The Democracy Lab

In this episode, Expand Democracy's Rob Richie talks with CivicLex deputy director Kit Anderson about Lexington, Kentucky's well-funded pilot of a lottery-selected civic assembly, which produced three charter amendments headed to voters on November 3rd. Kit shares what the experience reveals about the promise and challenges of scaling citizen assemblies, from earning public trust to tackli...

When more than two million Americans in uniform face a 27% voter turnout deficit compared to civilians, something in the system is broken. Sarah Streyder and Brandi Jones of the Secure Families Initiative ( securefamiliesinitiative.org ) join the Democracy Lab to unpack the unique barriers military spouses, service members, and veterans face at the ballot box—and the ballot-curing rules, grace per...

In this episode, Expand Democracy President Rob Richie speaks with Todd Cox, Associate Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, about the alarming impact of Supreme Court rulings—including Louisiana v. Callais —on the Voting Rights Act and the broader mission for a multiracial democracy. Together, they outline an affirmative agenda to restore and protect voter access, exploring key solutions ra...

Ranked choice voting (RCV) is catching on across the country, but there's one thing people don't love about it: waiting days for results. Brian Strege, Chairman of ANC 6/8F in DC and a key figure behind the city's first RCV election, explains a new approach he designed that could make RCV election night feel a lot more normal. You can follow his work at sorb.net . Check out our work at...

Nivea talks with Ramon Perez , Executive Director of the Digital Democracy Project , about DDP's platform letting voters weigh in directly on the bills their representatives are actively debating in Congress. They dig into what real-time input means for voters used to only being heard on Election Day — and why it might be just as valuable for the candidates trying to represent them well. Check...

Expand Democracy's Rob Richie and Nivea Krishnan sit in for a team catch-up on the state of American democracy and the latest news in the democracy reform space. They unpack Trump's prime-time election speech and the abrupt firing of the EAC commissioners, and what it means for critical thinking heading into 2026. They also dig into the age and succession gap plaguing Congress, spotlight p...

In this episode, Rob talks with Sam Wang about his unlikely journey from Princeton neuroscience lab to congressional candidate — and back to election reform. Sam shares what running for office taught him firsthand about the outsized role of money in politics, and how that experience sharpened his work fighting gerrymandering and researching voter impact through the Princeton Election Consortium, t...

Rob and Eveline sit down with Ankit Jain, DC's Shadow Senator, to dig into why the nation's capital remains one of the only democracies in the world where residents pay federal taxes but have no voting representation in Congress. Ankit walks them through the decades-long fight for statehood, the constitutional hurdles, and what's actually at stake for the 700,000 people living in the D...

Democracy isn't just an outcome; it's a process and a practice built on the local infrastructure of our everyday communities. This week, Eveline talks with the National Civic League 's Rebecca Trout about what it takes to cultivate a healthy, participative democratic ecosystem. From fostering grassroots dialogue through Civic Genius to connecting change-makers via the Healthy Democracy...

In this episode, Eveline sits down with Colin Cole and Heather Villanueva from More Equitable Democracy to break down their individual and organizational theories of change and why their focus on proportional representation is critical. They also discuss MED's Electoral Justice Initiative, aimed at advancing proportional representation in jurisdictions across the country that has a proven trac...

Eveline sits down with Kevin Johnson , Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Election Reformers Network (ERN), to discuss the past, present, and future problem of partisan election officials in America. They dive into the reasons why the U.S. is the only modern democracy with this set-up, and what that means for how groups like the ERN advocate for change. Check out our work at expanddemocracy....

Constitutional amendments are not just theoretical. In this episode, Expand Democracy President and Founder Rob Richie sits down with Jeff Clements , CEO of American Promise, to discuss the movement underway to reject Citizens United. Learn how 25 states, most recently Idaho, have passed legislation in support of a constitutional amendment, and how more are on the way. Check out our work at expand...

