democracy & Governance

Public banks have the potential to address a host of economic, social, and ecological crises, but it is important to get the institutional structure right. This report offers recommendations for a Los Angeles public bank and addresses key questions of who the public bank serves and how. read more

COVID-19 has made the case for reimagining the ownership and governance of our economies on both sides of the Atlantic more urgent than ever. To meet the needs of the moment, an agenda to extend democratic public ownership is essential. read more

Digital platforms have proven indispensable to how we live, work, and play. The challenge is to set principles and implement policies that liberate the democratic and enlivening potential of the platform from the logic of concentrated corporate ownership and profit maximization. read more

We need to embed principles of democratic ownership and control to the fields of intellectual property and research and development, so that these crucial economic pillars become drivers of equity, sustainability and the common good rather than wealth inequality and concentration. read more

We need to build a digital landscape that provides world-class connection to all and is sustainable, privacy-enhancing, rights-preserving, innovative, and democratic by design. This report makes the case for democratic public ownership of the foundational digital infrastructures of the 21st century. read more

The tech giants aren’t going to save democracy—we need public investment in digital infrastructure and innovation. read more

This response to the Labour Party’s Consultation on Democratic Public Ownership sets out the key features of what existing research and experience tells us works for creating democratic forms of public enterprise. read more

One of the signs that a crisis is systemic, rather than purely political or economic, is that key indicators decline or stay the same regardless of changes in political power or business cycles. This first edition of the Index of Systemic Trends is an effort to quantify, track, and visualize this crisis. It shows the need to move in the direction of a new system that can and will produce better outcomes. read more

Author and Tellus Institute co-founder Richard A. Rosen explores the changes necessary for a modern definition of “socialism”, and describes key concepts and issues that arise when aiming to restructure the American economy to include social and environmental sustainability in the Twenty-First Century. read more