Democracy Initiative
Democracy is in crisis at home and abroad. Polarization is high, trust is low, and public discourse is toxic. At a time when many universities are grappling with their role in American democracy, Notre Dame is uniquely situated to respond to this crisis. The Notre Dame Democracy Initiative will establish Notre Dame as a leader in the study of democracy both in the U.S. and worldwide, as a convenor for conversations about and actions to preserve democracy, and as a model for the formation of civically engaged citizens and public servants. This University-wide initiative bridges research, education, and policy work across multiple units and will extend beyond campus to policymakers and federal agencies in Washington, D.C.
Status Update
Democracy has been in the spotlight this academic year, with the 2023–24 Notre Dame Forum focusing on The Future of Democracy. Also coming in the spring are new results from the latest wave of the Notre Dame Health of Democracy Study, the inaugural Global Democracy Conference, hosted by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and the second annual Keeping The Republic conference (focused on democracy in the U.S.), hosted by the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy.
In addition, there has been a lot of work behind the scenes to promote democracy at Notre Dame. The Initiative director has been meeting with interested faculty and leaders of stakeholder units on campus, as well as potential partners beyond campus. In November, the Initiative’s executive committee held an official kickoff meeting to discuss the vision for and future of the Initiative, and this spring a managing director was hired.
Joel Day begins in that role on June 1. He is a scholar-practitioner who brings over 20 years of leadership experience in government, nonprofits, and political campaigns along with academic appointments at Princeton University, the University of Southern California, and the University of California San Diego. His research and policy writing have appeared in dozens of scholarly and popular outlets and recently won the American Political Science Association award for best article in Religion & Politics. Day holds a Ph.D. in international and comparative politics from the University of Denver.
Notre Dame launches Democracy Initiative
The University of Notre Dame has launched an ambitious new Democracy Initiative, an interdisciplinary research, education and policy effort focused on advancing solutions to sustain and strengthen global democracy.
Learn more about the Democracy Initiative
Executive Committee
Partners
- Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights
- Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government
- Notre Dame International Security Center
- Center for the Study of Religion and Society
- Notre Dame Law School
- Keough School of Global Affairs
- Department of Political Science
- Department of Sociology
- Department of History
- College of Arts and Letters
Additional partners will be added as work on the initiative continues in the coming months and years.
