ARAB REFORM AND DEMOCRACY PROGRAM

CDDRL’s Program on Arab Reform and Democracy (ARD) held its annual conference at Stanford University on October 11 and 12, titled “The Struggle for Political Change in the Arab World.” The conference is an outgrowth of ARD’s efforts to support new research on the dynamics of political change in the countries of the Arab world. Scholars from across different disciplines sought to understand how social, economic, and political dynamics at the national level, as well as international and regional conflict and power rivalries, impact struggles for political and social change in the region. 

In 2019, ARD's seminar series provided the Stanford community with an important forum for discussing cutting-edge research addressing timely issues and problems in the countries of the Arab world. In the wake of the 2019 Algerian Uprising, which resulted in the resignation of longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, ARD hosted Algeria experts Muriam Haleh Davis and Thomas Serres, who analyzed the origins and outcome of the protests. ARD also invited Georgetown Scholar Daniel Brumberg to discuss the outcome of Tunisia’s 2019 legislative and presidential elections, and their implications for democratic consolidation in the country.

POVERTY, VIOLENCE AND GOVERNANCE LAB

The Poverty, Violence and Governance Lab’s (Povgov)  partnerships with government agencies, police departments, and non-state organizations to study the causes of violence in Latin America. In 2019, the Povgov team made relevant academic and policy contributions on what works and doesn’t to control violence; how to improve the function and accountability of public safety institutions; and how to restrain human rights abuses, among others.

Povgov published three peer-reviewed articles, multiple reports, policy memos and submitted one article to APSR. In parallel to the academic publications, 2019 was an important year in partnership-building, training, data collection, and policy diffusion in Mexico.

Derived from a collaboration with the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM), the US Embassy-Mexico, and Stanford’s Center for Latin American Studies, every year we bring dozens of indigenous students from multiple rural sites in Mexico. This program offers scholarships to study an intensive summer program at Stanford University on the challenges of poverty, violence and governance across Mexico and indigenous townships.

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