Stanford University

Society

FSI researchers work to understand continuity and change in societies as they confront their problems and opportunities. This includes the implications of migration and human trafficking. What happens to a society when young girls exit the sex trade? How do groups moving between locations impact societies, economies, self-identity and citizenship? What are the ethnic challenges faced by an increasingly diverse European Union? From a policy perspective, scholars also work to investigate the consequences of security-related measures for society and its values.

The Europe Center reflects much of FSI’s agenda of investigating societies, serving as a forum for experts to research the cultures, religions and people of Europe. The Center sponsors several seminars and lectures, as well as visiting scholars.

Societal research also addresses issues of demography and aging, such as the social and economic challenges of providing health care for an aging population. How do older adults make decisions, and what societal tools need to be in place to ensure the resulting decisions are well-informed? FSI regularly brings in international scholars to look at these issues. They discuss how adults care for their older parents in rural China as well as the economic aspects of aging populations in China and India.

Effects of the Introduction of Merit Civil Service Legislation on Reelection Rates in the U.S.

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Miriam Golden seminar

Control over patronage appointments is believed to confer an electoral advantage on the incumbent. We study the effects of the introduction of merit civil service legislation between 1900 and 2016 on reelection rates of individual legislators serving across lower houses of U.S. state legislatures. Using recently-developed statistical methods appropriate for the staggered introduction of reform legislation, results show that reelection rates significantly increase following abolition of patronage appointments to the state bureaucracy. To explain this surprising result, we study changes in the pool of politicians and document a selection effect: post-reform states see faster replacement of politicians than their unreformed counterparts. To understand this more fully, we bring in partial data on rerunning and legislator occupational backgrounds. Neither of these shows significant changes with reform. Overall, our results suggest that once rotation between elected and appointed offices was restricted by reform, more ambitious and professional legislators entered elected office. However, these traits appear unobservable.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Miriam Golden holds the Peter Mair Chair in Comparative Politics at the European University Institute. She uses multiple research methods to investigate the political economy of governance, political representation, and corruption in countries around the world. Golden is currently engaged in a large-scale cross-national and historical study of how and when politicians secure reelection and has recently published The Puzzle of Clientelism: Political Discretion and Elections Around the World (Cambridge University Press, 2023) with Eugenia Nazrullaeva. Her articles have been published in The American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, The Annual Review of Political Science, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and the British Journal of Political Science. She has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences and a recipient of a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Encina E008 in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Hesham Sallam
Hesham Sallam

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Encina E008 in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Miriam Golden Peter Mair Chair in Comparative Politics, European University Institute Peter Mair Chair in Comparative Politics, European University Institute European University Institute
Seminars

The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives

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Josiah Ober seminar

In a synthesis of political theory, historical narrative, and practical advice, Brook Manville and Josiah Ober trace the evolution towards self-government through political bargaining in Athens, Rome, Great Britain, and the United States. Democratic self-government means having no boss other than ourselves. Democracy arises when citizens strike a civic bargain: an always imperfect agreement for how they will govern themselves. For democracy to survive, citizens must agree that security and welfare are common interests; they must set the bounds of citizenship and agree on core institutions. They must be willing to negotiate in good faith and must treat one another as civic friends, not political enemies. They must invest in civic education. Democracy survives when the civic bargain evolves adaptively in the face of new challenges.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Josiah Ober is Constantine Mitsotakis Professor in the School of Humanities and Science, Professor of Political Science and Classics, and Senior Fellow (by courtesy) at the Hoover Institution. He is the founder and current faculty director of the Stanford Civics Initiative. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2006, having previously taught at Princeton and Montana State Universities. His scholarship focuses on historical institutionalism and political theory, especially democratic theory and the contemporary relevance of the political thought and practice of the ancient Greeks. He is the author of The Greeks and the Rational: The Discovery of Practical Reason (2022), Demopolis: Democracy before Liberalism (2017), The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece (2015), and a number of other books. He has published about 100 articles and chapters, including recent articles in American Political Science Review, Philosophical Studies, Polis, and Public Choice. His new book, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives (with Brook Manville), was published in September by Princeton University Press.

