Danielle Allen
Professor of Public Policy, James Bryant Conant University Professor
Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Renovating constitutional democracy for the 21st century
The Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation is an impact lab at Harvard Kennedy School working to renovate constitutional democracy for today’s large, complex, digitally powered society so that it delivers on its purpose: human flourishing.
Our work starts from two premises. First, democracy should not be treated as a stand-alone policy domain, but as a standard shaping how public policy is designed and evaluated. Second, democratic institutions and civic culture are mutually reinforcing. When institutions are unresponsive, people disengage; as participation and civic connection weaken, institutions become less responsive still. Realizing the promise of self-government requires reversing this cycle by strengthening both together.
Grounded in Danielle Allen’s field-defining scholarship on democracy, power-sharing liberalism, civic education, and technology, we combine research and real-world application to develop, test, and spread new frameworks and standards for democracy renovation.
Our Record
Advancing democracy-supportive public policy
Develop and analyze new policy approaches; help establish democracy as a central consideration in emerging debates over AI and political economy through first-of-their-kind frameworks, research, and convenings; and equip future leaders to put democratic outcomes at the center of policymaking. Convened hundreds of leading economists, political scientists, journalists, writers and thinkers from across the political spectrum to explore and debate emerging visions for the future of the political economy.
Cultivating new ideas and leaders in democracy renovation
Provide students and emerging leaders with the tools to strengthen democracy; supporting Fellows producing influential books, original research, and civic initiatives, including former White House Senior Policy Advisor Ami Fields-Meyer’s On Courage, Professor Allison Stanger’s congressional testimony on democracy and Big Tech, and former AmeriCorps Director Sonali Nijhawan’s work connecting service alumni to sustain civic participation and leadership beyond service.
Building the foundation for stronger digital civic infrastructure
Produced the first Massachusetts statewide landscape analysis, building the OpenBook municipal budget transparency tool, and developing policy recommendations for digital civic infrastructure, including Open Meeting Law in the age of AI.
Strengthening civic culture
Advancing a national vision for universal civic learning across the lifespan, building a network connecting K–12, higher education, and adult civic learning, and advancing the policies needed to support lifelong civic learning.
Lab Staff
Darshan Goux
PhD, Senior Lab Director
Sarah Hubbard
Associate Director for Technology & Democracy
Ryan Pell
Coordinator, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Lab Members
Ben Barsky
Lab Affiliate; Assoc. Professor, UCSF Law School
Mathis Bitton
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Emily Clough
Research Fellow, AY2025-2026
Charlie Covit
Researcher, Harvard College
Emma Ebowe
Assistant Professor, College of William and Mary
Keren Elmore
Harvard College
Tyler Fisher
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Cynthia Garcia
Researcher, Harvard College
David Kidd
Chief Assessment Scientist, Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics
Hannah Kunzman
Researcher;
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Hillary Lehr
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Gideon Lichfield
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Sonali Nijhawan
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Christine Slaughter
Research Fellow, AY2025-2026
Summer Sun
Researcher, Harvard College
Matthew Victor
Berkman Klein Center Fellow
Kenneth Woodland
Researcher, Harvard Kennedy School
Paulius Yamin
Non-resident Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Joshua Tan
Policy Fellow, AY2026-2027
Marci Harris
Policy Fellow, AY2026-2027
Leon Erichsen
Policy Fellow, AY2026-2027
Beth Simone Noveck
Policy Fellow, AY2026-2027
Lab Alumni
Carly Chen
Researcher, Harvard College
Felix Chen
Harvard College
Naomi Corlette
Harvard College
Sofia Corona
Researcher, Harvard College
Caroline Curran
Researcher, Harvard College
Owen Ebose
Researcher, Harvard College
Eli Frankel
Researcher, Harvard College
Brian Highsmith
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Yen-Lin Huang
Non-resident Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Conner Huey
Researcher, Harvard College
Martina Jaramillo
Researcher, Harvard College
David Knight
Principal Investigator;
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Columbia University
Woojin Lim
Researcher, Harvard College
Jeremy McKey
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Neil Miller
Researcher, Harvard Kennedy School
Cris Moore
Professor, Santa Fe Institute
Saddat Nazir
Researcher, Harvard College
Femi Ositade
Researcher, Harvard College
Alex Pascal
Lab Affiliate; Executive Director, Berkman Klein Center
Rishab Ramamurthy
Researcher, Harvard Law School
Charlotte Ritz-Jack
Researcher, Harvard College
Christian Schmidt
Researcher;
Master in Urban Planning Candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Priyanka Sethy
Doctoral Student, Harvard Government Department
Karan Shah
Researcher, Harvard College
Allison Stanger
Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation;
Co-Director and Co-Investigator, GETTING-Plurality Research Network
Feb. 2024-Jan. 2026
Andrei Stupu
PhD; Fulbright Alumnus
Tessel van Oirsouw
EthicAI and Former Visiting Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Shlomit Wagman
Allen Lab Policy Fellow AY 2023-2025
Sam Wang
Policy Fellow, AY2025-2026
Jama Willis
Communications, Harvard College
Upcoming Events
Ash Center Open House – Fall 2026
In-Person Event
Ash Center Foyer, Suite 200, 124 Mount Auburn Street
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT
The Latest News and Research
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 a 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.
Commentary
The One Internet Hack That Could Save Everything
Allen Lab Senior Fellow, Allison Stanger, and Jaron Lanier outline a world without Section 230.
Additional Resource
The Real Dangers of Generative AI
“The Real Dangers of Generative AI” by Danielle Allen and Glen Weyl was featured in the January 2024 Journal of Democracy.
Abstract: As perhaps the most consequential technology of our time, Generative Foundation Models (GFMs) present unprecedented challenges for democratic institutions. By allowing deception and de-contextualized information sharing at a previously unimaginable scale and pace, GFMs could undermine the foundations of democracy. At the same time, the investment scale required to develop the models and the race dynamics around that development threaten to enable concentrations of democratically unaccountable power (both public and private). This essay examines the twin threats of collapse and singularity occasioned by the rise of GFMs.
Occasional Paper
A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power Sharing Liberalism
Video
Advancements in Global AI Policy
The “Advancements in Global AI Policy” webinar featured the following speakers and topics:
- Andrew Strait, Ada Lovelace Institute – Recent Developments in UK AI Policy
- Alex Pascal, Harvard Kennedy School – Biden’s AI Policy: Past, Present, and Future
- Chinasa T. Okolo, Brookings Institution – Globalizing Perspectives on AI Governance: Africa’s Role in International AI Cooperation
- Maia Levy Daniel, University of San Andrés & Wikimedia Argentina – AI Regulation in Latin America Requires a Thoughtful Process
- Armando Guio Español, Harvard Berkman-Klein Center – Generative AI: What Should Governments in Latin America Do?