The Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics (IDDP) has awarded five research grants to support cutting-edge scholarship examining the evolving relationship between digital technologies and democracy.
The one-year grants will fund interdisciplinary research addressing some of today’s most pressing challenges, from AI governance and misinformation to digital authoritarianism and public trust. While all researchers are based at George Washington University, the projects span both U.S. and global contexts, reflecting the increasingly interconnected nature of digital systems and democratic processes.
Through a combination of mixed methods research, computational analysis, and survey experiments, this year’s grant recipients will explore how digital systems influence political behavior, institutional trust, and democratic accountability, and what can be done to strengthen resilience in an increasingly complex information environment.
2026 Grant Winners and Research Projects
- Susan Aaronson - Will examine how U.S. AI policymaking processes engage the public, identifying gaps in participation and exploring how to build more inclusive and responsive models of AI governance.
- Marc Lynch - Will explore how AI-driven surveillance technologies are reshaping state control and civil resistance in the Middle East, with broader implications for global digital governance.
- Jasmine Carrera Smith - Will investigate whether shared people of color identity influences political support across racial and ethnic groups in an increasingly multiracial United States.
- Julian Wamble - Will study how partisan audiences may dismiss real political information as AI-generated, a phenomenon termed the “disbelief shield” and its implications for democratic accountability.
- Y. Tony Yang - Will analyze how industry-backed health misinformation spreads online and impacts public trust in regulatory institutions and civic engagement.
IDDP’s grant program reflects the institute’s commitment to going beyond academic inquiry. By bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives and focusing on real-world applications, these projects aim to generate actionable insights that inform policy, strengthen public understanding, and support more resilient democratic systems. As digital technologies continue to evolve, so too must the ways we study, govern, and engage with them. Through this year’s grants, IDDP is investing in research that not only deepens understanding but also helps shape the future of democracy in the digital age.
Read the research summaries here.