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Encina E008 in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Kathryn Stoner
Kathryn Stoner

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Encina E008 in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Josiah Ober Stanford Professor of Political Science Stanford Professor of Political Science Stanford
Seminars

The Contracting State

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Alisha Holland seminar

Infrastructure is at the heart of contemporary development strategies. Yet short time horizons are thought to impede infrastructure provision in democracies. Why do elected politicians invest in infrastructure projects that will not be completed during their time in office? The answer depends on understanding what infrastructure is and does in politics.

I argue that the political rewards from infrastructure projects come from the associated contracts. Like many goods and services, infrastructure investments are neither fully privatized, in the sense of transferring ownership to the private sector, nor fully public, in that the state directly builds projects. Governments instead contract out to the private sector. Politicians use their discretion in the contracting process to secure campaign donations, as well as personal rents. They also manipulate contracts — and particularly the use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) — to hide project costs, shift liabilities to future administrations, and move project decisions away from legislatures. Detailed evidence from 1,000 large infrastructure contracts, judicial investigations, leaked financial documents, and qualitative interviews with politicians and bureaucrats in Latin America demonstrate why politicians invest in infrastructure and why projects often fail to produce the economic development and social welfare gains promised.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Alisha Holland is an Associate Professor in the Government Department at Harvard University. Before joining the Harvard faculty, she was an Assistant Professor in the Politics Department at Princeton University and a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Her first book, Forbearance as Redistribution: The Politics of Informal Welfare in Latin America (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics), looks at the politics of enforcement against property law violations by the poor. She is writing a new book on large infrastructure projects in Latin America.

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Encina E008 in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Hesham Sallam
Hesham Sallam

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Encina E008 in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Alisha Holland
Seminars

Multiracial Democracy and its Future in the United States

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Multiracial Democracy and its Future in the United States

Please join us for a talk with Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt to celebrate the launch of CDDRL's new Program on Identity, Democracy, and Justice.


Harvard University professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt are the New York Times best-selling authors of How Democracies Die. On January 11, Levitsky and Ziblatt will discuss their newest book, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point (Crown, 2023). In a moderated conversation with Professors Hakeem Jefferson (Stanford University) and Jake Grumbach (UC Berkeley) and an audience Q&A, Levitsky and Ziblatt will offer a framework for understanding the current crisis in America's democracy.

In Tyranny of the Minority, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt issue an urgent call to reform and save our nation's democracy. Drawing on historical examples from the U.S. and other countries, they show audiences why and how political parties turn against democracy, why this has happened in the U.S., and how our country’s antiquated institutions have made the problem worse. They call for the awakening of a longstanding American tradition of working to make our political system more democratic, so that we can realize our nation’s promise of a democracy for all.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Steven Levitsky is David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government. He is also Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard. His research focuses on democratization and authoritarianism, political parties, and weak and informal institutions, with a focus on Latin America, as well as the crisis of democracy in the United States. He is co-author (with Daniel Ziblatt) of How Democracies Die, which was a New York Times Best-Seller and was published in 29 languages, and Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point. He has written or edited 11 other books, including Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2003), Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War (with Lucan Way) (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism (with Lucan Way) (Princeton University Press, 2022). He and Lucan Way are currently working on a book on democratic resilience across the world.

Daniel Ziblatt is Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University and director of the Transformations of Democracy group at Berlin's Social Science Center ( WZB Berlin Social Science Center ). He is the author of four books, including “How Democracies Die” (2018), co-authored with Steve Levitsky, a New York Times best-seller and described by The Economist magazine as "the most important book of the Trump era." The book has been translated into thirty languages. In 2017, he authored Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy (Cambridge University Press), an account of the history of democracy in Europe, which won the American Political Science Association's 2018 Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book in government and international relations. His newest book (co-authored with Steven Levitsky), Tyranny of the Minority (2023), was also a New York Times bestseller. In 2023, Ziblatt was elected a member of the American Academy for Arts and Sciences.

ABOUT THE MODERATORS

Hakeem Jefferson is an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University, where he is also a faculty affiliate with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. He is the faculty director of the Program on Identity, Democracy, and Justice at CDDRL.

