Democratic Resilience & Institutional Trust

American democracy has been under significant stress over the last decade, experiencing unprecedented decline in voter confidence, trust in democratic institutions, civility, as well as willingness to engage in deliberative dialogue. These challenges coincide with a fragmented information environment supercharged by AI-mediated systems that reshape how citizens encounter and evaluate political information, and how they express their dissatisfaction with government.

Democratic resilience depends on institutions’ capacity to govern effectively while sustaining public trust through transparent, consistent communication, particularly amid uncertainty or crisis. The Democratic Resilience Lab at the Foley Institute supports programming and research on how governance, trust, and communication shape civic engagement and trust in democratic processes, and how institutions adapt to ongoing and emerging challenges.

Core Focus Areas

• The Mechanics of Elections — Nonpartisan civic education on how elections are run; the decentralized system of state and local administration that makes U.S. elections both hard to explain and unusually resilient to manipulation. 
• AI & Democracy — Examining how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies reshape information integrity, political communication, and public trust, and which policy frameworks are needed. 
• Democratic Governance & Civic Learning — Research and programming on institutional trust, civil discourse, and deliberative dialogue, helping citizens and institutions govern with confidence even amid disagreement. 

How the Lab Works

• Research: Peer-reviewed and public-facing scholarship, commissioned projects, public opinion research, and support for research fellows and non-resident scholars. 
  • The Institute is the host organization of the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting (pnwpsa.org). The 2026 meeting is held in Spokane between November 6–7, 2026.
• Programming: events, lectures, and speaker series focused on democracy, elections and voting, deliberative dialogue, and tech and public policy. 
  • The 2026 U.S. Midterms Speaker Series, featuring scholars, journalists, and election officials discussing electoral volatility, political campaigns, voting rights, and redistricting. 
  • A Constitution Day documentary screening of Flag Day, exploring ritual, identity, and belonging in a polarized America through the country’s largest annual Flag Day parade in Three Oaks, Michigan. 
  • See full calendar of events here.
• Student Engagement: courses and mentored projects connecting students directly to the Lab’s work. 
  • Internships supporting the CougsVote campaign.
  • Research studying the accuracy of AI chatbots in responding to voting-related queries. 

More News & Stories the About the Foley Institute

Межа – Colom’s narrow Senate lead puts Mississippi voter rolls under scrutiny 

In this review from the Ukrainian media outlet Mezha, Thessalia Merivaki is quoted from an interview with Axios about the high number of inactive voter registrations in Mississippi during this election cycle. 

TRT World – The other Democratic victory: How midterms changed who oversees America’s elections

Thessalia Merivaki, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, spoke with TRT World about how Democratic victories in the November midterm elections reflects dissatisfaction among American voters. 

WXYZ – As Mississippi’s vote count drags on, voters say they were marked inactive in error

In this Scripps News article carried by WXYZ Detroit, Thessalia Merivaki of the Foley Institute provides insight into Mississippi’s use of Experian data to clean its voter rolls prior to the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Democracy Docket – Mississippi made thousands of valid voters inactive ahead of critical Senate race

Thessalia Merivaki, director of the Foley Institute, spoke to Democracy Docket about the large number of voter inactivations and affidavit voting in Tuesday’s elections in Mississippi.

Mississippi Today – Voter inactivations surge in midterms since secretary of state adopted unverified Experian data to clean voter rolls

Thessalia Merivaki, director of the Foley Institute, spoke with Mississippi Today about a surge in voter inactivations ahead of the November midterm election, which were the first since the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office authorized unverified data from the credit bureau Experian for counties to use statewide when cleaning their voter rolls.

GW Hatchet – GWU students report smooth mail-in ballot delivery during midterm election cycle after delays in 2024

Thessalia Merivaki, director of the Foley Institute, provided insights about mail-in ballots for D.C.-area college students in this article from the GWU Hatchet.