SIPA’s Institute of Global Politics Launches American Democracy Initiative

New York, NY — August 21, 2025 — The Institute of Global Politics (IGP) at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) today announced the launch of its American Democracy Initiative, a major new effort to generate actionable ideas to strengthen American democracy at a moment of unprecedented challenges to democratic norms and institutions.

Led by Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government in the Faculty of International and Public Affairs, the American Democracy Initiative will convene leading scholars and practitioners to collaborate with SIPA and Columbia faculty to produce original research, facilitate high-level dialogues, and translate their insights into actionable solutions for lawmakers, civil society groups, leaders, and the wider public.

“The health of American democracy is inseparable from the health of our institutions,” said Keren Yarhi-Milo, Dean of Columbia SIPA. “Through this initiative, the Institute of Global Politics will harness the expertise of our faculty and collaborate with practitioners to develop concrete strategies for reinforcing the institutions, norms, and practices that keep democracy functioning – here in the United States and around the world.”

She added, “We are proud to launch this work with the Freedom Together Foundation's founding support for Professor Hertel-Fernandez’s work, and we are deeply grateful to the Reynolds Foundation for making SIPA part of its University-wide effort to bolster democratic resilience, advance global leadership, and expand student opportunities.”

The initiative builds on IGP’s track record of convening timely conversations and publishing influential scholarship and thought leadership on democratic resilience. Recent programming has examined topics ranging from economic populism and its relationship to democratic stability, to comparative lessons on defending civil society, to bipartisan dialogues on the role of the judiciary in American governance.

“This work could not be more urgent,” said Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, IGP Faculty Advisory Board Chair and a professor of international and public affairs at SIPA. “American democracy is facing serious threats, and it will take rigorous research, fresh thinking, and broad and bipartisan coalitions to meet them. This new initiative will help provide exactly that.”

Hertel-Fernandez, the initiative’s founding director who is a political economist and previously served at the US Department of Labor and the White House Office of Management and Budget, emphasized the Initiative’s focus on impact: “We are bringing together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to do more than just grapple with the challenges facing democracy, but to develop real and actionable strategies for addressing them. Our goal is to ensure that the best ideas reach the people who can put them into practice.” Hertel-Fernandez plans on building on SIPA’s deep bench of publicly engaged scholars, as well as IGP’s visiting fellows. 

The American Democracy Initiative will host public events, commission original research, and publish policy-relevant analysis. The Initiative will focus especially closely on the connection between government, markets, and democracy, including understanding the role that economic policy design and implementation plays in sustaining support for democracy; how business and labor can defend and deepen democratic norms and institutions; and how government agencies and programs can underpin a more responsive, inclusive, and resilient democracy.

Stay tuned for a major event on November 10 in partnership with the Washington Center for Equitable Growth on Economic Policy for Democracy, which will serve as the formal “launch” of the Initiative, exploring how U.S. economic policy can better support shared economic prosperity and rebuild public faith in government and democracy. 

More information is available at https://igp.sipa.columbia.edu/our-work/initiatives/american-democracy-initiative. 

Media Contact: Jacob Freid, Assistant Director of Communications

Institute of Global Politics, Columbia SIPA, [email protected]