As an interdisciplinary scholar, Jefferson sets out to bring theoretical and empirical rigor to the study of social, psychological, and political processes that showcase the various ways identities and identity-based concerns shape all aspects of our lives. He is at work on his first book, tentatively titled Respectability: Identity, Stigma, and the Politics of Punishment among Black Americans.

He received his PhD in political science from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and African American Studies from the University of South Carolina. He writes frequently for public outlets and is a proud product of South Carolina public schools.

Jake Grumbach is an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He was previously associate professor of political science at the University of Washington and a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton.

He studies the political economy of the United States, with interests in democratic institutions, labor, federalism, racial and economic inequality, and statistical methods. His book, Laboratories Against Democracy (Princeton University Press 2022), investigates the causes and consequences of the nationalization of state politics.

Before graduate school, he earned a B.A. from Columbia University and worked as a public health researcher. Outside of academia, he's a nerd for 70s funk/soul and 90s hip hop, as well as a Warriors fan.

Hakeem Jefferson
Hakeem Jefferson
Jake Grumbach

In-person: Bechtel Conference Center (Encina Hall, First floor, 616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford)

Virtual: Zoom (no registration required)

Steven Levitsky
Daniel Ziblatt
Lectures

Summer in Berlin: At the Intersection of Food Insecurity and Civil Conflict

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This past summer, I had the opportunity to live and work in the center of Berlin with the International Security and Development Center (ISDC).  My research focus for the past several years has been at the intersection of food insecurity and civil conflict.  I want to understand which country characteristics leave states vulnerable to civil conflict when food insecurity exists.  In the months leading up to summer, I decided to locate a researcher I have cited repeatedly in my work, Tilman Brück.  I learned that he founded a research institute in Berlin whose vision is to improve lives and livelihoods shaped by conflict and humanitarian emergencies. That vision perfectly aligns with my own research goals and career interests.  I emailed the ISDC and asked to spend the summer with them, and just a few months later, there I was, in a European cultural epicenter, Berlin. 

Not only did I enjoy a beautiful summer steeped in history in Berlin, but I also honed my research skills.  I learned how to conduct collaborative research and present it effectively.  I got to work closely with and under the supervision of the Welfare Program Director, Ghassan Baliki, on a food security project.  The project focused on households in conflict settings.  Ghassan Baliki and I worked on strategies to evaluate the data empirically.  By the end of the internship, I produced substantive research that I presented at an ISDC seminar.

Not only did I enjoy a beautiful summer steeped in history in Berlin, but I also honed my research skills. I learned how to conduct collaborative research and present it effectively.
Sarah in front of a mirror in a Berlin museum

A food-secure population is a necessary step in achieving sustainable peace.  My long-term goal is to shape food security literature and policy.  My next step towards this goal is to study for a Ph.D. and examine the effects of food insecurity on human populations, factoring in the consequences of climate change on food production.  The growing intensity of severe weather, floods, and droughts that destroy crop yields and cause the death of livestock undermine food security imperatives.  The research and presentation skills I learned at the ISDC will benefit me as I work toward my Ph.D.

ISDC Office Address

Beyond enhancing my research skills, I connected with leaders in the food insecurity field and observed how organizations function.  For example, our team had lunch with and engaged in a seminar discussion with Mike Robson, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN’s representative in Syria. I also built out my network of colleagues working towards a peaceful world.  I connected with people engaged in similar research across the globe - Tunisia, Lebanon, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Georgia.  Each colleague is dedicated to improving the lives of people who exist in the most difficult of circumstances throughout the world.  It was incredible to have the opportunity to work with people who are conscious and intensely committed to food security and peace.

I also learned about the difficulties of running an organization that focuses on making an impact.  While the research is essential, funding is crucial.  Stakeholders must make the necessary investments, which requires background research and discussions with partners and potential funders.  I gained insights into the complexities at the decision-making level in any organization.  It takes a team of specialists to run the various functions.  Research needs to be produced to address the needs in the world effectively; however, the research also has to be published and disseminated to policymakers and the public through appropriate channels and social media.  Given the variety of stakeholders that are essential for success when research outcomes are the final product, a network of relevant connections and strong partnerships are prerequisites.

