Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is housed in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Elections
Scholarly Publications
Do Fair Elections Increase the Responsiveness of Politicians?
January 2018
AbstractI leverage novel experimental designs and 2, 160 months of Members of Parliaments’ (MPs’) Constituency Development Fund spending to test whether fair elections promote democratic...
Iran’s 2017 Election: The Opposition Inches Forward
October 2017
Abbas Milani argues how the 19 May 2017 presidential election offers a window into the painful predicament of a democracy-minded society—demographically young, globally inclined, and social-media...
Taiwan's Democracy Challenged: The Chen Shui-bian Years
December 2015
At the end of Chen Shui-bian’s two terms as the president of Taiwan, his tenure was widely viewed as a disappointment, if not an outright failure.
Other Publications
Conference Report: Lobbying and Campaign Finance [November 2014]
April 2015
On November 14-15, the Program on American Democracy in Comparative Perspective hosted a conference on Lobbying and Campaign Finance.
Conference Report: Electoral Systems Reform in the U.S. [Mar. 2014]
January 2015
The Program on American Democracy in Comparative Perspective hosted a workshop on electoral systems on March 14-15, 2014.
News
What if There’s a Better Way to Handle Our Democratic Debate?
September 2019
"There’s a better way for the American people to grapple in depth with the issues we face at the start of the primary season.
Playing with Fire on Election Security
July 2019
"If one foreign power continues to shred, on an ever-more daring basis, the integrity and inviolability of our electoral process, other foreign powers will draw lessons and follow.
Democracy Demotion: How the Freedom Agenda Fell Apart
June 2019
In the honor of publication of Larry Diamond's "Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency" Foreign Affairs are providing past the paywall article ...
Events
The Struggle for Political Change in the Arab World
September 9, 2019
DAY 1: Friday October 11 8:30 – 9:00am Breakfast 9:00 – 9:15am Introductory Remarks 9:15 – 11:15am Panel 1: The Boundaries of Authoritarianism post-Arab UprisingsAmr Hamzawy,...
Tunisia's Vital Election: Democratic Consolidation in a Divided Society
September 9, 2019
ABSTRACTThis lecture will consider the challenge of moving from a negotiated transition to a consolidated democracy as exemplified by the case critical of Tunisia.
Ill Winds: Book Launch and Discussion with Larry Diamond
May 20, 2019
Please join Larry Diamond, Senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Affairs and the Hoover Institution for the launch of his latest book, "Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from...
Projects
The Deliberative Poll at the Internet Governance Forum 2015
The Deliberative Poll at the Internet Governance Forum 2015 (DP@IGF2015) project is a joint initiative between CDDRL's Program on Liberation Technology and the Center for Deliberative Democracy.
English
Brookings Doha Center-Stanford Project on Arab Transitions
The Brookings Doha Center-Stanford University "Project on Arab Transitions" - a joint initiative between the BDC and the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University's Center on...
English
Political Reform Prospects in Yemen
As in much of the Arab world, 2011 was a year of social upheaval and momentous change for Yemen.
English
Multimedia
How will Michael Flynn's resignation affect US-Russia relations?
February 2017
Russia expert and Stanford University senior fellow Kathryn Stoner on Russian reaction to the national security adviser's resignation. Watch the video here.
Election 2016: Recapping the Presidential Race
November 2016
The Presidential Election of 2016 has been unlike any in modern American history. How did voters decide between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton?
Infrastructural State Power in Putin's Russia
September 2016
Abstract:The paper introduces the public sector as a major source of infrastructural state capacity that helps autocrats survive.
People
Hesham Sallam Research Scholar, CDDRL Associate Director and Research Associate, Program on Arab Reform and Democracy 
Nathaniel Persily Co-director, Cyber Policy Center, Senior Fellow Professor, Law, Professor, by courtesy, Political Science, Professor, by courtesy, Communication 