Brennan Center for Justice

Foundation Watch
The Left’s Mystery Billionaire: Committee Hearing Debacle
The Ford Foundation gives well over $100 million per year to programs that advance policy and political wins for the Left and Democratic politicians, yet Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) recently…
by Ken Braun on November 2, 2021

Foundation Watch
The Left’s Mystery Billionaire: Senator Cancel Culture
The Ford Foundation is an accidental byproduct of bad tax policy and unforeseen consequences. Confiscatory estate tax rates during the first half of the 20th century left one of the…
by Ken Braun on November 2, 2021

Foundation Watch
The Left’s Mystery Billionaire: Hard Left Turns
Sen. Whitehouse’s assertion that the Ford Foundation “doesn’t seem to have much in the way of a political motive or purpose” is contradicted by tens of millions of dollars in…
by Ken Braun on November 2, 2021

Foundation Watch
The Left’s Mystery Billionaire: Dark Roads Through Arabella
At least 114 separate Ford Foundation grants, totaling almost $65 million, were given over the previous five years to the New Venture Fund. In Sen. Whitehouse’s classification system, each one…
by Ken Braun on November 2, 2021

Book Profile, Organization Trends
The Argument: Revolt of the Activists
Matt Bai's firsthand account of the multifront internecine conflict between the Democratic Party’s grassroots and establishment between 2004 and 2006 has many interesting takeaways. It’s a well-written, entertaining read, but…
by Robert Stilson on September 30, 2021

Book Profile, Organization Trends
The Argument: Democracy Alliance Is Born
Today, the Democracy Alliance bills itself as “a preeminent network of donors dedicated to building the progressive movement in the United States.” Individual alliance members, known as “partners,” are expected…
by Robert Stilson on September 30, 2021

Book Profile, Organization Trends
The Argument: Winning Elections
Although a major part of the Democracy Alliance’s mission is to foster “the infrastructure necessary to advance a progressive agenda for America,” it has always maintained a clear and simultaneous…
by Robert Stilson on September 30, 2021

Book Profile, Organization Trends
The Argument: Funding Nonprofits
Independent nonprofits have always been the primary types of organizations that the Democracy Alliance has recommended to its funding partners. Nearly all the groups identified in The Argument as among…
by Robert Stilson on September 30, 2021

Organization Trends
The Victims of “Dark Money” Disclosure
(PDF here) Summary: Anonymous political speech has been essential to democratic discourse since the founding of our republic. Debates over whether to ratify the U.S. Constitution were primarily conducted…
by Jon Riches on September 14, 2015

Foundation Watch
A Donor Can Stand Up
(PDF here) Conservatives may not approve of many of the causes that former billionaire Charles Feeney has given money to over the years, but they would agree that he…
by Neil Maghami on April 13, 2015