Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy

The Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy is a nonpartisan organization within Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan, working to improve the ability of "legislative bodies at all levels – federal, state, and abroad – to expose public and private sector abuses, ensure effective governance, and bring critical facts to light for the benefit of all.

[2][3] The center has offices in Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, D.C., and focuses on training legislators and staff, promoting scholarship and academic programming, and hosting conferences on important issues in oversight.

[4] Jocelyn Benson, then dean of Wayne State University Law School, served as the first director of the Levin Center from September 2016 to August 2017.

She was succeeded by Robert Ackerman,[5] who led the center until November 2019, at which time its current director, Jim Townsend, assumed the role.

These two-day training sessions teach staff members from the U.S. House and Senate, from both democrat and republican offices, how to conduct bipartisan, fact-based oversight investigations.

The website includes short videos on topics related to fact-finding, bipartisan techniques, writing investigative reports, holding hearings, and finding solutions.

[33][34] In October 2016, Center staff travelled to Brussels, Belgium to hold a two-day training workshop for a European Parliamentary investigative committee.

[47][48] Since 2016, the Levin Center has selected and provided stipends to Wayne Law students who spend the summer working on Capitol Hill as legal interns at congressional committees conducting oversight.

Wayne Law students in the program spend a semester in Washington, D.C., working with congressional oversight committees or civil rights organizations.