Promoting Democracy and Peace

In the coming days the US House panel investigating the Jan. 6 continues to examine a day when American democracy came under direct attack, life continues to play out in communities across the nation. A kind of twin reality, one in which Americans still believe their nation to be a beacon of freedom while also witnessing a political system under great duress, is generating deep divisions. Far from the committee rooms of the capitol, the everyday experiences of citizens reveal other democratic stresses and opportunities too. Some communities still feel locked out, confronting an economy that generates too little hope and experiencing a justice system that holds some lives far too cheap. But there are also profound and moving examples of democratic renewal to be discovered too, from the mutual aid organisations that came to people’s aid during the depth of the pandemic to the new digital engagement enabled by rapidly transforming technologies.  

As the UCL Policy Lab launch the second of our research themes, Promoting Democracy and Peace, we aim to understand all of these forces for the benefit of society at large. Much like the communities in which UCL lives, we recognise that our democracy will shift and change. It will adapt as long as it is supported and understood. Our work is a recognition that the anger and divisions in advanced democracies today are not unique, that the toxic mix of cultural division and economic anxiety is the mood music for politics around the world. At the same time, this weakness has been matched by authoritarian regimes' wiliness to suppress their own people, scapegoat minorities and commit acts of violence against neighbouring states. 

Promoting democracy and peace will utilise the breadth of cutting-edge methods available at UCL, to give a detailed analysis of how we can best protect and strengthen democratic systems and ensure the peaceful governance of the societies of the world. While bringing together collaborative, inclusive methods to help understand the deep discount of communities across the democratic world. Be it the dinner tables of rural Ohio, the streets of Paris’s Banlieue or communities here in the UK, be they Hackney or Hartlepool. 

Alongside our launch, we’re publishing a series of essays from researchers across UCL. These essays act starting point for a conversation we invite you to, an attempt to break down the barriers between our institutions, communities and disciplines. From the war in Ukraine to ideas of deliberative democracy, from LGBT+ rights to concepts of belonging, from voting reform to the threat of political violence, we want to ask the questions communities and citizens are asking. And we want you to join the conversation. 

To get the latest on our work and collaborations, you can join our mailing list or follow us on Twitter. We’ll be sharing opportunities to collaborate and come together. Our themes, including Challenging Inequalities and Protecting Rights, will be appointing Heads of Themes, and for those wishing to help lead these conversations, you can contact policylab@ucl.ac.uk.