Technology and Democracy: What to Read This Summer
This list of resources, curated by the GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, highlights emerging ideas at the intersection of technology and democracy.
Technology and democracy are at a crucial inflection point. The outcomes of the historic 2024 election year have revealed both the vulnerabilities and resilience of democratic institutions around the world. At the same time, rapid advancements in artificial intelligence are reshaping our lives, with social, economic, environmental, and geopolitical implications.
For those interested in learning more, the reading list below, curated by the GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, aims to reflect the urgency of the current moment. These books, articles, and videos explore the intersections of technology and democracy across disciplines, including philosophy, political theory, law, ethics, and policy. Together, they highlight the breadth of thought and impact related to technology’s role in our democratic lives, raising warnings and pointing to possibilities for the future.
Hao details AI companies’ quest toward artificial general intelligence, a hypothetical AI that has human-level intelligence, and outlines how they are quickly creating the “modern-day colonial world order.”
Schaake explains how technology companies’ unchecked power is undermining our democracies and shares potential solutions. To learn more, you can view this recording from the Ash Center’s online book talk with the author.
In this collection of essays, leading scholars and experts raise critical questions surrounding power, governance, and democracy as they consider how technology can better serve the public interest.
This report argues that public options for AI, along with utility-style regulation, will strengthen national security by promoting innovation and competition, preventing abuses of power and conflicts of interest, and advancing the public interest and national security goals.
Cohen lays out how tech oligarchs, who wield unprecedented power, are reconfiguring our institutions, hollowing out public capacity, and challenging core democratic norms.
This important document from the Vatican lays out an ethical framework for AI, highlights the importance of human dignity and moral responsibility, and outlines a vision for the responsible development and use of this technology.
This essay series explores how deliberative processes can strengthen democracy, drawing on lessons from citizens’ assemblies and civic technology-enabled tools that are being tested around the world.
At the Paris AI Action Summit, Allen argued that DOGE represents the real-time implementation of an extreme ideological vision that defines the role that technology and a small cohort of its wealthiest leaders should play in the world.
The Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, and Institute of Politics hosted the “Building a Digital Democracy” panel in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard Kennedy School which brought together Audrey Tang, Megan Smith, Danielle Allen, and Mathias Risse for a conversation on how technology is being used to transform our political institutions.
A Summer Reading List for America’s 250th Anniversary
On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As this milestone approaches, the team at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation has curated a collection of books, podcasts, and events that explore the meaning and impact of the declaration from 1776 to today. Join us in revisiting the document itself, reflecting on its legacy, and considering the ongoing struggle to uphold democratic ideals.
The bipartisan Utah Digital Choice Act aims to reform the social media ecosystem by giving users more choice and ownership over their personal data, while encouraging platform innovation and competition.
In Appearance Before Congress, Bruce Schneier Raises Concerns about DOGE Data Handling Practices
In a warning to lawmakers, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sharply criticizing the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) handling of federal data. Describing DOGE’s security protocols as dangerously inadequate, Schneier warned that the agency’s practices have put sensitive government and citizen information at risk of exploitation by foreign adversaries and criminal networks.
How Do Legislators Think Democracy Should Work? Evidence from the United States and Germany
What kind of democracy do legislators want? This question was at the center of a recent discussion with Melody Crowder-Meyer, associate professor of political science at Davidson College, as part of the American Politics Speaker Series.
