The RDL Democracy Summer Research Fellowship funds 25 projects led by doctoral students from Rutgers - New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark from 15 academic disciplines.
Empowering Future Generations to Strengthen Our Democracy
Democracy isn't a spectator sport — it’s something you practice.
The Rutgers Democracy Lab (RDL) creates opportunities for students to build civic skills, talk across differences, and work together to solve real-world problems. We collaborate with faculty, staff, and community partners to combine research on youth civic engagement, technology, and democracy with innovative programs that help students turn ideas into action. Our goal is simple: we mobilize the power of Rutgers to strengthen democracy.
Change Starts Here:
What will YOUR impact be?
We catalyze civic opportunities in several areas: Dialogue Across Differences, Technology and Democracy, Public Spaces, Arts, and Civic Life, and Public Engagement.
News
From April 23 to April 25, Rutgers Democracy Lab convened nearly 100 scholars, practitioners, and students to map the changing landscape of civic education and chart a path towards renewing democracy amid growing distrust, disillusionment, and disengagement.
On April 23, 2026, the Rutgers Democracy Lab hosted a campus-wide democracy showcase, bringing together more than 300 members of the Rutgers community to learn about the Lab’s civic opportunities and impact.
Throughout the month of April, Rutgers Democracy Lab supported more than a dozen events and workshops across the university that engaged thousands of students, faculty, and local community members to better understand complex, adaptive problems facing our democracy—and work towards solving them.
In an op-ed for NJ.com, Rutgers Democracy Lab inaugural Director Nicholas V. Longo comments on the growth of university-based civic thought and dialogue initiatives across the United States, arguing that Rutgers Democracy Lab is a model example of how campuses can cultivate civil discourse through structured, student-led dialogue and civic programming.
In an op-ed for Times Higher Education, Nicholas V. Longo, the inaugural director of the Rutgers Democracy Lab, argues that universities need to provide opportunities for “civic mobility"—the process of cultivating students' civic muscles through applied civic dialogue, civic studies and civic engagement.
Elizabeth Matto, the Executive Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics and Rutgers University Research Professor, recently published an op-ed in the New Jersey School Boards Association April 2026 issue of New Jersey Lawyer.
On March 31, 2026, over 70 students across the Rutgers Democracy Lab community convened in The Hatchery at Alexander Library for the launch of the Common Grounds Project, a student-led initiative to cultivate third spaces for civic dialogue on Rutgers campuses.
Nicholas V. Longo, the inaugural director of the Rutgers Democracy Lab, insists democracy is something you learn by doing – not just in a classroom or at the ballot box, but in the everyday work of navigating challenges, listening to others and finding common ground.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, July 08, 2026, 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. | Livingston Student Center