I also learned about the difficulties of running an organization that focuses on making an impact. While the research is essential, funding is crucial.
City of Berlin

I am fortunate to have spent the summer learning and contributing at the ISDC and being integrated into such a beautiful city.  I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to do so.  It would not have been possible without the support of the MIP program at Stanford and the ISDC.  So, I want to thank both communities for being such fantastic partners in my development.  I also want to thank the entire ISDC community for making me feel like a part of the team.  From the picnic with the fun games and delicious foods to the all-hands-on-deck, paper-in-a-day project, you exemplify how great a work community can be and fill me with hope for a kinder and more just globe.

The Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy Class of 2024 at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Meet the MIP Class of 2024

The 2024 Class has arrived at Stanford eager to tackle policy challenges ranging from food security to cryptocurrency privacy.
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In the ISDC office. From left to right: Neil Ferguson–Director of Peacebuilding; Tilman Brück–Founder and Director; Sophie Zschäbitz–Head of Administration; Sarah Brakebill-Hacke–Research Intern; Ghassan Baliki–Director of Welfare; Theodora Benesch–Peacebuilding Junior Researcher, Jonathan Garcia Fuentes–Doctoral Researcher ZeroHungerLab; Wolfgang Stojetz–Director of Behavior.
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During the summer at the International Security and Development Center (ISDC), Sarah Brakebill-Hacke (Master's in International Policy '24) delved deeper into examining the relationship between food insecurity and civil conflicts and connected with renowned leaders in the food security domain from around the globe.

Public Opinion in Palestine Before the Conflict

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Public Opinion in Palestine Before the Conflict

On the eve of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, Arab Barometer completed its 8th wave survey in Palestine. The findings offer unique insight into the views of ordinary Palestinians living in both the West Bank and Gaza.

In this event, guest speakers Amaney A. Jamal and Michael Robbins will provide an overview of the views of government, living conditions, views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and international actors. This includes low levels of support for most existing political actors and increasingly difficult economic situations for Palestinians. Jamal and Robbins find that Palestinians want a peaceful solution and are wary of normalization that does not provide a solution to this broader problem. They find limited support for most international actors, but do find indications of which countries may be better placed to help bring an end to the conflict and work to rebuild Gaza once the conflict comes to an end.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Amaney Jamal

Amaney A. Jamal is Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics, and Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. Jamal also directs the Workshop on Arab Political Development and the Bobst-AUB Collaborative Initiative. She is the former President of the Association of Middle East Women’s Studies (AMEWS). The focus of her current research is on the drivers of political behavior in the Arab world, Muslim immigration to the US and Europe, and the effect of inequality and poverty on political outcomes. Jamal’s books include Barriers to Democracy (2007), which explores the role of civic associations in promoting democratic effects in the Arab world (winner of the 2008 APSA Best Book Award in comparative democratization). She is co-editor of Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects (2007) and Citizenship and Crisis: Arab Detroit after 9/11 (2009). Her most recent book, Of Empires and Citizens, was published by Princeton University Press (2012). Jamal is co-principal investigator of the Arab Barometer Project, winner of the Best Dataset in the Field of Comparative Politics (Lijphart/Przeworski/Verba Dataset Award 2010); co-PI of the Detroit Arab American Study, a sister survey to the Detroit Area Study; and senior advisor on the Pew Research Center projects focusing on Islam in America (2006) Global Islam (2010) and Islam in America (2017). Ph.D. University of Michigan. In 2005, Jamal was named a Carnegie Scholar.
 

Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins is the director and co-principal investigator of Arab Barometer. He has been a part of the research network since its inception and serving as director since 2014. He has led or overseen more than 100 surveys in international contexts and is a leading expert in survey methods on ensuring data quality. His work on Arab public opinion, political Islam, and political parties has been published in Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Democracy and Foreign Affairs. He received the American Political Science Association Aaron Wildavsky Award for the Best Dissertation in the field of Religion and Politics.

