Center on Regional Politics
Developing Evidence-Based Policies that Respond to the Region’s Needs and Promote its Broad Civic and Economic Interests.
Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics (CORP) provides elected federal, state, and local officials and private sector and non-profit leaders within the five-county region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia) with a forum to seek consensus on policies to improve the quality of life and economic opportunities for residents of Southeastern Pennsylvania. CORP’s mission is to provide the neutral ground and intellectual resources that a university can offer to encourage and support interaction among leaders throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, with the goal of developing evidence-based policies that respond to the region’s needs and promote its broad civic and economic interests. As indicated by its name, the center has as a special focus on the politics of public policy, or identifying the most promising practical strategies to achieve optimal policy results. The center does not advocate or lobby for specific legislation or other governmental actions but provides the region’s leaders with policy options and recommendations for addressing issues that incorporate assessments of both policy impact and political feasibility.
Toward this end, the center produces and sponsors policy research and conducts educational seminars, legislative briefings, quiet discussions, and open forums to improve public understanding of problems and opportunities confronting the region and to encourage collaboration among leaders across partisan lines, economic sectors, and jurisdictional boundaries. The center works cooperatively with other organizations with public policy missions to maximize the efficient use of scarce resources for the overall benefit of the region.