Throughout her work as a trailblazing political philosopher and a proponent of education and community action, Dr. Danielle Allen has remained grounded in her belief that people should always have the freedom to ask “how" instead of “if.” As a self-proclaimed lover of “how” questions, Allen has tapped into the power of building spaces for conversation where collaboration and connection are paramount. Protecting the agency of individuals and their communities invests power in them as co-creators of our shared democracy: this philosophy motivates Allen to base her career around the idea of “democracy renovation.”

Allen is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center, where she also directs the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. The Allen Lab “aims to reinforce democracy through strengthening institutions, building interpersonal and informational trust and reducing hyper-partisan affective polarization with research and field-building.” Allen is also the founder and president of Partners in Democracy, an organization that works “to drive democracy renovation nationally by working at the state level, state-by-state.” She also champions “holistic, ambitious and strategic agendas for change — leading to sustained progress for democracy” through this same organization. Additionally, Allen ran an ultimately unsuccessful, yet progressive and innovative, campaign for Massachusetts governor in 2022, hoping to implement her new model of policy agenda called “One Commonwealth,” which organized her platform into five interconnected goals for “housing, transportation, schools, good jobs, and justice.” In addition, Allen is the author of several books on politics and American civic engagement, including, “Our Declaration,” a renowned critical analysis of The Declaration of Independence.   

The Brandeis community had the unique opportunity to learn more about Allen’s career and “democracy renovation” on Oct. 9, when she came to campus to talk with students. The night prior, Allen had been awarded the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize by the University to honor and support her “profoundly important work in support of democracy and greater participation in American democracy by those who have been marginalized in democratic processes.” 

Afterward, students had the chance to ask Allen questions about her work during a collaborative class visit in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall, which was co-hosted by the VoteDeis Campus Coalition and Prof. Daniel Kyrder’s (POL/HIST/AAAS) Introduction to American Government class. 

As an introduction to the collaborative class, Allen introduced herself in terms of her values rather than her career achievements. She described a childhood characterized by a “deep sense of civic responsibility and engagement,” and continued by saying that her career is “fundamentally a family story.” She elaborated that her “passion came from long traditions of activism,” rooted in her great-grandfather’s work as a founder of the first National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter in Florida and her grandmother’s work fighting for women’s suffrage. In response to a student question about what influenced her decision to pursue a career in political science, she expressed gratitude to her father — who was also a political science professor — for including her in conversations about political philosophy from a young age. 

Allen described herself as a “complete nerd,” and said that it was “always the case… for [her] that the world of books and the world of reality intersected with each other.” Allen has staked her career on the intersection of education and community action, which inspired one of her first significant “how” questions. As a sophomore at Princeton University in a course on Ancient Athenian democracy, Allen began to realize the stark contrast between democratic ideals and today’s reality. Halfway through the semester, after reading countless records of prosecution and defense cases, she recognized that “nobody once mentioned prisons” in the Ancient Greek penal system. This revelation opened up the intellectual floodgates for Allen. Her resulting question — “How did punishment work in the ancient world?” — synthesized the historical development of the justice system, especially as it relates to the use of prisons in the penal system and what this might reveal about the shortcomings of the current legal system in the United States. 

She explained that although Athenians did use prisons, they were not the highly visible feature of the penal system as they are today. By no means was the Athenian model “a mild system, [but it] relied on execution, exile and fines,” explained Allen. When exile came to an end in the 19th century, the result was an eventual over-reliance on the prison system that is recognizable today. Allen said that through this question about ancient punishment, and the studies that it inspired, she “register[ed] a real disconnect between [her] real life and life on the page.” Growing up, “incarceration was really booming in the [United States]” she recalled, and there were telling discrepancies between the democratic ideals that she was learning about and the reality she saw around her. 

Allen recounted how a couple years after she asked that question, her cousin was arrested. She said, “incarceration became a big part of my life — and not in a good way.” She developed “a lot of frustration with how … political institutions work” and explained that this guided her in finding it necessary “to bridge the academic world … and the real world.” Apart from problems relating to the American justice system, Allen found purpose in identifying greater problems in the overall function of American democracy. Registering the comparisons that she found between the ideals of political philosophy and reality was key for her in identifying how historical changes and the current political climate have created an environment deprived of civic power.