Hesham Sallam

Online via Zoom

Amaney Jamal Professor Professor of Politics and International Affairs Princeton School for Public and International Affairs
Michael Robbins Director and Co-Principal Investigator Director and Co-Principal Investigator, Arab Barometer Arab Barometer
Lectures
Arab Reform and Democracy Speaker Series

From Silicon Valley to the Federal Reserve: Exploring Tech Innovation in Public Service

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A day after the end of spring quarter, I hopped on a flight to leave behind beautiful Bay Area weather, destined for the hot, humid wetlands we call our nation’s capital. I was to spend 12 weeks working at the Technology Lab of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the Fed), the central bank of the United States. 

My first day was rather routine. I arrived a bit early and a bit overdressed. My supervisor, Bunmi, gave me my work laptop, a first-day tour, and my onboarding checklist. I was being paid to introduce myself repeatedly and fill out forms—quite an easy gig. But this is the nation’s central bank; they are going to get their money’s worth out of me. So, I was sitting in my office after lunch setting up my Federal Reserve gym membership when Bunmi walked in and asked me to come with her, Jill, the TechLab manager, and Jeff, a senior analyst, to a TechLab panel for the Federal Reserve System’s Innovation Office. Of course, let’s go. 

We got to the System Innovation Office’s onsite, and I was doing the introductions routine once again. I met Sunayna, a Stanford alum and, probably more importantly, the Chief System Innovation Officer, who introduced us to her team. After another round of introductions, I headed to the side to sit in the audience. Jill saw this and asked me to join the team on the panel. Why not? Well, I can think of a few reasons. Anyway, three hours into my first day, I was sitting on a panel in front of the entire Federal Reserve System Innovation Office explaining how I think machine learning can be applied to financial supervision and where I see the TechLab in five years. 

That first day set the pace for the next 11 weeks and four days.

I was to spend 12 weeks working at the Technology Lab of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the Fed), the central bank of the United States.

But first, a quick detour to some American history for context.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It was created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 after a series of financial crises led to the desire for stable monetary policy. The System is similar to our broader federalist system of governance, with power distributed among multiple layers. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System—where I worked—is a federal government agency led by seven president-nominated and Senate-confirmed governors. Under the Board, 12 Federal Reserve Banks serve as the operational arms of the System. Each Reserve Bank is an independent private corporation, but all work closely with the Board to execute their policies. To promote the effective operation of the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve is afforded autonomy and independence from the more political branches of government. While the Fed certainly coordinates and receives guidance from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, it is generally empowered to make independent monetary and regulatory policies.

Fast forward 110 years. The Federal Reserve’s mission has expanded since its inception and now covers (1) setting monetary policy, (2) ensuring financial stability, (3) supervision and regulation of banks, (4) fostering a safe payments ecosystem, and (5) consumer protection. As part of this mission, the Federal Reserve has a large group of economists who produce research to inform policymakers as they steer the world’s largest economy. However, the economy and the financial system that supports it are being transformed by technological advancement. And while the Fed has a breadth and depth of economics expertise, it does not have the same technical expertise. So, to ensure that the governors receive informed, impartial technical research before making decisions, the Fed has set up multiple teams to focus on emerging technology. Three years ago, the Board created the Technology Lab to conduct research and experimentation with emerging technologies relevant to the financial system.

The Technology Lab changes its research agenda every year. It began by researching distributed ledger technology, central bank digital currencies, and has a new set of projects this year. The core team is five members strong, with over a dozen rotators from across the System who join the TechLab to lend their subject matter expertise on a specific project. 

I was assigned to work on two projects, and while I cannot discuss the specifics of my work, it comprised 60% writing and 40% software development and data analysis. Because the TechLab is relatively small and new, I effectively worked as a core team analyst leading sub-parts of the two projects. Hopefully, in the coming months, the Fed will publish the work, and I will be able to share more then. Beyond the core research and experimentation work, I also helped moderate the TechLab’s weekly series, where we invited subject matter experts from academia, the private sector, and the government.

Other highlights during my time at the Fed included representing the Board of Governors at a nationwide Federal Reserve System showcase in front of 250 people. I also got to sit next to Chairman Jerome Powell, ask him questions at an intern event, and meet now-Vice Chair Philip Jefferson at another event.

