Democracy’s Tripwire: Global Corruption and Whistleblowing in Europe and the U.S.

This paper compares whistleblower protection politics in Europe and the United States to bring into fuller relief the vital role insider truth-telling plays in combatting global corruption, keeping elites honest, and sustaining liberal democracy.

Access the Paper

Misconduct by those in high places is dangerous to reveal, even in political regimes that protect freedom of expression. Whistleblowers in democracies thus face a paradox: by challenging and exposing transgressions by the powerful, they perform a vital public service; yet without the sustained support of the voting public, they always suffer for it. This paper compares whistleblower protection politics in Europe and the United States to bring into fuller relief the vital role insider truth-telling plays in combatting global corruption, keeping elites honest, and sustaining liberal democracy.

More from this Program

Ethical-Moral Intelligence of AI

Occasional Paper

Ethical-Moral Intelligence of AI

In a new working paper, Crocodile Tears: Can the Ethical-Moral Intelligence of AI Models Be Trusted?, Allen Lab authors Sarah Hubbard, David Kidd, and Andrei Stupu introduce an ethical-moral intelligence framework for evaluating AI models across dimensions of moral expertise, sensitivity, coherence, and transparency.

Sunset Section 230 and Unleash the First Amendment

Open Access Resource

Sunset Section 230 and Unleash the First Amendment

Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation Senior Fellow Allison Stanger, in collaboration with Jaron Lanier and Audrey Tang, envision a post-Section 230 landscape that fosters innovation in digital public spaces using models optimized for public interest rather than attention metrics.

A Framework for Digital Civic Infrastructure

Additional Resource

A Framework for Digital Civic Infrastructure

Creating a healthy digital civic infrastructure ecosystem means not just deploying technology for the sake of efficiency, but thoughtfully designing tools built to enhance democratic engagement from connection to action.