The Rose Institute of State and Local Government is a research institute based out of Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. Founded in 1973, the Institute is particularly well known for its expertise in elections, demographics, fiscal policy, and public opinion.
History
The Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College was founded in 1973 to study issues facing California’s state and local governments. It is one of eleven research institutes at Claremont McKenna College. The Institute is named after Edessa Rose, a businesswoman, lawyer, feminist, and activist, who was its founding donor. Rose was born in 1903 and was one of the few women lawyers of her generation. In 1972, she became the first female trustee of Claremont McKenna College, three years before the college began admitting women. Rose was deeply interested in politics and enthusiastically supported CMC’s effort to establish an institute focused on state and local government.
In its early period (1973–1990), the Rose Institute established expertise in demographics, voting behavior, public opinion, and redistricting. It developed the nation's first comprehensive statewide demographic and political database. Faculty, staff, and students worked together to match California's 50,000 precincts to its 5,000-plus census tracts, following the political and demographic trends in the state. The Institute became a national leader in census tracking and the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. In 1979, the California Business Roundtable gave a million dollar grant to fund a significant redistricting reform and education program at the institute, and the Institute played a significant part in the California redistrictings of 1970-73, 1980-83, and 1991.
Since then, the Rose Institute has diversified into areas such as fiscal policy, direct democracy, voter education, criminal justice policy, federalism, and California’s competitiveness. Most recently, the Institute launched a polling program, sponsoring a significant national pre-election poll in 2022. The 2022 CMC-Rose Institute Poll published two reports, Battleground Pennsylvania: The 2022 Election and Red vs. Blue States: Competing Visions for 2022 and 2024. Professor Andrew Sinclair heads the Rose Institute’s polling program.
The Rose Institute has also supported various political reform efforts, including the establishment in 2008 of California’s Independent Redistricting Commission. It has convened many policy conferences and sponsored talks by leaders in public affairs from across the ideological spectrum to promote good government, civic education, and democratic engagement. In 2023, the Institute hosted a housing symposium, featuring ten public officials for a discussion moderated by former Governor Gray Davis.
Since its founding, the institute has been committed to using student-faculty teams to conduct research. The Institute typically employs 25-30 students each year. In total, more than 450 Claremont Colleges students have worked for the Rose Institute as research assistants. Students have made significant contributions to nearly all Institute projects, from design to execution.
Directors
David Alan Heslop was the first director of the Rose Institute, serving from 1973 to 2000. Professor Heslop was a member of the CMC Government Department, holding the Don and Edessa Rose Chair of State and Local Government and is the author of books and articles on an array of subjects, primarily in the area of electoral politics. Heslop's publications include Political Corruption in America (1978), Reapportionment Politics: The History of Redistricting in the 50 States (1981), and Redistricting in the 1980's (1993).
Ralph Rossum was the second director of the Institute, from 2000 to 2010. He was the Salvatori Professor of American Constitutionalism until his retirement in 2022. Professor Rossum’s research ranges across the American Founding, American Constitutionalism, crime and criminal justice, Constitutional Law, the Supreme Court, and voting rights. He is the author of numerous books and articles including Understanding Clarence Thomas: The Jurisprudence of Constitutional Restoration (2014), American Constitutional Law Volume I: The Structure of Government, Volume II: The Bill of Rights and Subsequent Amendments Eleventh Edition (2020), Antonin Scalia’s Jurisprudence: Text and Tradition, paperback edition with a new afterword, 2016, and The Supreme Court and Tribal Gaming: California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (2011).