New Cornell Center on Democracy will support democratic principles at home and abroad

As the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, and amid concern about democratic backsliding globally, the university has launched the Cornell Center on Democracy to mobilize leading scholars to strengthen democracy through rigorous research, democratic education and public engagement.

Rooted in Cornell's land-grant mission to serve the public good, the center aims to advance practical, objective and globally relevant ideas to improve democratic institutions and practices across the U.S. and abroad.

The leaders of the College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and Cornell Law School founded the center based on a shared belief: that democracy requires constant renewal - fresh ideas, adaptive institutions and citizens equipped to participate thoughtfully and effectively. When democracies fail to evolve, trust erodes and polarization deepens and authoritarian appeals hold, said Rachel Beatty Riedl, the Peggy J. Koenig '78 Director of the Cornell Center on Democracy.

"The Cornell Center on Democracy responds to a moment when democracy is facing challenges in the world," said Riedl, a professor in the Brooks School and the Department of Government (A&S). "It is also a time when citizens and practitioners are looking for strategies to be more empowered and work across social and partisan divides, to contribute to defending democratic resilience, bolstering human dignity and upholding constitutional checks on governmental power. Applying scientific, empirical methods, the center will engage in research that contributes to strengthening democracy for today and tomorrow."

Research by Riedl and colleagues has shown a multidecade decline in the number of democracies and the quality of rights and practices within existing democracies. Among the challenges demanding action, the center's leaders said, are disinformation, abuses of power, polarization, new technologies and a lack of civic knowledge and engagement.

To investigate those issues, the center brings together more than 100 faculty members spanning the social sciences, law, humanities, philosophy, communication, computer and information science, city planning, engineering and global development, with research and partnerships in U.S. states and around the world. Their work will focus on three core pillars: strengthening the rule of law and anti-corruption; rebuilding democratic engagement, dialogue and pluralism; and democratically governing AI and emerging technologies.

"Universities and civil society are central to democratic renewal," said Colleen Barry, dean of the Brooks School. "Healthy democracies need citizens who are informed and engaged; strong, adaptable institutions; and societies that cherish democratic values - and Cornell can contribute meaningfully across all these dimensions."

"The causes and solutions to these problems are critically important to understand and to address," said Peter Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of A&S. "This moment is a particularly demanding one requiring cutting-edge research, policy, public information and civil debate to limit democratic decay and help democracies thrive."

"Democratic governance depends on institutions that uphold legal accountability, protect fundamental rights and maintain public trust," added Jens Ohlin, the Allan R. Tessler Dean of Cornell Law. "Through interdisciplinary research and engagement with policymakers and practitioners, the Cornell Center on Democracy aims to identify practical strategies that help protect democratic institutions and strengthen accountable governance."

The center's first phase will launch teams focused on real-world research questions pairing scholarship with actionable outputs, including policy frameworks, evaluative tools and public resources. Findings will be shared with policymakers, civic partners and the public.

This fall, as the university celebrates and reflects upon 250 years of American democracy, the center plans to host a public launch event, "E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One." The flagship conference will welcome scholars, practitioners, policymakers and philanthropists to assess early findings, refine agendas and promote evidence-based strategies for democratic governance. Additional convenings off campus will continue to identify challenges, pursue research-based strategies to strengthen democracy and disseminate results.

In addition to research, the center seeks to strengthen democratic education and expand opportunities for students to practice democracy, from K-12 through professional degrees. Across Cornell's colleges and schools, and in partnership with the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement and the Cornell Center for Dialogue and Pluralism, the center will help build democratic literacy into students' education from the start. Coursework on topics including civil discourse, democratic citizenship and freedom of speech will build on recent classes promoting civic leadership and constructive disagreement. A Democracy Fellows Program will enable students to work with faculty and practitioners on projects focused on the three research pillars.

Beyond Cornell, the center will develop democratic toolkits that translate research into practical teaching and training resources supporting schools, public servants, civic leaders and civil society organizations. Public outreach also includes a podcast, "Democracy Dialogues."

The center's leaders said Cornell is uniquely positioned to pursue this work given its own roots in the American democratic experiment.

"Cornell's land-grant ethos is central to our mission, driving the research questions we ask and the partners with whom we'll engage," Riedl said. "The Cornell Center on Democracy promises to combine our intellectual breadth with real-world solutions to address these complex questions of how democracy can thrive in our contemporary world."