News

Charles Sheiner ('25) is a recipient of the 2025 Firestone Medal, and Adrian Feinberg ('25) and Adelaide Madary ('25) have won CDDRL's Outstanding Thesis Awards.

In July 2025, the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law will welcome a diverse cohort of 30 experienced practitioners from 19 countries who are working to advance democratic practices and economic and legal reform in contexts where freedom, human development, and good governance are fragile or at risk.
Seniors Alex Borthwick, Adrian Feinberg, Malaina Kapoor, and Avinash Thakkar (Fisher Family Honors Program class of 2025), and junior Emma Wang (Fisher Family Honors Program class of 2026) are among the newest members of this prestigious academic honors society.

The award, decreed by President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, is Mongolia’s highest state honor and recognizes Fishkin for his pioneering contributions to deliberative democracy.

Liza Goldberg (Fisher Family Honors Program class of 2023-24) is among 84 scholars in the Knight-Hennessy Scholars' eighth cohort.

The two-day conference, “Climate Resilience and Local Governmental Policy: Lessons from Los Angeles and Tel Aviv,” will take place May 29-30, and is hosted by the Visiting Fellows in Israel Studies program at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the Environmental Social Sciences department at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability.

Professor Stedman is a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and director of CDDRL's Fisher Family Honors Program in Democracy, Development and Rule of Law.
We are thrilled to welcome twelve outstanding students, who together represent fourteen different majors and minors and hail from seven different states and four countries, to our Fisher Family Honors Program in Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.

CDDRL Scholars Explore Impacts of Executive Orders and Policy Changes on Global Democracy
In a new video series, Francis Fukuyama and Larry Diamond discuss how democracy-promoting programs are being eroded under the new administration.

The program will run from Sunday, July 20, through Friday, August 8, 2025. Applications are due by 5:00 pm PST on Thursday, January 16, 2025.

Fukuyama joins a cohort of prominent public servants whose scholarship will contribute to the Academy’s mission to advance government practices.

The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law welcomes applications from pre-doctoral students at the write-up stage and from post-doctoral scholars working in any of the four program areas of democracy, development, evaluating the efficacy of democracy promotion, and rule of law.

The course taught by Mona Tajali will examine feminist theories and concepts that can help students better appreciate the diversity and heterogeneity among feminisms, as well as the role and potential of cross-border solidarity and collective action around various feminist concerns.
The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is pleased to welcome five postdoctoral fellows who will be joining us for the 2024-25 academic year. These scholars will spend the academic year focusing on the Center's four program areas of democracy, development, evaluating the efficacy of democracy promotion, and rule of law.
Anna Grzymala-Busse's book "Sacred Foundations" has been awarded the American Political Science Association's J. David Greenstone Award and the Hubert Morken Best Book in Religion and Politics Award. Erin Baggott Carter and Brett Carter's book "Propaganda in Autocracies" has won the Hazel Gaudet-Erskine Best Book Award from the International Journal of Press/Politics.

Kathryn Stoner, Mosbacher Director of CDDRL, discussed the politics and complexities of the anti-foreign agent law and its implications for Georgia's future.

Announcing the 2024 Cohort of the Fisher Family Summer Fellows on Democracy and Development Program
In July 2024, the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law will welcome a diverse cohort of 26 experienced practitioners from 21 countries who are working to advance democratic practices and economic and legal reform in contexts where freedom, human development, and good governance are fragile or at risk.

PRIO conducts research on the conditions for peaceful relations between states, groups, and people.

A new working group led by Francis Fukuyama seeks to protect and reform the U.S. civil service by promoting nonpartisan, effective, and adaptable workforce practices while opposing politicization efforts like "Schedule F."
Liza Goldberg and Melissa Severino de Oliveira (Fisher Family Honors Program class of 2024) are among the newest members of this prestigious academic honors society.

Gombojavyn Zandanshatar, Chairman of the State Great Khural (the Parliament of Mongolia) and a former CDDRL visiting scholar, reports that a second National Deliberative Poll in his country has successfully led to a new Constitutional Amendment.

A multinational Deliberative Poll unveils the global public's nuanced views on AI chatbots and their integration into society.
We are thrilled to welcome thirteen outstanding students, who together represent fourteen different majors and minors and hail from eight different states and two countries, to our Fisher Family Honors Program in Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.

The Fred Riggs Award for Lifetime Achievement in Public Administration is an academic award given annually by the Section on International and Comparative Administration of the American Society for Public Administration.

During her tenure at Stanford, Dr. Richardson will embark on individual research endeavors while focusing on completing her forthcoming book project, titled "Great Changes Unseen in a Century: How to Save Democracy and Human Rights from Xi Jinping."