Danielle Allen
Professor of Public Policy, James Bryant Conant University Professor
Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Renovating democratic institutions for the 21st century
The Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation develops the policy innovations needed to achieve healthy democracy in the 21st century. Healthy democracy today must deliver responsive representation and effective decision-making for large, complex, heterogeneous, digitally-powered societies operating in a globalized economy. Our multidisciplinary community of scholars, practitioners, and partner organizations work together to shepherd concepts and reforms into practice — to translate research into impact.
Research Workstreams
The lab currently supports four key research workstreams:
- New Frameworks for Political Economy
- Technology and Democracy: Learn more about our work here.
- Universal Civic Learning Policy
- Governance Mechanisms
Lab Staff
Darshan Goux
PhD, Senior Lab Director
Sarah Hubbard
Associate Director for Technology & Democracy
Lab Members
Ben Barsky
Lab Affiliate; Assoc. Professor, UCSF Law School
Mathis Bitton
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Naomi Corlette
Harvard College
Charlie Covit
Researcher, Harvard College
Emma Ebowe
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Keren Elmore
Harvard College
Ami Fields-Meyer
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
July 2024-June 2026
Tyler Fisher
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Cynthia Garcia
Researcher, Harvard College
Brian Highsmith
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Yen-Lin Huang
Non-resident Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Thao Nguyen Kelly
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Hannah Kunzman
Researcher;
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Hillary Lehr
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Gideon Lichfield
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Jeremy McKey
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Sonali Nijhawan
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Alex Pascal
Lab Affiliate; Executive Director, Berkman Klein Center
Priyanka Sethy
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Christine Slaughter
Research Fellow, AY2025-2026
Allison Stanger
Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation;
Co-Director and Co-Investigator, GETTING-Plurality Research Network
Feb. 2024-Jan. 2026
Sam Wang
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Paulius Yamin
Non-resident Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Lab Alumni
Felix Chen
Harvard College
Sofia Corona
Researcher, Harvard College
Caroline Curran
Researcher, Harvard College
Owen Ebose
Researcher, Harvard College
Eli Frankel
Researcher, Harvard College
Conner Huey
Researcher, Harvard College
David Knight
Principal Investigator;
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Columbia University
Woojin Lim
Researcher, Harvard College
Cris Moore
Professor, Santa Fe Institute
Saddat Nazir
Researcher, Harvard College
Charlotte Ritz-Jack
Researcher, Harvard College
Christian Schmidt
Researcher;
Master in Urban Planning Candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Tessel van Oirsouw
EthicAI and Former Visiting Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Jama Willis
Communications, Harvard College
Upcoming Events
In-Person Book Talk – Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship
In-Person Event
Ash Center Seminar Room 225, Suite 200, 124 Mount Auburn Street
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
The Latest News and Research
Commentary
The First Amendment Meets the Virtual Public Square
Allen Lab Senior Fellow, Allison Stanger, argues in the Journal of Free Speech Law that Section 230 is breaking the First Amendment.
Commentary
GETTING-Plurality Public Comment on U.S. AI Safety Institute Guidance
The GETTING-Plurality Research Network recently submitted a public comment on the NIST U.S. AI Safety Institute’s “Managing Misuse Risk for Dual-Use Foundation Models” draft guidance. The full text of the public comment can be found below.
Podcast
Conference on the Political Economy of AI Podcast Episodes
Check out the podcast episodes from the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation’s Conference on the Political Economy of AI to glean insights from each panel.
Occasional Paper
Beyond the Sound and Fury: The Landscape of Curricular Contestation in Texas
In this new Occasional Paper from the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, Hannah Kunzman and Danielle Allen offer a case study on contestation over K–12 civics curriculum in Texas.
Feature
AI and Democracy Summer Reading List
This list, curated by the GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, highlights a mix of foundational texts and new thinking on the timely issue of how AI will impact democracy, especially as we head into election season.
Feature
Conference on the Political Economy of AI
Experts gathered at the Allen Lab conference to examine the incentives and structures of AI development, as well as to discuss the past, present, and potential future of steering AI towards better serving the public interest.
Feature
Can Higher Ed Renew Our Democracy?
In new paper, Danielle Allen explores how higher ed can play a role in promoting the health of our democracy.
Feature
AI and the 2024 Elections
From misinformation to AI panic, experts joined the Allen Lab’s GETTING-Plurality event to discuss the threats the burgeoning technology poses to democracy.
Video
AI and the 2024 Elections
The GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Ash Center’s Allen Lab and Connection Science at MIT Media Lab hosted a webinar event focused on “AI and the 2024 Elections”. In this session, we hear from Danielle Allen, Harvard University; Sandy Pentland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Nate Persily, Stanford University. Each presenter gives a lightning talk, followed by audience Q&A.
Video
GETTING-Plurality Conference on the Political Economy of Artificial Intelligence
The Political Economy of AI Conference was convened by the GETTING-Plurality Research Network, a project of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, housed at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
Additional Resource
Terra Incognita: The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Global Perspective
GETTING-Plurality Research Network members Allison Stanger and Woojin Lim, along with other authors, published “Terra Incognita: The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Global Perspective” in the Annual Review of Political Science.
Commentary
Hearing on “Where Are We Now: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996”
Allen Lab Senior Fellow, Allison Stanger, provided testimony for The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on “Where Are We Now: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996”.
Video
AI and the Future of Privacy
The GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Ash Center’s Allen Lab and Connection Science at MIT Media Lab hosted a webinar event focused on “AI and the Future of Privacy”. In this session, we hear from Bruce Schneier, security technologist, and Faculty Affiliate at the Ash Center; Sarah Roth-Gaudette, Executive Director of Fight for the Future; and Tobin South, MIT Ph.D. Candidate and Fulbright Scholar. Each presenter gives a lightning talk, followed by audience Q&A.
Policy Brief
AGI and Democracy
We face a fundamental question: is the very pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) the kind of aim democracies should allow?
Additional Resource
Democracy as Approximation: A Primer for “AI for Democracy” Innovators
This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Aviv Ovadya at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.