Nancy Pelosis next challenge: Building a nonpartisan democracy institute at UC Berkeley

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Set us as preferred Rep.Nancy Pelosi, who has served nearly 40 years in Congress to become one of its most influential power brokers, on Monday announced who she will take on when she leaves office in January: UC Berkeley students.The Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy, to be launched with tens of millions of dollars in gifts from Pelosi and other donors, will seek to bring leading scholars to campus, cultivate students’ ambitions for public service, and position itself as a Bay Area counterweight to major university political institutes that frequently attract former members of Congress and White House staff.

Pelosi (D-San Francisco) joins a long tradition of political figures anchored to universities.Harvard’s Institute of Politics, founded in 1966 in memory of President Kennedy, is among the best-known.

USC’s Jesse M.Unruh Institute of Politics carries the name of California’s longtime Assembly speaker.

Stanford’s Hoover Institution has housed former secretaries of State and national security advisors for decades.At a university famous for its role in left-wing activism during the 1960s free speech movement and anti-Vietnam War protests, Pelosi vows to promote a nonpartisan academic endeavor.“The work of democracy is never finished, and securing its future is our greatest calling,” Pelosi said in an interview with The Times.She described the move as a purposeful departure from the “partisan political arena” to create a space where Republicans and Democrats — including, potentially, Trump-aligned figures — can deliberate and study the American political tradition.Pelosi, who made history as the first female speaker of the House, said her mission is to ensure students understand what the founders built, which she believes is now under threat.”The separation of powers is the beau...