{"id":1605,"date":"2019-03-27T10:51:06","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T14:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/?page_id=1605"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:35:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:35:02","slug":"our-democratic-institutions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Democratic Institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Central to the Program is understanding the crucial and overlapping roles our institutions play in safeguarding our democracy.\u00a0 Scholars study the limitations and competencies of the various institutions \u2013 the executive, legislature, judiciary, federal\/state\/local actors, private actors, etc.\u00a0 Throughout the Program, Scholars engage these institutions through the lenses of comparative institutional analysis, movement lawyering, and other modes of analysis and theories of change as they explore viable avenues for reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-tiled-gallery aligncenter is-style-rectangular\"><div class=\"\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__gallery\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__row\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:100.00000%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1731\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/image011-2\/#main\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2016,1512\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image011\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-300x225.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"1731\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/image011-2\/#main\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2016,1512\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image011\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-300x225.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Open image 1 of 1 in full-screen\"srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=600&#038;ssl=1 600w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=900&#038;ssl=1 900w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=1200&#038;ssl=1 1200w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=1500&#038;ssl=1 1500w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=1800&#038;ssl=1 1800w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?strip=info&#038;w=2000&#038;ssl=1 2000w\" alt=\"\" data-height=\"1512\" data-id=\"1731\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/image011-2\/#main\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-width=\"2016\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Central to the Program is understanding the crucial and overlapping roles our institutions play in safeguarding our democracy.\u00a0 Scholars study the limitations and competencies of the various institutions \u2013 the executive, legislature, judiciary, federal\/state\/local actors, private actors, etc.\u00a0 Throughout the Program, Scholars engage these institutions through the lenses of comparative institutional analysis, movement lawyering, and other modes of analysis and theories of change as they explore viable avenues for reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":31,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[2],"class_list":{"0":"post-1605","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"infinite-scroll-item"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Our Democratic Institutions - Law &amp; Public Policy Program<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Democratic Institutions - Law &amp; Public Policy Program\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Central to the Program is understanding the crucial and overlapping roles our institutions play in safeguarding our democracy.\u00a0 Scholars study the limitations and competencies of the various institutions \u2013 the executive, legislature, judiciary, federal\/state\/local actors, private actors, etc.\u00a0 Throughout the Program, Scholars engage these institutions through the lenses of comparative institutional analysis, movement lawyering, and other modes of analysis and theories of change as they explore viable avenues for reform.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Law &amp; Public Policy Program\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T16:35:02+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"tub51301\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/\",\"name\":\"Our Democratic Institutions - Law &amp; Public Policy Program\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-27T14:51:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-20T16:35:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/our-democratic-institutions\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Program Goals and Values\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/program-goals-and-values\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Our Democratic Institutions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/\",\"name\":\"Law &amp; Public Policy Program\",\"description\":\"Temple University Beasley School of Law\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Law &amp; Public Policy Program\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/lppptest.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/lppptest.png\",\"width\":1835,\"height\":496,\"caption\":\"Law &amp; Public Policy Program\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www2.law.temple.edu\\\/lppp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Our Democratic Institutions - Law &amp; Public Policy Program","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Our Democratic Institutions - Law &amp; Public Policy Program","og_description":"Central to the Program is understanding the crucial and overlapping roles our institutions play in safeguarding our democracy.\u00a0 Scholars study the limitations and competencies of the various institutions \u2013 the executive, legislature, judiciary, federal\/state\/local actors, private actors, etc.\u00a0 Throughout the Program, Scholars engage these institutions through the lenses of comparative institutional analysis, movement lawyering, and other modes of analysis and theories of change as they explore viable avenues for reform.","og_url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/","og_site_name":"Law &amp; Public Policy Program","article_modified_time":"2026-08-20T16:35:02+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute","Written by":"tub51301"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/","url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/","name":"Our Democratic Institutions - Law &amp; Public Policy Program","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1","datePublished":"2019-03-27T14:51:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-20T16:35:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/image011-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/our-democratic-institutions\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Program Goals and Values","item":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Our Democratic Institutions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/","name":"Law &amp; Public Policy Program","description":"Temple University Beasley School of Law","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/#organization","name":"Law &amp; Public Policy Program","url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/lppptest.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/lppptest.png","width":1835,"height":496,"caption":"Law &amp; Public Policy Program"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PaQyul-pT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1605"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2985,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1605\/revisions\/2985"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}