Working at the Fed this summer was an absolute pleasure and incredibly fulfilling—it made me genuinely excited about public service.
close up of a Bureau of Engraving and Printing, "escort required" badge

The summer also included several highlights outside the workplace. I celebrated the Fourth of July at the White House. I attended a piano and violin concert at the French Embassy. I went on an exclusive Fed-only tour of the dollar printing facility of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. I got to see the dollar printing machines up close, smudge a few in-production hundred-dollar bills, and hold 40 pounds of cash in one hand.

Working at the Fed this summer was an absolute pleasure and incredibly fulfilling—it made me genuinely excited about public service. I want to thank Amber, Bunmi, Cy, Jeff, Jill, Jochen, Laila, Lucas, Megan, and Monique from the TechLab team. I also want to thank Karley and Laura from the Talent Acquisition team, who guided me through the recruitment process and supported me throughout the internship. And lastly, I want to thank Sonja, Sunayna, and Susan at the officer level, who met with me to chat about the Fed, financial innovation, and career options. There are many more people who I cannot list here because of a word count limit, but I appreciate all of you. It was a genuinely wonderful summer.

The Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy Class of 2024 at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Meet the MIP Class of 2024

The 2024 Class has arrived at Stanford eager to tackle policy challenges ranging from food security to cryptocurrency privacy.
Read Full Story
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Hamzah Daud sitting next to Chairman Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve
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During the summer at the Federal Reserve, Hamzah Daud (Master's in International Policy '24) furthered his understanding of the interplay between technology and central banking, contributing to cutting edge researches that evaluate the application of emerging technologies in the everyday financial system.

Kumi Naidoo

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Kumi Naidoo is a prominent South African human rights and environmental justice activist. At the age of fifteen, he organized school boycotts against the apartheid educational system in South Africa. His courageous actions made him a target for the Security Police, leading to his exile in the United Kingdom, where he remained until 1990. Upon his return to South Africa, Kumi played a pivotal role in the legalization of the African National Congress in his home province of KwaZulu Natal.

Kumi also served as the official spokesperson for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), responsible for overseeing the country's first democratic elections in April 1994. His dedication to democracy and justice led to notable international roles, including being the first person from the global South to lead Greenpeace International as Executive Director from 2009 to 2016. He later served as the Secretary General of Amnesty International from 2018 to 2020.

In the realm of education, Kumi has shared his expertise, lecturing at Fossil Free University and holding a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy until early 2022.

Currently, Kumi serves as a Senior Advisor for the Community Arts Network (CAN). He holds the position of Distinguished visiting lecturer at Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, and is a Professor of Practice at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. Additionally, he continues to represent global interests as a Global Ambassador for Africans Rising for Justice, Peace, and Dignity. He also holds positions as a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University and an Honorary Fellow at Magdalen College.

In a testament to his family's commitment to positive change, they have established the Riky Rick Foundation for the Promotion of Artivism, honoring the legacy of their son and brother, the now late South African rapper Rikhado “Riky Rick” Makhado through a commitment to supporting artivism and mental health in South Africa.

Kumi has authored and co-authored numerous books, the most recent being Letters To My Mother (2022), a personal and professional memoir that won the HSS 2023 non-fiction award by the National Institute Humanities and Social Sciences.

Payne Distinguished Lecturer, 2023-25
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Deliberative Polling: A Path to Bridging Divides

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Nora Sulots
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In the ever-changing landscape of modern democracy, CDDRL’s Deliberative Democracy Lab (DDL) stands at the forefront of a movement to promote greater civic engagement and foster meaningful dialogue among citizens. Alice Siu, the Lab’s Associate Director and a senior research scholar at CDDRL, recently took the stage at TEDxStanford to present a talk titled "Deliberative Polling®: Changing the Tides of Democracy."

This year's TEDxStanford event, centered around the theme "Changing Tides," focused on pivotal moments and ideas capable of altering the course of history. Alice was among the nine speakers, comprising a mix of students and faculty, invited to share their insights on transformative topics. Her contribution to the event was an outgrowth of the groundbreaking work she and her team have been doing with Deliberative Polling® and the America in One Room project.

