The Renovator | Danielle Allen | Substack

How Much Revolution Does a Guinea Buy?

And other lessons about saving democracy from the Radical Duke

Jun 17 • Danielle Allen

Are We Ready for a New Voting Rights Movement?

An Estimated 1 out of 4 American Voters Is Structurally Disenfranchised

May 14 • Danielle Allen

The Union of Power and Love

Harvard Prof. Rebecca Henderson’s keynote speech at the "After Neoliberalism: From Left to Right" conference

8 hrs ago

June 15 Tech and Democracy Roundup

The Preemption Fight, Anthropic vs. Washington (Again), and AI Leaders Push Their Policy Agendas.

Jun 15 • Zachey Kliger

The case for sacrifice in business and democracy

Why giving something up can be the smartest thing a leader can do.

Jun 14 • Malcolm Salter

The Democracy Renovation Agenda

The Union of Power and Love

Harvard Prof. Rebecca Henderson’s keynote speech at the "After Neoliberalism: From Left to Right" conference

8 hrs ago

How Much Revolution Does a Guinea Buy?

And other lessons about saving democracy from the Radical Duke

Jun 17 • Danielle Allen

The case for sacrifice in business and democracy

Why giving something up can be the smartest thing a leader can do.

Jun 14 • Malcolm Salter

Lessons from Platner's Victory

Notes for the Democracy Renovation movement

Jun 11 • Danielle Allen

The Lexington Experiment

Richard Young of CivicLex on what citizens' assemblies can achieve — and what they can't.

Jun 6 • Gideon Lichfield

Harvard and the Nation

Sequoia seeds worth the will to believe

May 30 • Aidan Fitzsimons

Renovating Harvard (and other Ivies)

The Case for Shared Governance Just Got a Lot Stronger

May 29 • Danielle Allen

After Neoliberalism

It’s time for a new theory of capitalism, power, and the dynamics that repeatedly produce both growth and social dislocation

May 25

Democracy in the States

Slow Counts and Loud Lies: California Becomes Ground Zero for 2026's Election Integrity Fight - Democracy in the States' Roundup

It’s Saturday, June 13, 2026, and time for your Democracy in the States: Weekly Roundup.

Jun 13 • Beth Fukumoto

The Lexington Experiment

Richard Young of CivicLex on what citizens' assemblies can achieve — and what they can't.

Jun 6 • Gideon Lichfield

Votes, Voters, and Federal Probes: Primary Season Kicks Off with a Win and a Warning - Democracy in the States Roundup

It’s Friday, June 5, 2026, and time for your Democracy in the States’ Weekly Roundup.

Jun 6 • Beth Fukumoto

California's Top-Two Primary Isn't Broken. It Just Needs Ranked-Choice Voting to Work Better.

Meredith Sumpter is president and CEO of FairVote. Marcela Miranda-Prieto is executive director of the California Ranked Choice Voting Coalition.

May 17 • Meredith Sumpter and Marcela Miranda-Prieto

Tech & Democracy

June 15 Tech and Democracy Roundup

The Preemption Fight, Anthropic vs. Washington (Again), and AI Leaders Push Their Policy Agendas.

Jun 15 • Zachey Kliger

12 Days Out: Alex Bores on AI, Democracy, and the Race for Manhattan

An exclusive interview with Manhattan’s “AI Candidate”

Jun 10 • Zachey Kliger

June 1 Tech and Democracy Roundup: Trump, the Pope, and the Future of Search

What Google's AI search overhaul portends for democratic discourse

Jun 1 • Zachey Kliger

White House Pivot, US-China Talks, and What AI Does to Your Brain

Tech and Democracy Roundup

May 18 • Zachey Kliger

Democracy 101

Civic Education News Roundup: Introducing Democracy 201!

Big news for our civic education nerds: we’re launching a new section of The Renovator just for you!

Jun 8 • Joanna Kenty

Civic Education News Roundup: Reports of the death of civic education have been greatly exaggerated.

It felt like summer in Philadelphia last week, but I hope attendees at the Jack Miller Center’s annual summit beat the heat and visited some historical…

May 25 • Joanna Kenty

Civic Education News Roundup: Supreme Court justices on need for civic learning, new state Civic Seals, and young civic leaders on the move.

Up for a challenge?

May 11 • Joanna Kenty

Civic Education News Roundup: A recent convening, new reports, and summer learning opportunities

Note: Don’t miss the next meeting of The Headstrong Club, a live conversation between Danielle Allen and Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security…

Apr 27 • Joanna Kenty

Renovator Features

The IRS Slush Fund Is a Test. Too Many Republicans Are Failing It.

The coming reckoning that Congress needs to think about.

Jun 2 • Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno

Soft Bodies, Hard Cars

On hitchhiking, democracy, driving, and cuddle puddles

Mar 13 • Aidan Fitzsimons

Ordinary People Just Helped Save Millions of Lives.

Congress Showed Some Spine. It Happened Because Citizens Took Action.

Feb 26 • Sam Daley-Harris

A Parchment and a Promise

On the rules that bind us — and how we remake them

Feb 19 • Adam Harper

Recent posts

Commemorate America250, Commence America250+

From Zachary Cote at Thinking Nation: Advocating a New Minimum Standard for History Education.

Jun 13

Slow Counts and Loud Lies: California Becomes Ground Zero for 2026's Election Integrity Fight - Democracy in the States' Roundup

It’s Saturday, June 13, 2026, and time for your Democracy in the States: Weekly Roundup.

Jun 13 • Beth Fukumoto

Lessons from Platner's Victory

Notes for the Democracy Renovation movement

Jun 11 • Danielle Allen

12 Days Out: Alex Bores on AI, Democracy, and the Race for Manhattan

An exclusive interview with Manhattan’s “AI Candidate”

Jun 10 • Zachey Kliger

Civic Education News Roundup: Introducing Democracy 201!

Big news for our civic education nerds: we’re launching a new section of The Renovator just for you!

Jun 8 • Joanna Kenty

About Democracy 201

Civic ed nerds, you've come to the right place!

Jun 8 • Joanna Kenty and Danielle Allen

The Renovator

The Renovator

The Renovator is a Substack for everyone who wants to help renovate our democracy.

The latest from

Danielle Allen

How Much Revolution Does a Guinea Buy?

Zachey Kliger

June 15 Tech and Democracy Roundup

Malcolm Salter

The case for sacrifice in business and democracy

Beth Fukumoto

Slow Counts and Loud Lies: California Becomes Ground Zero for 2026's Election Integrity Fight - Democracy in the States' Roundup

Joanna Kenty

Civic Education News Roundup: Introducing Democracy 201!

Aidan Fitzsimons

Harvard and the Nation

Anne-Marie Slaughter

War Crimes Don’t Win Wars

Michael Larabee

Democracy and the Media: Make the Vessel Visible