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, 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 and contribute to Stanford’s democracy initiatives.
Meet the Team
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Senior Advisor -
Executive Director -
Faculty Director
Are you a community member interested in learning more about Stanford's scholarship on democracy? Are you a campus center exploring collaborations? Are you new to Stanford and looking for where to plug in? Connect with Executive Director, Karina Kloos: krkloos@stanford.edu <> Schedule a call, Zoom, or on-campus meeting.
Why Now?
Democratic institutions and norms are fracturing around the country and world under the pressure of extreme political polarization, the rise of authoritarianism, and public distrust and disaffection.
Moreover, 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.