Stanford
Democracy Hub

About the Hub

The Democracy Hub serves to elevate and amplify efforts from across our campus community to critically understand, collaboratively reimagine, and actively participate in democracy.

Our Story

In 2022, as global threats to democracy grew and the United States grappled with deep political divisions, a simple question was posed to Professor Mike McFaul, then Faculty Director of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute: What is Stanford doing on democracy?

It quickly became clear that while Stanford was doing a great deal, no single place captured the full scope of this work. Across campus, researchers, educators, students, and community leaders were engaged in courses, fellowships, research, partnerships, and events focused on understanding and strengthening democracy. Yet these efforts were often siloed, uncoordinated, and difficult to see beyond individual schools or programs.

That question sparked an effort to map the many ways Stanford was advancing democratic values and to imagine what could be possible if these efforts were more visible, accessible, and connected.

Launched in Fall 2023, the Stanford Democracy Hub is our response. Rather than creating something new, the Hub serves as a nimble coordinating mechanism to elevate, amplify, and support existing work. It provides a shared resource for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners to more easily access, connect, and contribute to Stanford’s democracy initiatives.

Meet the Team

Are you a student group or campus center exploring collaborations? Are you new to Stanford and exploring where to plug in? Are you a community member interested in learning more about Stanford's scholarship on democracy?

Connect with Executive Director, Karina Kloos: krkloos@stanford.edu <> Schedule a call, Zoom, or on-campus meeting.

Why Democracy?

Democracy is more than a system of government. At its core, democracy is an exercise of cooperation, deliberation, and self governance to overcome the massive collective action challenges we face and to create the societies in which we want to live:

Societies that protect individual freedoms;

Societies that are fair, stable, and just;

Societies that empower our citizens and cultivate opportunities for all to thrive. 

Why Now?

Democratic institutions and norms are fracturing around the country and world under the pressure of extreme political polarization and public distrust and disaffection, leading to a rise in illiberalism and authoritarianism. 

At the same time college campuses are experiencing the strain of both incivility and apathy and there has been a generational marginalization of civic education—or what some scholars consider to be a diffuse decay in the civic culture that sustains democracy. 

Why Stanford?

Colleges and universities play a fundamental role in democratic societies, and many, Stanford among them, are revitalizing their civic purpose.

Given Stanford's unique and abundant intellectual resources, its imprint on youth and future leaders, and its national and global influence, Stanford has an especially important role to play in fulfilling its purpose to strengthen civic knowledge and habits: on our own campus, in our local communities, across the United States, and globally.