CDDRL 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 27 experienced practitioners from 18 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.
More than 200 academics and political leaders met last week at Stanford for “Climate Resilience and Local Governmental Policy: Lessons from Los Angeles and Tel Aviv,” a groundbreaking conference organized by CDDRL's Visiting Fellows in Israel Studies program.
Dr. Natalia Forrat, a comparative political sociologist and lecturer at the University of Michigan’s Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, explores how authoritarian regimes are maintained not only through top-down coercion but also through everyday social dynamics at the grassroots level.
Journalist Describes Surviving October 7 Hamas Attack and Analyzes Israeli-Palestinian Relations
Journalist Amir Tibon shared his family’s story of survival, betrayal, and hope for peace with a Stanford audience, while also offering insights on contemporary Israeli politics.
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.
University of California, Berkeley Distinguished Professor Paul Pierson explores the risks of democratic backsliding in the United States in the face of rising polarization and inequality.
The award, decreed by President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, is Mongolia’s highest state honor and recognizes Fishkin for his pioneering contributions to deliberative democracy.
CDDRL Research-in-Brief [6-minute read]
CDDRL Research-in-Brief [4-minute read]
CDDRL Research-in-Brief [4.5-minute read]
In a CDDRL research seminar, Clémence Tricaud, Assistant Professor of Economics at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, shared her research on the evolving nature of electoral competition in the United States. She explored a question of growing political and public interest: Are U.S. elections truly getting closer—and if so, why does that matter?
In a REDS seminar talk, co-hosted by CDDRL and The Europe Center, Princeton Professor of Politics Grigore Pop-Eleches shared findings from a major research project examining what drives support for Ukraine — and whether empathy can help counter growing war fatigue.
Prof. Grzymała-Busse, a leading scholar on religion and politics, unpacks what Pope Leo XIV’s election could mean for diplomacy, populism, and the Church’s global role.
During the event, held at Stanford Law School, panelists, including Diego Zambrano and Francis Fukuyama, examined the constitutional questions and rule-of-law tensions sparked by the Trump administration’s expansive and boundary-testing use of executive power.
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.
Associate Professor at Texas A&M University Danila Serra’s field research on the impacts of police ethics training provides hope for reducing corruption and restoring public faith in state institutions.
Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos shared insights on peace processes, leadership, and conflict transformation with a Stanford audience.
A new study by Stanford researchers, including Stephen P. Luby, shows that simple operational fixes in brick kilns can reduce coal use and emissions, pointing to scalable solutions in unregulated industries.
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.
Dr. Heller, founder of the Fourth Quarter, discussed how grassroots centrist movements can overcome identity-driven polarization in Israel by fostering unity, especially in the wake of national tragedy, and emphasized the need for long-term internal peace-building and reimagining Israeli society’s future.
The national program offers recent graduates the opportunity to work as research assistants on projects related to democracy, global security, and foreign policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.
In a recent REDS Seminar, Syracuse University Professor of Political Science Brian Taylor examined the state of the war, the prospects for peace, and the political dynamics shaping both Ukrainian resistance and Russian aggression.
CDDRL Postdoctoral Fellow Ivetta Sergeeva’s research on the Russian diaspora’s willingness to donate to oppositional organizations demonstrates that the criminalization of groups can incentivize greater donor support among emigrants, contrary to the Putin regime’s intentions.