Going back to her family’s long history of civic engagement, Allen emphatically explained that she knows her great-grandparents cared about changing the system because they had the “experience of being trapped in decisions made by others.” They, like many other disenfranchised Americans, wanted and needed agency over their lives. It is natural for people to “want to be in control over their circumstances,” and “this does not have to be [at a] super high level,” she explained. “Voting helps, paying attention to needs in your neighborhood — that counts,” she said. This “gives people an experience of freedom and empowerment” that is necessary for keeping democracy alive. 

Empowering individual agency is crucial to sharing democracy, according to Allen. This revelation inspired Allen to explore democratic ideals and build a bridge to reality despite the obstacles that she sees. The “gap between ideal and reality” fuels her work, she stated. In response to a student question about her motivation for teaching, she shared that she was inspired by one of her own teachers and used this answer to highlight the cyclical nature of learning as “this democracy doesn't keep itself alive,” she explained. “It has to be passed on from one generation to the next,” and education makes this happen. Learning to be “our best selves,” as Allen put it, comes from learning how to function correctly as democratic co-participants and this is the collective responsibility of society.

Given this elaboration on her background and career, Allen’s perspective on politics and community action began to take shape for her audience. Her explanation of how she figured out the role she was meant to play in her community and her belief that this kind of participation makes for “a healthy, full, … well lived life,” informs her sense of purpose. No one “wants to be trapped in a world where we have no control over our surroundings ... buffeted by the choices of others.” Allen believes that the “only solution to [disempowerment] is to become a co-creator of [the] shared world,” thus investing in everyone a sense of agency over their lives. 

This idea of being a co-creator of the shared world is the hallmark of Allen’s definition of democracy as something alive, evolving and in the hands of the people. She elaborated on this as she described her work as the co-chair of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Commission, which was formed to explore responses to societal and institutional vulnerabilities in political and civic life. She related this to everyday life, exploring how creating common ground is necessary for political learning as it relates to effective community action. It has “to start with finding a person of a different political view, find[ing] a human connection and work[ing] on something,” she explained. This makes it possible to build spaces for productive discourse about complicated issues and problems instead of exacerbating tension. Working towards common goals, even if that baseline goal is just creating a space to have respectful discussion, is good practice for civic engagement and keeps democracy safe. 

When having conversations with people of different backgrounds and opinions, Allen advised students to practice mirroring: “We have to learn [how] to talk with a person who disagrees with us.” Her model of this hinges on repeating and clarifying opinions, using key phrases such as “tell me if I’ve heard your right” and “here’s what I heard you say,” to reach an understanding of people’s opinions. Chances are, stated Allen, that people are often wrong about the true content or root of someone’s beliefs, and viewing conversation as a productive process in which to come to a full understanding will aid in genuinely appreciating people’s values. 

Continuing to stress the theme of common ground, Allen said the understanding that “we are all equal in wanting to make tomorrow better than yesterday [and the] sense of purpose that goes with that” is critical. This recognition means “realizing that nobody else’s judgment is better than [yours] for [your own] circumstances,” and in turn applying this philosophy to every individual. Allen stood by her core belief that it is “always important to consider values [and] what motivates [people],” saying that even when she tries to advise others, she knows that she is not necessarily offering “the best judgment that [she has] as a fallible human being.” Instead, she knows that she can make recommendations “given the moral compass that [she has,] by virtue of understanding its source” in driving her own decision making. Being conscious of the nature of individual opinion, as well as realizing that the paradox of this shared ability to have individual opinions and make decisions, is actually what unites people. Above all the complicated and controversial discourse in the public sphere, the desire to make democracy better is the ideal that Allen strives to implement in reality. 

Allen’s organization, Partners in Democracy, draws upon the simple idea of cultivating conversation and in this way, is redefining community action. In its aim to drive democracy renovation, Partners in Democracy hopes to redesign institutions and policy through prioritizing the interests and voices of people, as well as making said institutions and policy more accessible. It “matters that we connect communities to the process that continues change,” explained Allen. Partners in Democracy uses Allen’s experience in education as a launching point for its mission to “help people recognize where change needs to happen and how to do this.” 

As an organization, Partners in Democracy is rooted in education and conversation. Since April 2022, Allen and her team have been building “democracy renovation learning communities,” organized into groups for young people, members of gateway cities — who are post-industrial minority communities — and members of labor unions. The learning communities work on policy recommendations and are meant for people to “bring their own immediate concerns [and] put them on the table.” Allen’s team works to “share information and knowledge” with these communities and to develop ideas about “what's healthy and not so healthy in Massachusetts democracy.” Through collaboration between community members and team members with technical experience and expertise in politics, Allen says that Partners in Democracy “open[s] up solutions and help[s] deliberate about priorities,” based on the “intrinsic motivation and community perspective that people have.” 

