Experts in the News | Miller Center

Governance

American democracy is in danger

Colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to nurture democracy, and to strengthen the norms and cultural beliefs that are necessary for it to function.

Jim Ryan and Melody Barnes

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden haven’t visited the US-Mexico border. Texas officials are mixed on whether they need to

William Antholis, CEO of the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, said that for leaders, heading to emergency areas affected by shootings or hurricanes is “part of the job, and it's a way of showing that you care.” Migration, Antholis said, is more complicated because officials aren’t dealing only with what’s happening at the U.S.-Mexican border but also at the point of departure.

William Antholis

Led by Karsh Family Gift, UVA Plans $100 Million for Institute of Democracy

Melody C. Barnes, currently co-director of the Democracy Initiative, will serve as inaugural director of the Karsh Institute of Democracy. Barnes directed the White House Domestic Policy Council under former President Barack Obama, and is excited about bringing UVA’s best scholarship and research directly to the public and to policymakers.

Melody C. Barnes

UVa announces $100M investment in new democracy institute, backed by $50M gift from Karshes

Melody Barnes, currently co-director of UVa’s Democracy Initiative, will serve as the institute’s inaugural executive director. Barnes was the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under then-President Barack Obama. “My role is to literally build the institute, working across Grounds with the seven centers and schools that already do great democracy work here so that we can better collaborate and bring a greater intensity to that work by identifying the places where together we can do more than we can do as individual institutions, and then to also think about the practical and unique programs and projects that the institute can do,” Barnes said.

Melody Barnes

U.Va. to create Karsh Institute of Democracy through $100 million investment

Melody Barnes, co-director for public policy and public affairs at the Democracy Initiative and professor at the Miller Center, will lead the Institute of Democracy. Barnes previously served as assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during former president Barack Obama’s administration. “It is incumbent upon us to bring together, to weave together, the threads of these great centers and schools and institutions that already exist at U.Va.,” Barnes said. “[This will] make sure that the whole is greater than the sum — to do the things that individually, those institutions cannot do.”

Melody Barnes

Investment to create new Karsh Institute of Democracy at UVA

Melody C. Barnes, who is currently the co-director of the Democracy Initiative, will be the inaugural executive director of the new institute. "That we are going to focus on the challenges that face democracy in a forward-facing manner," she said. "What that is practical and pragmatic that engages the public and political leaders and business leaders and others to focus on those challenges."

Melody Barnes