Democracy, Conflict, and Governance

About the Carnegie
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

The Carnegie Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program is a leading source of independent policy research, writing, and outreach on global democracy, conflict and governance issues, and the interrelations among them. It concentrates extensively on international efforts to advance democracy, reduce violence, stabilize conflict, and strengthen governance.

Current major areas of focus include:

The challenges of developing effective policy responses at both the domestic and international levels to the global trend of closing space for civil society.
The changing nature of civic activism globally and how international supporters of civil society can adapt to new forms and methods of civil society.
U.S. and European policies relating to support for democracy and human rights abroad.
Bringing a comparative lens to the challenges currently besetting U.S. and European democracy.
Methods of reducing violence in democracies beset with serious violence.
The relationship between international efforts to stabilize conflict in fragile and conflict-affected states and international efforts to support democracy in those states.
Increasing gender representation in political parties in countries attempting democratic transitions.
The growing problem of severe sociopolitical polarization in democracies.

The program is directed by Thomas Carothers. Saskia Brechenmacher, Frances Brown, Rachel Kleinfeld, and Richard Youngs are residential researchers with the program. Affiliated nonresidential part-time researchers include Steven Feldstein, Matthew Page, and Jodi Vittori. Tiffany Joslin and Maria Koomen assist with program coordination and management.

The Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program is grateful for the generous support it receives from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the UK Department for International Development.

Carnegie Experts on
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance

Saskia Brechenmacher
Associate Fellow
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Saskia Brechenmacher is an associate fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where her research focuses on gender, conflict, and governance, as well as trends in civic activism and civil society repression.
Frances Z. Brown
Fellow
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Frances Z. Brown is a fellow with Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where she researches stabilization, state building, democratization, decentralization, drivers of conflict, and local governance in fragile states.
Thomas Carothers
Senior Vice President for Studies
Carothers is a leading authority on international support for democracy, human rights, governance, the rule of law, and civil society.
Michele Dunne
Director and Senior Fellow
Middle East Program
Dunne is an expert on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Steven Feldstein
Nonresident Fellow
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Steven Feldstein is a nonresident fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where he focuses on issues of democracy, human rights, governance, rule of law, political reform, security, emerging economies, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Amr Hamzawy
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Middle East Program
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Amr Hamzawy studied political science and developmental studies in Cairo, The Hague, and Berlin.
Rachel Kleinfeld
Senior Fellow
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program. She was the founding CEO of the Truman National Security Project.
Milan Vaishnav
Director and Senior Fellow
South Asia Program
Vaishnav’s primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior.
Richard Youngs
Senior Fellow
Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Youngs is an expert on the foreign policy of the European Union, in particular on questions of democracy support.