Professor Sabeel Rahman’s Research on American Democracy Highlighted in Washington Monthly

There is a major democratic participation problem in the United States, particularly among the young, minorities, and lower-income people, and fixing it starts at the local level, according to a white paper coauthored by Professor K. Sabeel Rahman and cited in a recent Washington Monthly article by Hollie Russon-Gilman and Elena Souris.

Rahman collaborated with Russon-Gilman on the white paper, and the two are coauthoring a forthcoming book on the same topic with Cambridge University Press.

“Many people are worried about the future of American democracy,” says Rahman. “The research covered in both the article and white paper highlights two key areas where practitioners are doing significant work to innovate approaches to participation and accountability: The first examines what local governments are doing to improve transparency, participation and accountability; and the second explores grassroots civil society organizations and how they are working to mobilize, organize, and empower stakeholders on the ground.”

Russon-Gilman and Souris conducted research with Rahman last year that included conversations with nearly 50 community organizers and government bureaucrats to understand how to build more civic participation in an era of inequality. “These organizers and leaders are developing ways to give power to people who often feel that they are invisible to government,” they write.

At the Law School, Rahman teaches administrative law and constitutional law. His academic research focuses on the law, institutional structure, and democratic participation in the financial and economic regulatory processes. In addition, Rahman works with a wide range of leading community organizations and academics to develop new approaches to improving civic engagement in U.S. politics. He previously served as a special advisor to New York City on economic development issues and has worked and consulted for a variety of organizations on issues of democracy reform. He is a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. His most recent book, Democracy Against Domination (Oxford University Press 2017), explores questions of economic inequality, political dysfunction, and the future of American democracy.

Read the Washington Monthly article here.
Read the white paper here.