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Stanford Democracy Hub

What are, and what can and should we be doing at Stanford to understand, reimagine, and strengthen democracy? These are the questions that animate the Stanford Democracy Hub.

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The Stanford Democracy Hub serves to elevate and amplify our collective efforts that strengthen democracy.

Democratic values and practices are under threat throughout the United States and globally, and even within our own campus community. 

Scholars, students, and leaders from all corners of Stanford are working on the vital project of strengthening democracy. The Democracy Hub seeks to make more visible, accessible, coordinated, valued, and, ultimately, more impactful that shared project of reimagining our civic purpose and delivering on the promise of democracy: creating the societies we want to live in together and the governments that best support our communities.

Explore our website to identify upcoming civic and democracy-related events, opportunities to engage, leading research, courses, and the hundreds of people at Stanford dedicated to these efforts.

Featured Activities

New: Program on Identity, Democracy, and Justice

Political Science Professor Hakeem Jefferson launches the new Program on Identity, Democracy, and Justice (IDJ) at CDDRL, which advances innovative research on the multifaceted dimensions of identity and their role in democratic development, struggles for recognition, social justice, and inclusion. Its research agenda seeks to inform public debates and devise actionable visions for fostering a fairer and more inclusive society.

Hey Stanford: Register to Vote!

StanfordVotes is a non-partisan, university-wide, student-run organization to increase voter turnout. Formed in response to the low student voter turnout rates in 2014 and 2016, StanfordVotes engages students, campus leadership, and the broader community to help create a culture of civic engagement on the Farm. In 2022, more Stanford students registered to vote than students at any other CA college or university. Let's keep the momentum going!

Neukom Center for the Rule of Law

Established in 2022, the Neukom Center opened its doors at a critical time, when numerous studies revealed a decline in the rule of law around the world. The interdisciplinary Center is a home for research, teaching, collaboration, public discourse, policy labs, and practical initiatives, all of which share a common goal: to reverse global trends toward autocracy and turn the tide toward accessible, impartial justice and open government.

Big Local News

From the Stanford Journalism and Democracy Initiative, computational journalist Cheryl Phillips leads Big Local News, which collects, processes, and shares governmental data; partners with local and national newsrooms on investigative projects across a range of topics, from police accountability to the impacts of climate change; and teaches best practices for finding stories within the data.

Spring Course - Democracy in the Balance: Polarization and the Road Ahead

How do we build a more inclusive and resilient America? In this policy practicum course, students will work directly with a U.S. nonprofit research organization, More in Common, to understand what unites America in this era of polarization with the goal to strengthen American civic practice and democracy.

New: Center for Revitalizing American Institutions

Many citizens have lost confidence in our institutions, challenging their legitimacy and compromising their missions. In a non-partisan spirit, the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI) draws on scholarship, government experience, and convening power to explore the institutional legitimacy crisis and policy recommendations to rebuild trust and efficacy.