Strengthening Democracy Challenge

Anti-democratic attitudes, support for political violence, and partisan animosity threaten the health and stability of American democracy. 

To address these issues, the Strengthening Democracy Challenge crowdsourced interventions from teams of academics, practitioners, and industry experts, helping shed light on important but overlooked solutions. Out of a total of 252 interventions, 25 of the most promising interventions were selected with the help of a panel of experts. The Strengthening Democracy Challenge went on to empirically evaluate those 25 interventions in a large online experiment of 32,000 Americans to advance understanding of what interventions reduce anti-democratic attitudes, support for partisan violence, and partisan animosity.

The Strengthening Democracy Challenge team comprises political scientists, psychologists, sociologists, and economists from Stanford, MIT, Northwestern, and Columbia, and is supported by the Civic Health Project, a nonprofit organization that funds promising research and practice to bridge partisan divides.

With 2022 Stage 2 funding from Stanford Impact Labs, the team sponsored a Field Test Grant competition for researchers working in partnership with civic organizations to test some of the most effective interventions in real-world settings. Together, select researchers and practitioner partners conducted durability tests to see whether interventions had lasting positive effects that reduced anti-democratic attitudes, support for partisan violence, and partisan animosity and how best to increase the use of the most effective interventions. Recognizing the role of social media in shaping national conversations, the team also examined opportunities to shift social media practices and platforms.