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The University of Notre Dame is working to dissect the state of democratic affairs in the United States and across the world through a developing Democracy Initiative.
The initiative, which launched last April, is the university’s effort to understand what democracy looks like at home and abroad, and how current practices inform what the future holds as the definition of democracy evolves.
“We are living through a period where a lot of people are rethinking what it means to be a democratic society, and universities ought to be a part of that conversation,” said David Campbell, a professor of political science at Notre Dame and director of the Democracy Initiative.
Democracy is just one topic Campbell said university leadership feels a responsibility to be on the table for examination. In 2023, the university launched its 2033 Strategic Framework, a planning strategy the school uses every 10 years to lay out what efforts they want to prioritize and accomplish.
The framework highlights democracy as one of several areas the university believes is necessary to strengthen in order to move the institution into the future.
“These are areas where the university has already established its reputation but are nonetheless also areas where we think there’s room for growth,” Campbell said.
Alongside the democracy initiative, Notre Dame has established initiatives focused on areas like poverty, sustainability, ethics, and health and well-being.
Democracy at home and abroad
There’s little doubt that society is experiencing a historic period of change in what democracy looks like across the world, Campbell said.
Liberal democracies like the U.S. are currently witnessing executive powers threatening longstanding democratic norms and laws, he said. Now, many citizens are questioning what it means to be a democratic society.
“We thought that we didn’t really have to worry about that durability,” Campbell said. “Now it’s clear that we do.”
The university has already made efforts to examine democracy through projects like The Kellogg Institute, which has been researching democracy and human development since the 1970s.
And in recent years, Notre Dame has built up its presence in studying American politics, which, Campbell said, has evolved as well.
“The study of American politics has largely become the study of American democracy, and whether or not democracy will survive in the form that we’ve known it, and where does the U.S. fit into the whole global conversation about this state of liberal democracy,” he said.
The developing initiative already has seen the Kellogg Institute host the university’s inaugural Global Democracy Conference in May. Its theme of “Understanding Today, Shaping Tomorrow” encouraged conversations about what democracy looks like in the world today, and what can be done to secure its tomorrow.
And Notre Dame recently announced its 2025 Democracy Fellowship class, a group of undergraduate students exemplifying democratic values who will receive exclusive opportunities to support their studies.
Last November, the university announced the recipients of the initiative’s Catalyst Funds. Grant money from the funds goes toward new projects in the Notre Dame community that meet the initiative’s goals.
Campbell emphasized that the initiative is not a partisan effort designed to encourage students, faculty, and other participants to think a certain way about society at large. Rather, it’s a way to bring differing perspectives together and encourage discussion among disagreements.
And because of this shift in perspective, Campbell believes the university has an opportunity to be the place to hold those discussions.
“We want Notre Dame to be one of the key places that people look to for the best research on issues related to democracy in the United States and where the United States fits into the whole global picture,” he said.
Supporting student efforts
One way the initiative is supporting faculty and students is by funding projects led by Notre Dame faculty and graduate students that align with the initiative’s mission.
Adem Osmani and the Notre Dame Law School Journal of Legislation is one recipient of the initiative’s Catalyst Funds. The funding the law journal received is being used for its upcoming symposium on The Regulation of Social Media.
Osmani is leading the charge on the symposium, which will take place on Notre Dame’s campus on March 27 and 28. He said a goal of the symposium is to bring multiple perspectives to the discussion of how to regulate social media with respect to freedom of speech rights.
“It’s a topic, frankly, that crosses your typical ideological divides,” he said. “There’s no liberal position or conservative position, because states of basically every political affiliation from every party have made some type of attempt to regulate the way that they see fit.”
States across the U.S. are increasingly enacting laws that limit social media use for young kids. In 2024, at least 50 bills pertaining to internet and social media regulation were enacted across the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Three out of 12 bills introduced in Indiana were enacted, including one that requires school corporations to implement a wireless communication device policy that outlines when students can use their cell phones during school hours.
Osmani said the symposium is timely as social media becomes increasingly prevalent in the lives of young people. He hopes the event offers different viewpoints that provide an informed basis for how attendees think about social media regulation.
“We want people to listen to and appreciate those different viewpoints and then be able to make a decision about what they believe and what they think sounds the most reasonable on their own,” he said.
The event will feature a keynote conversation on freedom of speech between major players on the topic, including a member of TikTok Government Affairs. Several panels will touch on topics at the intersection of free speech and social media.
Osmani said those interested in attending can still come to the event, with no need to register beforehand. The symposium starts at 5 p.m. on March 27 at the Notre Dame Law School.•
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