
Strengthening Democracy Challenge

Bridging Divides & Strengthening Democracy
From Science to Practice
The Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, Civic Health Project, and the Listen First Project invite you to “Bridging Divides & Strengthening Democracy: From Science to Practice,” a free, virtual, and practitioner-focused convening on September 29th, 2022, from 9am-1pm PT / 12pm-4pm ET.
Rising political divisions and democratic backsliding pose critical threats to societal stability and well-being. What are the most effective ways to reduce anti-democratic attitudes, support for political violence, and partisan animosity? Can social science research point us towards promising interventions? The Strengthening Democracy Challenge set out to answer these questions. Join us to learn what we found and work together to apply the findings.
About
the challenge
The Strengthening Democracy Challenge - one of the largest “experimental tournaments” of its kind - invited academics and practitioners to submit short, online interventions designed to reduce
(1) anti-democratic attitudes,
(2) support for political violence, and / or
(3) partisan animosity.
The Challenge's principal investigators, research team, and advisory board received more than 250 submissions from 419 submitters in 17 countries, including submissions from academics, practitioners, activists, journalists, and others. Of these, 25 were tested with a large pool of experiment subjects (N=31,000). (Additionally, academics, practitioners, and others were asked to “forecast” which interventions would perform best. Attend the convening to learn how they did!)
Join us and connect
with other practitioners, academics, and data scientists as we...

Present the approaches that most effectively reduced anti-democratic attitudes, support for political violence, and partisan animosity

Explore data-driven approaches and best practices for implementing the Challenge's findings

Announce new funding opportunities pairing academics and practitioners to implement and evaluate insights from the Challenge within relevant nonprofit organizations