Background
The Rose Institute of State and Local Government, located on the campus of Claremont McKenna College, was founded in 1973. An unmatched resource for information on California state and local government, the Institute maintains extensive demographic, economic, and political databases on the Southern California region. Under the direction of nationally recognized faculty and staff, the best and brightest students from Claremont McKenna College play a significant role in researching, interpreting, and presenting data. The Institute specializes in four areas: survey research, fiscal analysis, demographic studies, and legal and regulatory analysis. In addition, the Rose Institute partnered with the Lowe Institute of Political Economy in managing the Inland Empire Vision (IEV), focused on analysis of Southern California’s Inland Empire region.
Demographic Analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
The Rose Institute has, for more than 45 years, been recognized as one of the leading institutes in the country in the area of demographic analysis and redistricting research and reform. In 2010, research assistants worked on a demographic mapping project with the Voice of San Diego, exploring how changes in demographics and voter registration have affected local politics in the area and using ArcGIS software to generate maps of regional demographic information. The Rose Institute completed the Redistricting in America project, a state-by-state analysis of redistricting changes following the 2010 census. See completed Demographic Analysis here.
Legal/Regulatory Analysis
The Rose Institute has conducted detailed analyses of complex regulations and legal developments. Staff and students have analyzed the issues of solid waste disposal, transportation, housing and water, studying both the economics of the industries and regulatory environments in each case. In addition, extensive research has been conducted on constitutional issues including the impact of a full-time legislature, redistricting and the history of initiatives in California, including the Miller-Rose Institute Initiative Database. Associate Director Ken Miller and Assistant Director Bipasa Nadon are attorneys who apply their expertise to the Institute’s legal and regulatory analysis projects, like the Initiative Database. In 2012, the Institute launched the Video Voter project, offering informative videos analyzing statewide ballot initiatives.
Survey Research
The Rose Institute, which is recognized as having one of the most experienced survey teams in the United States, has been conducting surveys for more than 40 years, including surveys on quality of life and public policy issues for organizations such as: the Southern California Association of Governments, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, the Coachella Valley Annual Survey, the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, and many cities and local governments. The Institute also conducted the annual Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey, a comparison of over 300 cities’ taxes and economic incentive programs. Previous major clients include Los Angeles County, Orange County (including all 33 municipal governments), Santa Clara County, Monterey County, Fresno County, Riverside County (including all 24 municipal governments), San Diego County (and over 75 special districts and redevelopment agencies), and Southern California Edison.
Fiscal Analysis
The Rose Institute has conducted many detailed fiscal analyses of city, county, special district and school district governments. Researchers have carried out budget analyses for the County of Los Angeles, Orange County and its 33 cities, Santa Clara County, Monterey County and five of its cities, Fresno County, Riverside County and its 24 cities, San Diego County and over 75 special districts and redevelopment agencies. These analyses have gained wide credibility for their depth, precision and thoroughness. Since 2011, the Institute has conducted economic impact studies for Riverside County, Mount San Antonio College, and the University of La Verne. Since 1996, the Rose Institute has produced in-depth fiscal studies of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, the city of Long Beach, and the Riverside school districts. In 2007, the Rose also published the Analysis of Business Migration in Southern California that examined modern trends in economic growth and sectoral shifts. Check out titles and details on fiscal analysis here.