Allen emphasized the importance of institutions as necessary components of democracy and understanding their roadblocks as well as the opportunities that they provide. She said that the “process of collective decision making depends on institutions and is similar to a tool box,” in that institutions have the power to operate in many ways. “But if nobody shows you how to use a drill, you won't know how to use it,” Allen said. Answering a question about her observations about student engagement, Allen elaborated on the potential that institutions offer. She said that, herself included, “educators have done a poor job in recent years teaching students about all the tools in the tool kit.” Schools and institutions are tools for social change and “in that regard, there is insufficient use of school as an institution.”

Specifically surrounding the protests regarding the war between Israel and Hamas that she witnessed on the Harvard campus, Allen stated that it is her “very blunt and direct opinion” that the protests have at times been problematic and notes that while “protest is an important tool, [it is] only one tool in the toolkit.” She believes that protest should be used as one tool as well as working with institutions for change. Something Allen would “like to see more of” from young people is the “adopt[ion] of two roles: as a student and an activist.” She identifies the power of aligning the rights and responsibilities associated with those roles as fundamentally fixed in prioritizing education as a tool for better understanding, and through this achieving effective social change. 

Creating a balance between learning and activism is a work in progress, but extremely cultivable. Illustrating how learning and activism can find a powerful intersection, especially considering theory and practice, Allen shared more about her work examining the Declaration of Independence, which she wrote about in her book “Our Declaration, A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality.” In a response to a student question about how this work has shaped her own political perspective, Allen said that “one of the biggest things in her life” has been “talking about … and teaching about [the Declaration of Independence.]” While teaching at the University of Chicago, Allen recalled that it was her “students [that] introduced her to the power of the text,” which she admittedly “taught … because it was … short.” Reading the Declaration of Independence in class with her students changed her perspective and led her to start a “24 year long journey” engaging with the text. 

Reciting the entire second sentence of the Declaration, Allen explained how it moves “from individual rights to shared safety and happiness,” describing working on establishing this shared safety and happiness “through the means of the tools of institutions.” To Allen, what the Declaration of Independence implies about civic responsibility “is that we need to alter how we think about values and what we share as well as how we structure and organize power.” She asked students to think about if “our institutions [are] pointing us towards sharing power” and shared that the policy measures she is developing now focus on addressing this issue of aligning the current operations of institutions with the ideals outlined by the Declaration of Independence. In addition to revealing a deep textual understanding of the theories for democracy expressed in the Declaration of Independence, Dr. Allen revealed the positive impact of understanding theory and connecting this to practice in the political world. 

Going deeper into what she distinguishes as the philosophical register, the political register and the civic register, Allen led an exploration into how the concept of democracy has evolved over time, responding to a student question about the recent drastic changes in the American political climate. 

Tension between and within each register is how Dr. Allen characterizes the current political climate. She explained that in the philosophical register, “the concepts of democracy and liberalism have one meaning,” and looking at the origin of words, “liberalism means protection of rights.” Vocabulary confusion has strained the relationship between the philosophical and political registers. So, even though “someone committed to protecting the [Second] Amendment is [philosophically] liberal,” today, liberal has a different meaning in the political register than in the philosophical register. Providing another example, Allen said she has observed that often, “Republicans conflate democratic party with democracy,” showing that confusion about political philosophy can cause convoluted debate in the political register because of a lack of understanding. 

Allen also explained that between the philosophical and political registers, “we have developed an odd debate between the concept of a democracy or a republic,” citing that for example in Utah, “state law requires that students learn that the country is a republic, not a democracy.” She affirms that this is in fact a “red herring debate,” because “both terms were used at the founding” of the United States; the two terms, republic and representative democracy, were used together and directly contrasted with the direct democracy of Ancient Athens. 

As for the civic space, Allen said that “local democracy means showing up for your community,” and protecting this third register means protecting the safety and rights that people have in staying involved in their communities. “Changes in our political climate mostly affect the middle register,” Allen said. As for their interconnection, it is important to “protect the first register and keep its ideas sound and useful,” while still “protecting the third register [even as] debate happens in the second.” Touching on the importance of the philosophical register as an underappreciated perspective on civic engagement, she said that political thought and theory “belong to all of us — [it is] not partisan.” Essentially, education should be a tool shared and utilized by all citizens in a democracy. 

