The Center for a New Democracy, a project of the Tides Foundation, was established in 1991 to promote democratic reform through research, public education, litigation, and community organizing and training. A particular focus was on public financing of elections and fair voting reforms. The CND existed until 1996, and Donna Edwards served as its director from 1994-1996.

The collection was donated to the NEJL in 1996, and it includes case files and other materials related to state ballot initiatives in favor of campaign finance reform in the mid 1990s: Missouri Proposition A (Carver v. Nixon and Shrink v. Maupin); Minnesota (Day v. Holahan); California (Pro-Life Council PAC v. Jan Scully); Colorado (Colorado Right to LIfe Committee v. Victoria Buckley, Secretary of State); Montana (Right to Life Ass., et al. v. Robert Eddleman, County Attorney); Maine (Maine Right to Life Committee v. Federal Election Comm.); Oregon (Center to Protect Free Speech, Inc. v. Oregon); Washington, D.C. (National Black Police Assn. et.al. v. DC Board of Elections and Ethics).

The collection also includes statewide surveys of "American Attitudes Toward Money in Politics" conducted by Bannon Research on behalf of the Center for a New Democracy in Massachusetts; Montana, Maine, Oregon, Colorado, as well as Campaign Finance Reform Survey from California.

In addition, the collection includes a range of reports, pamphlets, and articles (gray literature, some of which is rare) on campaign finances in various states and in the U.S. up to 1996, including studies by the Center for a New Democracy and the Center for Responsive Politics, such as: Class Acts: Private Money in Public Elections (1994); Money with Interest (1994-1996), The World of Campaign Finance (1993), and Initiative 41--Take 1: A comparative overview of District of Columbia elections under the new contribution limits law, prepared by the Center for a New Democracy in conjunction with DC ACORN.