We look forward to increasing awareness of IMD’s work and facilitating conversations about the role of mathematics in democracy through the ICM screenings of the video. Watch the video here or find it on the homepage of the IMD website!

The post IMD Video to be Shown at International Congress of Mathematicians appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

Counted Out features the work of IMD, and this is the first opportunity for everyone to access the movie for free. We hope you will join us for an afternoon of discovery and dialogue.

Saturday, August 8, 1:00 PST/4:00 EST

Free Event, RSVP Required

The post RSVP to Counted Out’s First Free Virtual Screening appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

Greater collaboration between the two spheres of political advocacy and research is necessary to propel mathematically informed democratic reforms. Advocates for systems like ranked choice voting, proportional representation, or participatory budgeting may not necessarily feel confident about the underlying mechanics of these processes, while academics may not fully grasp how their research effects reform or what aspects of their work might be most useful for the practitioners. We look forward to creating a space for productive dialogue and meaningful knowledge exchange between those considering issues around math and politics from both academic and advocacy perspectives.

More information about the conference is forthcoming. Updates will be posted on the conference webpage. We hope you will join us at Wellesley in March!

The post The Democracy Exchange: Research and Advocacy in Dialogue Conference to Take Place March 10-12, 2027 at Wellesley College appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

The panel will help update and shape the content knowledge and skills assessed on future NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Civics Assessments. They’re looking for a variety of experiences and perspectives and from across the U.S. including:

• 4th, 8th, and 12th grade civics teachers 
• Academic and research experts
• Curriculum specialists
• State social studies specialists
• District social studies specialists
• Assessment experts, particularly those with civics assessment experience

The application deadline is June 30.

Apply or nominate someone here. 

The post Application Open to Serve on the NAEP Civics Assessment Framework Development Panel appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

The workshop included over 40 participants (many of them IMD affiliates) and featured thirteen talks in voting, districting, proportional representation, and other topics. Time was also set aside for collaborative work in small groups and development of new research projects.

IMD is grateful to all who shared their expertise and participated in making the workshop a success!

The post IMD Affiliate-Organized Workshop Recap: “Mathematics of Elections, Fairness, and Representation” at the Banff International Research Station appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

The talk covered how mathematics has been quietly shaping democracy for centuries, from the design of voting systems to the drawing of political maps. Today, with classical results being repurposed in surprising ways and vast computational power at our disposal, it offers powerful new tools for understanding and improving how we govern ourselves. Volić traced the historical role of mathematics in democracy and surveyed current research at their intersection, spanning voting theory, districting, apportionment, proportional representation, and digital democracy. Far from being merely abstract or theoretical, this vibrant interdisciplinary work demonstrates how mathematical expertise speaks directly to the functioning of democratic institutions – challenging the notion that our work has little bearing on civic life. The talk highlighted how mathematical formality can be meaningfully integrated with human realities of politics, a task that feels especially urgent as democracy faces profound strain.

To watch the recording, visit the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm_nBJ_xpAQ 

The post IMD Co-Founder Ismar Volić Gives Talk at the JMM: “Math goes to Washington: The Mathematics of Democracy, from Theory to Practice” appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

RSVP Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwOA5hTPQ0oXQDCeygaQBKfoRP8f2xz-yDda9J23-dxP2Mxw/viewform

The post IMD Affiliate Talk: The Role of CS and Math in Redistricting and Proportional Multimember Districts as an Electoral Reform appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

The purpose of the Society for Social Choice and Welfare (SSCW) is “to promote the advancement of knowledge in social choice and welfare economics, broadly defined, and to facilitate communication among researchers from numerous disciplines working on social choice and welfare economics.” The meeting will take place from June 13 to June 16, 2026 and is organized by the Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo. 

To learn more and register, visit their website: https://sites.google.com/view/sscw2026?usp=sharing. 

The post IMD Affiliate Delivering Condorcet Lecture at SSCW2026 appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

High school students Serena Pallan, Ananya Shah, and Zubin Rajesh met while working on gerrymandering research through IMD’s summer program, where they developed geometric proofs that create guidelines to determine what is political gerrymandering and what is a fair drawing of district lines. Now, together with fellow students Thea Vedula and Angelina Wang, they are translating their research into action.

In their recent op-ed for The Fulcrum, they share their plans to use a Carnegie Young Leaders for Civic Preparedness grant, awarded to 100 teams nationwide, to address gerrymandering by combining math with civic action. Through their work, they “hope to inspire local communities to challenge district lines that deny representation, states to establish independent redistricting commissions, and Congress to pass reforms that protect fair elections… mak[ing] change that lasts beyond news cycles and AP Government flashcards.”

Read more here: https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/gerrybuster-fix-democracy

The post Op-Ed: Too Young to Vote, Not Too Young to Fix Democracy appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.

Check out these two stories in The Wellesley News which recently featured IMD’s work:

Nobel laureate Eric Maskin and leading scholars attend Wellesley’s mathematics and democracy conference – Jenny Zhao and Maanya Jindal, October 30, 2025

This article shares highlights from the “Social Choice: Theory and Computation Conference” hosted by Institute for Mathematics and Democracy, in collaboration with The Wagner Centers for Wellesley in the World.

HRCC Summit Calls For Collective Action Across Differences – Josephine Buckley, Maanya Jindal, and Malia-Fay Vazquez, November 5, 2025

Highlighting the Hillary Rodham Clinton Center’s second annual summit, “We the People: Finding Common Purpose,” this article features IMD Co-Founder Ismar Volić and his commentary on the role of technology in politics.

The post IMD in the Wellesley News appeared first on Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.