In regards to applying theory to practice, Allen fielded a couple of questions about her race for Massachusetts Governor and her agenda in doing so. Transitioning from political academia to active political campaigning during the COVID-19 Pandemic was a response to “the problem of disparity in society,”  Allen explained. She recalled how “Harvard… [was] bubble wrapped,” with its citizens receiving testing and resources before many other people in Massachusetts. Chelsea, a neighboring city of Cambridge, was the “home of one of the highest mortality rates in the country,” which Allen described as an “abomination.” This failure to achieve an equal and equitable response to the COVID-19 outbreak motivated Allen’s race against the former Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker. “It didn't look like anybody was going to run against him so I ran,” which she admitted “was a pretty crazy thing to do.” However, it felt necessary to stand up for what she believed could be done differently in government. She said she is “so grateful” that she had this opportunity, as often “political scientists have a lousy understanding of how political parties actually work,” and her experience has helped her direct her energy “towards more meaningful questions and problems.”  

The experience of running for governor and organizing a campaign shifted Allen’s perspective as she applied her theoretical knowledge to the actual lived practice of democracy. In addition to her interest in improving Massachusetts’ response to the pandemic, she “built a democracy agenda at the state level,” galvanized by the idea of justice by means of democracy. This was an experiment of Allen’s in “trying to work out a new policy paradigm,” and her policy agenda was constructed “very differently” from the usual political habit. Allen expressed her belief that the “identity group approach to politics” is not the right one, as it “does not get us to the right policy [and is] not healthy from a social point of view.” Instead, she said that “we need a policy of building blocks: housing, transportation, schools, good jobs, [and] justice.” By virtue of investing in these pillars, her agenda would in turn support change pertaining to more complicated items like climate change and economic issues. Housing was at the top of the agenda as a result of the listening sessions Allen held. In using this opportunity to model a change in policy making, despite her eventual withdrawal from the race, Allen said that “a lot of what [her campaign] worked on has started to flow into the broader political landscape.” Her campaign agendas are archived on her website “because [of their] proactive effort to convert theory into practice,” and highlight the possibility of asking “how,” as opposed to “if” something is possible.

Allen also asserted that she “knew before [she] started the race that communities of color feel disconnected from the government in Massachusetts,” and she was determined to help rectify this as well. She “was stunned,” by the level of disenfranchisement that she observed in her campaigning, disclosing that she “would chat with people who would give clear-eyed explanations of what was wrong in [their] communities,” and who could point at possible solutions, but declared that they “would not vote because it never worked.” According to Partners in Democracy, Massachusetts has below average voter registration for communities of color, and it “ranks 48th in the country for the gap between white and [Black, Indigenous, People of Color] voter turnout,” and “50th in the country for state legislature effectiveness.” This points to another goal of Allen’s in “trying to get to a place in Massachusetts where voter participation is at a higher rate,” which will happen by addressing local news desserts, encouraging community action and fostering collaboration between organizations of experts, such as Partners in Democracy and local communities in having their voices heard. Currently, Partners in Democracy is crafting a legislative agenda based on community input, which also lends itself to shaping community prioritization, in the form of fighting for policy measures such as enacting same-day voter registration, passing a local option bill, simplifying the process for getting on the ballot and updating the primary process in Massachusetts to a Top Five election system. 

Allen’s terms of democracy renovation resonated in a room full of students, most of whom were members of Prof. Kryder’s Introduction to American Government class. In a discussion that carried most of its weight in the theme of bridging the dynamic relationships between ideal and reality; theory and practice and expertise and education, Allen created a robust picture of how to focus democracy on sustaining collaborative community action. 

“Nourishing democracy and keeping that alive over time,” is the greatest goal for people in being co-creators of “our shared democracy,” she assured attendees. This is true for all citizens of the United States, yet it calls to students uniquely to take advantage of education as essential to community action. Allen’s approach to democracy in terms of “the right to vote, the right to run and the right to see and shape,” are valuable tools for understanding democracy. Above all, they invoke the ultimate ideal in upholding the “certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” to which Dr. Allen has devoted her career. 

Ending with a conclusion from VoteDeis representative, Maddie Leventhal ’26, who thanked Dr. Allen and the event attendees for “such a collaborative conversation,” and their active engagement in civic problems and issues, the discussion pointed towards the hope for a political future buoyed by strengthened community action.