Democracy

After months of exploring how higher education could play a meaningful and active role in bridging longstanding partisan fissures, Vanderbilt University today launched the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, which aims to strengthen the nation’s democratic institutions by advancing evidence-based research in the national discourse on unity. Read More

Many Nigerians feel democracy has failed them. History professor Moses Ochonu proposes three changes in order to save the nation's political framework. Read More

In response to what he sees as a “multi-decade crisis of democracy,” Paul Kramer, associate professor of history, has developed an undergraduate course aimed at “activating citizens.” “The skills we need to make democracy work need to be constantly renewed,” said Kramer. These skills include… Read More

Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons has created a new lecture series that aims to connect Vanderbilt to a growing dialogue around the world about relationships between art, democracy and justice. Read More

Five free public events are part of the Summer Institute presented by Vanderbilt's Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative June 4-8. Read More

Vanderbilt Debate hosted three top debaters from University College Dublin for a spirited exhibition debate at the First Amendment Center on whether social media enhances or undermines democracy. Read More

New data gathered by the Latin American Political Opinion Project (LAPOP) include some upticks but also discouraging news about the state of democracy in the Americas. Read More

Law professor Ganesh Sitaraman: "Our Constitution wasn’t designed for a country with significant economic inequality." Read More

Too many safe seats, partisan voters and "wave" elections all influence how polarized a legislature is. Read More

Election outcomes depend far less on voters' opinions on policy and the incumbents than we thought. What does matter? Weather. Read More

The collapse of the party system and high levels of crime and corruption in Venezuela have not dimmed public support for democracy in that country, according to a survey by the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt. Read More