With the U.S. 2024 presidential and congressional elections fast approaching, students, faculty, and staff across Stanford are taking action at a pivotal moment for democracy through a wide array of educational, civic engagement, and get-out-the-vote efforts. 

“The November U.S. election caps an extraordinary global year of elections in which democracy is being tested around the world,” said Stanford political scientist Larry Diamond.

Diamond is among many Stanford scholars hosting events and seminars this quarter that examine the issues in an election that will determine the country’s future for years to come.

Numerous student organizations are also holding events – from registering first-time voters to encouraging discussions on the meaning of democratic participation. Below are some highlights of these efforts, as well as other ways the Stanford community is coming together – sometimes, in unexpected ways – to foster a culture of civic engagement. 

Speaker series, events, and courses 

This fall, Diamond and Dean Debra Satz are hosting “Reimagining Democracy,” a seven-week faculty speaker series featuring Stanford faculty who study the challenges faced by democratic societies.

“Democracy is under pressure around the world,” said Satz, the Vernon R. and Lysbeth Warren Anderson Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S). “In the U.S., confidence in our collective political institutions – Congress, the courts, and state administration – has declined, especially among young people. There is a sense that these institutions have become inefficient, partisan, and subject to special interests. Is this true? Can we do better, and if so, how?”

The speaker series will explore these questions and other issues over seven live and online discussions on Wednesdays at noon from Sept. 25 to Nov. 13. It is being organized by Stanford Continuing Studies, the Office of Community Engagement, and the Stanford Democracy Hub – which Diamond co-founded and Satz is now the faculty director of.

“This series is one of several collaborative efforts at Stanford to enrich student and public understanding of the stakes in this election and the possibilities it holds for renewing and reimagining our democracy,” Diamond said.

Other election-related courses include Election 2024: Democracy on the Ballot, a popular Continuing Studies class taught by Jim Steyer, the founder of Common Sense Media, which features high-profile guest speakers discussing democracy-related topics and is open to both Stanford students and the public.

Meanwhile, “America Votes 2024: Stanford Scholars on the Election’s Most Critical Questions” is a series of panel discussions being held Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Oct. 30, and Nov. 12 that will feature leading Stanford social scientists discussing polarization, race, and socio-economic status in voting, public opinion, vote and voter manipulation, electoral integrity, and the comparative dimensions of U.S. elections.

The series is co-sponsored and co-organized by the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions at the Hoover Institution; and the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences.

On Oct. 9, Sam Wineburg, the Margaret Jacks Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Education and co-founder of Digital Inquiry Group will be in conversation with Stanford Vice Provost for Digital Education Matthew Rascoff in a discussion about teaching people to distinguish falsehood from fact, a key skill for democracy. The event is part of the Academic Innovation for the Public Good book series co-organized by Stanford Digital Education and Trinity College.

For matriculated students, nearly 150 fall quarter courses related to democracy and civics are being offered. Additionally, the Stanford Civics Initiative, led by the political scientist and classicist Josiah Ober, is helping students explore the principles and practices of democratic citizenship.

Ober notes that an education grounded in civics – and a reflection on one’s roles and responsibilities as a citizen – dates back to the founding mission of the university.

“Today, Stanford is recommitting to a 21st-century version of that earlier vision of the university’s civic mission through new courses and experiential learning,” said Ober, the Markos & Eleni Kounalakis Chair in Honor of Constantine Mitsotakis in H&S. “The university aims to prepare students to be active contributors to their communities and capable members of a pluralistic society.”

‘I Stand for Democracy’

Across campus, students are mobilizing to encourage their peers to reflect on democratic participation. This fall, a coalition of five nonpartisan student groups – Democracy Day, Stanford in Government, StanfordVotes, Stanford Political Union, and Stanford Women in Politics – have launched an awareness campaign, “I Stand for Democracy,” supported by the Stanford Democracy Hub and the Haas Center for Public Service, that seeks to build a culture around civic engagement on campus.

Jeannette Wang, ’26, chair of Democracy Day, Stanford’s annual day of civic celebration held on Election Day, views civic engagement as more than just casting a ballot on election day – it’s a crucial part of everyday life.

“I think of civic engagement as a habit,” Wang said. “That means no matter what your primary job is, you think about it in a way that’s people/public-oriented, and are actively involved in conversations of change about the topics you care about.”

The campaign includes programming like a trivia night on Oct. 24 about how women’s issues are showing up on the ballot co-hosted by Stanford Women in Politics and Stanford in Government, and community discussions organized by the Stanford Political Union on Wednesday evenings.

“I hope that our efforts leading up to the election will garner excitement in students who aren’t normally interested in civic engagement,” said Aubrey Merrill, ’26, co-chair of Stanford Votes, a student organization that was launched in 2018 to address low student voter turnout at Stanford. 

In 2022, Stanford won the statewide “Ballot Bowl” competition for registering the most students to vote as California residents in the 2022 election. This was thanks in large part to the work of the Office of the Registrar to include the option to register to vote as part of student check-in.

Now, students want to continue building on that civic momentum. The campaign also aims to boost voter registration and turnout, with student groups providing a 50-state voting guide and planning the upcoming Stanford Democracy Day on Nov. 5. More information about these events, and others – including the day before and after the election – will be forthcoming.

Across the community

Elsewhere, Stanford faculty and staff are also cultivating civic identity within the communities they serve. 

For example, Stanford Health Care and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health are working with Vot-ER, a nonpartisan organization working to broaden voter engagement within the country’s health care system, to display QR codes on their badges that help people check their voter registration status.

In Athletics, coaches too are motivating student-athletes to participate in the electoral process. Associate basketball coach Eric Reveno, who helped create the NCAA “All Vote No Play” effort, is ensuring his Stanford players are ready to vote. He has signed on to the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Coaches Pledge, which asks coaches to commit to supporting student-athletes with nonpartisan resources to register and turnout to vote in the 2024 election.

“Voting is a core requirement to shaping the future you want. It’s part of being a great teammate,” Reveno said. “We teach about playing basketball but also sleep, nutrition, mental health, and financial literacy – voting must be on that list.”

Reveno is also collaborating with the Democracy Day committee to create a civic celebration with voting information at the Nov. 4 basketball game between Stanford and University of Denver. 

In the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL), Rabbi Laurie Hahn Tapper is leading an initiative to recruit poll workers to ensure a free, fair, safe, and accessible election.

“During a previous election I heard a candidate say, ‘Democracy is not a spectator sport,’” said Hahn Tapper, the associate dean for religious & spiritual life. “I believe that we really need everyone’s voice, vote, and contribution in order to activate, if not elevate, the democratic process.”

For Hahn Tapper, there are a number of teachings in the Jewish tradition that have inspired her involvement in democracy.

“One is that every being is created in the image of the divine, which for me means that every human voice and vote and matter equally,” Hahn Tapper said. “I need to play my role in helping make sure that everyone can participate in the election process. Nobody should be disenfranchised.”

The OSRL is also offering faith-based resources and practices to support community members during this time.

“We’re creating spaces for people to connect with themselves, with one another, and across differences,” Hahn Tapper said.