The Blum Center believes in harnessing the power of participatory democracy in the collective fight against poverty and inequality. Ensuring that information on key public issues and policies is accessible, digestible, and reflective of different viewpoints is a key condition for ensuring inclusive participation in our democracy.

In support of this effort, the Blum Center is launching a new initiative: The People's Guide - A Series. Our team, in consultation with community partners, will select a complex public issue or policy to break down each year to foster a broad and publicly engaged debate in our collective effort in working towards a more just future. The initiative is led by the voices and work of our Blum students, and supported by Blum staff.

The inaugural edition within this series is The People's Guide to the Green New Deal.

This document provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of the Green New Deal (GND), what it hopes to achieve and why; when this proposal emerged and its historical roots; its main advocates, critics, and overlooked voices; and where and how the GND is being used by various stakeholders. Created by Blum students, this Guide aims to raise public awareness of the GND as a democratic organizing framework for local communities in working toward their own vision of a future rooted in sustainable economic and environmental justice that helps build a more inclusive democracy from the ground up.

How to Access the Guide

To read the guide online, click here.

To download a PDF version of the guide, click here. (Nota: Una versión en español estará disponible pronto). 

Special acknowledgements to our Blum Center student team for their leadership in creating this Guide: Cloe Gentile, Lizzy Mau, Simone Stewart, Warsan Ali, Aniket Mehrotra, and Brenna McDuffee.