February 19th, 2013

Autocracy is here for now, but is it here to stay?

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia continues to struggle with governance challenges— from corruption to weak state institutions — that have stalled its democratic development writes Kathryn Stoner in a journal article for Perspectives on Politics. Stoner, CDDRL's deputy director and a FSI senior fellow, reviews five books that examine whether Russia will slip further into autocracy or step back onto its democratic path. Read more »

October 3rd, 2012

Honors program inspires research, connects students to policy world

During a five-day trip to Washington, D.C., students met with more than a dozen officials from government agencies and development groups. The trip is a highlight of CDDRL’s honors college program, which was recently endowed with a gift from philanthropists Sakurako and William Fisher. Read more »

September 17th, 2012

Democracy and Reconciliation: Jerusalem conference and launch of The Europe Center

In the midst of the “Arab Spring”, and President Obama’s push for Palestinian-Israeli peace, The Europe Center (TEC) and the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute hosted a May 18-19 conference on “Democracy in Adversity and Diversity” in Jerusalem, the first of a sequence of conferences in TEC’s collaborative project on Reconciliation. Read more »

August 17th, 2012

Fighting for reform in 22 countries, Stanford fellows get lessons in building democracy

Some of this year's Draper Hills Summer Fellows have been imprisoned and abused for trying to democratize their countries. Read more »

March 21st, 2012

Four social entrepreneurs to join Stanford research community this spring

This spring four social entrepreneurs will be descending on the Stanford campus from as far away as Bosnia, Palestine, and Kenya and as close as San Francisco, to spend the quarter at CDDRL engaging researchers and students across the university. Read more »