Rigorous scholarship. Engaged students. Stronger democracies.

About the Cornell Center on Democracy

Hadas Kress-Gazit, the Geoffrey S.M. Hedrick Senior Professor speaking with students — Hadas Kress-Gazit, the Geoffrey S.M. Hedrick Senior Professor in the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering, leads students through a breakout discussion during the new course Pathways to Purpose – Civic Leadership in Law, Health, Tech and Business. Jason Koski/Cornell University

The Cornell Center on Democracy tackles the fundamental questions facing democracies, serving as a hub for research, learning, and partnership to strengthen democratic institutions and practices.

Through targeted research, education, and public engagement, we aim to reverse democratic declines and bolster democracy worldwide. We are home to a far-reaching, multidisciplinary faculty of 100+ Cornell scholars working in collaboration to advance new frontiers of democratic thought and action.

Rooted in purpose

Cornell is uniquely positioned to lead this work. Deeply rooted in the American democratic experiment — founded to serve the public good through "any person, any study" — Cornell combines intellectual breadth and academic rigor with an applied, practical ethos shaped by generations of experience working alongside communities and governments.

Ross Douthat and Kate Manne on stage — New York Times columnist Ross Douthat debates Cornell professor of philosophy Kate Manne on the issue of declining fertility rates as part of the Disagreement class taught by Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of government. Ryan Young / Cornell University

Every discipline. Every angle.

Our faculty spans law, public policy, social sciences, humanities, philosophy, communication, computer science, psychology, engineering, and global development, with research and partnerships extending across the United States and around the world.

This multidisciplinary reach uniquely positions our team to study democracy across institutions, technologies, cultures, and levels of governance — and turn knowledge into better democratic practice.

Core Values

Practical and globally relevant

We advance ideas that are objective, actionable, and relevant across cultures, institutions, and levels of governance — in the United States and around the world.

Rigorous scholarship

Our research meets the highest standards of scholarly inquiry. We pair that rigor with actionable outputs — policy frameworks, evaluative tools, and public resources grounded in evidence.

Evidence-based

We approach democratic governance empirically. Our work is driven by data, analysis, and a commitment to honest inquiry — not ideology or predetermined conclusions.

Research, education and engagement, connected

Democracy is strongest when ideas move into practice. We deliberately connect our research, our teaching, and our public engagement so that each reinforces the other.

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Contact Us

Inquiries can be sent to globaldemocracy@cornell.edu