Alice's talk was a call to action for society, presenting a compelling case for the power of deliberative democracy and Deliberative Polling®. As democratic backsliding continues to challenge democratic institutions worldwide, her talk offered a glimmer of hope, demonstrating how the practice of deliberation and engaging with diverse perspectives can alleviate some of our most pressing societal issues.

Deliberative Polling® is a unique approach to engage citizens in constructive dialogue and decision-making. It involves gathering a representative sample of citizens, providing them with access to expert information, and giving them the opportunity to deliberate on key issues. Deliberative Polls have been conducted all over the world, and the evidence Alice shared in her talk illustrates their effectiveness in reducing polarization and fostering consensus.

“What we are doing now at our Lab is trying to bring deliberation to scale,” Alice said in her talk. DDL seeks to bring people together and create opportunities for meaningful engagement through both in-person and virtual means. Their AI-assisted Stanford Online Deliberation Platform, a collaboration with Stanford Professor Ashish Goel and his Crowdsourced Democracy Team, is a pioneering tool in this endeavor. Through technology, they aim to build deliberative societies where people from all walks of life can come together to tackle pressing issues, leading to informed decision-making and collective action.

In a world where division and polarization seem to be the order of the day, Alice's talk offers hope for a new era of citizen engagement where informed, rational discourse supersedes partisan bickering.

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A voter casts their ballot in the Kentucky Primary Elections at Central High School on May 16, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky.
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New National Deliberative Poll Shows Bipartisan Support for Polarizing Issues Affecting American Democracy

"America in One Room: Democratic Reform" polled participants before and after deliberation to gauge their opinions on democratic reform initiatives, including voter access and voting protections, non-partisan election administration, protecting against election interference, Supreme Court reform, and more. The results show many significant changes toward bipartisan agreement, even on the most contentious issues.
New National Deliberative Poll Shows Bipartisan Support for Polarizing Issues Affecting American Democracy
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Results of First Global Deliberative Poll® Announced by Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab

More than 6,300 deliberators from 32 countries and nine regions around the world participated in the Metaverse Community Forum on Bullying and Harassment.
Results of First Global Deliberative Poll® Announced by Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab
Broadcast of South Korean national Deliberative Poll on Electoral Reform
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National Deliberative Poll® in South Korea Shows Wide Support for Electoral Reform

Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab assisted with a nationally broadcast Deliberative Poll® in South Korea to explore support for changing the country’s election laws. The project was conducted for the National Assembly by Hankook Research.
National Deliberative Poll® in South Korea Shows Wide Support for Electoral Reform
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Alice Siu delivers a TEDxStanford talk
Alice Siu, Associate Director of the Deliberative Democracy Lab and a senior research scholar at CDDRL, delivers a TEDxStanford talk on May 13, 2023.
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In a TEDxStanford talk, Alice Siu discusses how applying and spreading deliberative democracy can better engage us all in our shared public problems.

Floundering Stability: US Foreign Policy in Egypt

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Amir Magdy Kamel event

Amir Magdy Kamel joins ARD to discuss his recently released book, Floundering Stability: US Foreign Policy in Egypt (University of Michigan Press, 2023). 


The United States has a record of pursuing global stability through international relations. This commitment is reflected in a US type of foreign policy that uses economic tools to pursue stability goals. To better understand the effectiveness of this notion, this talk will unpack the conceptual and contextual foundations of what Amir Magdy Kamel refers to as the US ‘Stability Policy’—how it evolved over time and how it was implemented in Egypt. From here, Kamel will reflect on what his book’s findings demonstrate for the relationship between economics and stability, along with how and why the stability policy performed the way it did in Egypt.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER


Amir Magdy Kamel currently holds visiting roles at Stanford University and the University of San Francisco. He is also an Associate Professor in the School of Security Studies and a Fellow in the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King's College London. His research projects focus on two areas: political and economic issues across the Middle East, including EU and US foreign policy towards the region, and transformative technologies and how they impact states and policymaking. Dr. Kamel also has over a decade of experience providing advice, analysis, and consultations to various government agencies, economic consultancies, and NGOs.

Hesham Sallam
Hesham Sallam

Encina Hall E008 (Garden Level, East)     
616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305

This is an in-person event.

Amir Magdy Kamel
Seminars
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