Danielle Allen
Danielle Allen, the author of the introduction to the study guide ("What is Democracy?"), is James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. She is a professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy. She is also a seasoned nonprofit leader, democracy advocate, tech ethicist, distinguished author, and mom.
Danielle’s work to make the world better for young people has taken her from teaching college and leading a $60 million university division to driving change at the helm of a $6 billion foundation, writing as a national opinion columnist, advocating for cannabis legalization, public health policy, democracy renovation, civic education, and sound governance of and with new technology. During the height of COVID in 2020, Danielle’s leadership in rallying coalitions and building solutions resulted in the country’s first-ever Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience; her policies were adopted in federal legislation and a presidential executive order. She was the 2020 winner of the Library of Congress' Kluge Prize, which recognizes scholarly achievement in the disciplines not covered by the Nobel Prize. She received the Prize "for her internationally recognized scholarship in political theory and her commitment to improving democratic practice and civics education." She was a lead author on the Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy, a framework for securing excellence in history and civic education for all learners, K-12, released in 2021. During 2020 to 2022, Danielle ran for governor of Massachusetts, making history as the first Black woman ever to run for statewide office in Massachusetts.
A past chair of the Mellon Foundation and Pulitzer Prize Board, she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Philosophical Society. As a scholar, she currently concentrates on the GETTING-Plurality research network (focused on tech governance and AI ethics); the Democratic Knowledge Project and Justice, Health, and Democracy Impact Initiative, housed at the Safra Center; on the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, housed at Harvard’s Ash Center; and on the Our Common Purpose Commission at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Learning from the natural sciences, she has built a lab to extend the impact of work in the humanities and social sciences.
Her many books include the widely acclaimed Our Declaration: a reading of the Declaration of Independence in defense of equality; Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.; Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus; and Justice by Means of Democracy. Her many edited volumes include From Voice to Influence: understanding citizenship in a digital age and A Political Economy of Justice. She writes a column on constitutional democracy for the Washington Post.
Outside the University, she is Founder and President of Partners In Democracy, where she continues to advocate for democracy reform to create greater voice and access in our democracy, and drive progress towards a new social contract that serves and includes us all. She also serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, Cambridge Health Alliance, New America, FairVote, and the Democracy Fund. Danielle's personal website is available here.
Eric Chenoweth
Eric Chenoweth is the principal author of the Democracy Web study guide.
Mr. Chenoweth was co-founder and director of the Committee in Support of Solidarity from 1981 to 1997. He also co-founded and directed the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe (IDEE), which was established in 1985, and has been its co-director since 1994. The Committee and IDEE provided critical assistance to the dissident and human rights movements that brought about the democracy revolutions of 1989-91. Since then, IDEE carried out numerous programs to help civic and political activists in the region try to achieve and institutionalize democracy and overcome communism's oppressive legacy (see http://idee-us.org and www.idee.org).
From 1987 to 1993, Mr. Chenoweth worked in the International Affairs Departments of the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO and was responsible for the AFT's Education for Democracy/International project. Since 2005, Mr. Chenoweth has been a consultant for the Albert Shanker Institute working on a variety of projects, including as author of Democracy’s Champion: Albert Shanker and the International Impact of the AFT.
Mr. Chenoweth was also editor-in-chief of Uncaptive Minds (1988-97) and his articles on democracy and democracy movements have appeared in many languages in a wide range of opinion pages and journals, including American Educator, American Teacher and The Shanker Blog. He graduated in 1985 from Columbia College in political science.