The Electoral College isn't going anywhere, but there's a way to work around it without a constitutional amendment. Rob sits down with Chris Pearson, Executive Director of National Popular Vote, to talk about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, what it would take to get it over the finish line, and what two decades of state-level reform advocacy actually looks like from the insid...

Young leaders are taking the democracy space by storm. In this episode, our own Gen Z fellow Nivea Krishnan sits down with Alex Edgar ( Made By Us ), LaJuan Allen ( Vote16USA ) and Jahnavi Rao ( New Voters ) to discuss the world of youth civic engagement. Their conversation unpacks effective organizing strategies, identifies trends in youth participation, and underscores the way we must collaborat...

This week on The Democracy Lab, Nivea sits down with Bill Gates , Executive Director of the Mechanics of Democracy Lab , to explore how artificial intelligence can transform election administration. they unpack how AI tools could ease the burden on election officials, improve accuracy and efficiency, and strengthen trust in the democratic process. Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our...

In 2024, 7% of voters effectively elected 87% of Congress. How? That's what Eveline dives into in this week's episode with Beth Hladick , Policy Director at Unite America . They discuss the biggest solvable problem of our democracy: opening the primaries to ensure that they are truly fair, free, and representative. Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack .

Trust in institutions is eroding, and the judiciary is no exception. In this episode, Democracy Fellow Nivea Krishnan speaks with democracy and justice reform Bert Brandenburg about the judicial branch's historical relationship with public confidence and the specific levers we can pull to rebuild judicial legitimacy. Whether you're an impassioned community member, judge, organizer or polit...

In this episode, Eveline speaks with documentarian Todd Drezner and attorney Jared Pettinato about their upcoming project detailing Pettinato's fight to revitalize a long-ignored provision of the 14th Amendment and restore the governmental obligation to protect the right to vote. Check out our work at expanddemocracy.org and our musings on Substack .

Why does the United States have such a durable two-party system, and why is it so difficult for new parties to compete? Rob Richie talks with ballot access pioneer Richard Winger and Libertarian leader Bill Redpath about the history and legal battles surrounding ballot access in American elections. They also explore reforms such as ranked choice voting, fair debate access, primary reform, and prop...

Alana Persson of RepresentWomen joins Eveline to preview the upcoming Democracy Solutions Summit , a global virtual gathering of women leaders advancing bold and practical reforms. They explore the ideas gaining traction and why women’s leadership is central to building a more representative democracy. Check out our Substack and expanddemocracy.org to learn more about our work!

In this episode, Rob sits down with Stephen Richer , former Maricopa County Recorder and current Senior Fellow at the Harvard Ash Center, to break down the voting reform bills moving through Congress, namely the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. They unpack what the bill would change about voter registration and election administration, and discuss what it could signal for the futur...

In this episode, Rob, Eveline, and Nivea explore two under-the-radar developments in the democracy reform movement: a new documentary examining a long-ignored provision of the U.S. Constitution that could enforce voting rights protections, and the growing momentum behind the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. They unpack how these efforts aim to reshape presidential elections, what they rev...

Ballot initiatives are one of the most direct ways people can shape the laws that govern their lives. In this episode, President and Founder of Expand Democracy Rob Richie sits down with Maresa Strano of New America to explore how citizen-led initiatives work, why they’ve been so impactful, and what they reveal about the power of voters when traditional politics breaks down. Check out our work and...

Historian Jefferson Cowie joins Expand Democracy Senior Fellow and Research Analyst Eveline Dowling to unpack the core arguments of his book Freedom’s Dominion and the complicated role “freedom” has played in American history. They explore how appeals to freedom have often been used not to expand democracy, but to justify exclusion, control, and oppression. The conversation closes with a timely di...

In this episode, we sit down with Meredith Sumpter , CEO of FairVote, and Rob Richie , who led the organization for more than three decades, for a wide-ranging conversation on the democracy reform movement. Together, they reflect on how the movement has evolved over time, from strategy and language to public awareness, as well as what core principles have remained constant. Meredith and Rob also d...