Ford School professor and political scientist Jenna Bednar recently joined the Office of the Provost as the faculty director of UMICH Votes and Democratic Engagement. Her academic work concerns federalism and democratic structures and norms. Her recent focus investigates how to encourage human flourishing within democratic systems.

In addition to her position as UMICH Votes faculty director, she is working in many related arenas: in collaboration with Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and academic leadership from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts on the university’s Year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement initiative; on the Democracy, Civic and Global Engagement pillar of Vision 2034; and at the Ford School on projects studying resilient democracies. Professor Bednar also serves as a subcommittee chair on the Committee on the University of Michigan Principles on Diversity of Thought and Freedom of Expression.

Given the theme of her work, we began this interview with what might be the era’s defining question.

Provost’s Office: You study the success and failure of democracy – a weighty topic, especially as we approach November. With so much at stake, what gives you hope right now? 

Jenna Bednar: Can I pick two things?

PO: We’ll allow it. 

JB: The first is our students. They are enthusiastic about changing the world, and a lot of them are undaunted. Some of the circumstances we have watched evolve in our lifetimes are all these students have ever experienced. They’re ready to get into the world and make it better. Their energy is contagious and wonderful. 

PO: What’s the second thing?

JB: This might sound odd, but…anger. When I talk to colleagues, students, or other political scientists, I hear a lot of frustration with the state of the country, and with electoral politics specifically. Anger isn’t always a productive reaction, but in this case, it comes from a good place. People are angry that we find ourselves grappling with the political situation we do because they have such a deep love for the potential of this country. That’s the kind of patriotism and sense of agency that gets people to the polls as well as working every day to create real change. 

PO: Getting students to the polls is the focus of UMICH Votes. What can you tell us about this project?

JB: UMICH Votes is a coalition of groups with different functions but the same mission: to help our community vote. The process begins with our student organization, Turn Up Turnout (TUT); this is a peer-to-peer effort, where students register other students at orientation and throughout the fall. They also organize walks to the polls with students from as many departments as possible.  The Ginsberg Center supports our efforts at civic engagement and building our relationships with other Big 10 campuses.  UMMA and the Duderstadt Center provide gorgeous, well-placed spaces. And the Creative Campus Voting Project, led by Stamps professors Hannah Smotrich and Stephanie Rowden, uses their formidable design skills to create welcoming and informative polling sites and helpful language for registration. None of this would be possible without the Ann Arbor City Clerk, Jackie Beaudry, who has been 100% supportive, agreeing to open two satellite city clerk offices on our campus. 

People from all of these organizations meet multiple times weekly to coordinate and collaborate. One exciting new project is a system of messaging. Students don’t have a shortage of voting information; instead, they are bombarded with too much. Our UMICH Votes team has tackled this problem of information abundance with straightforward, just-in-time messaging to help students get access to the information they need to participate fully in elections.

PO: Are these efforts directed only toward students voting in Ann Arbor?

JB: No. First, we serve all students, in-state and out-of-state. The law allows students to choose whether to vote in their college town or hometown. We help students to find accurate information about registration and voting whether they plan to vote in Ann Arbor or in their hometowns. In addition, our goal is to serve all three campuses. TUT has built relationships with student organizations at UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn, and we share best practices, our system of messaging, access to accurate sources of voting information, and generally support one another’s efforts.

PO: What can you tell us about the Year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement?

JB: Planning is underway for the campus-wide theme year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement. Look for a calendar packed with events and programming to inspire and inform. In the fall we’ll focus on Get Out The Vote, in alignment with the great work of UMICH Votes. In the winter semester we’ll turn our focus both outward and inward: outward, to the global experience with democracy, and inward, to examine the health of our own. Our aim is to lift up the expertise that currently exists in our democracy-related research community as well as to build up the knowledge and skills of our students, who as Michigan alumni will become the generation of democracy leaders. You’ll have to invite me back to talk more about it!

PO: Consider it done! We’re looking forward to another update in September.