Nathaniel Persily, a law professor at Stanford, said Ms. Gerken was the ideal choice for the job. But he was less sanguine about how her efforts would be received by a divided nation.

“Defining a public interest seems almost impossible in these polarized times,” he said. “This is all the more true for a foundation committed to supporting democracy and the rule of law — two values that now seem to mean very different things depending on the side of the political aisle in which one is sitting.”

“The institutions of American democracy are being torched right now,” Professor Persily said. “The question for all of us working in the democracy space is to consider new institutions that might be built from the ashes.”

Pamela Karlan, another voting rights specialist at Stanford, said Ms. Gerken might set an example.

“The Ford Foundation could be a real leader in getting other parts of civil society to start speaking up and pushing back,” she said. “That’s already starting, but there isn’t a clear focal point and she might provide that.”