Research Seed Grant Program

From its founding, America has developed an array of institutions to preserve and advance our nation’s liberty and prosperity. Yet today, many citizens have lost confidence in those institutions, challenging their legitimacy and compromising their missions. In an objective, nonpartisan spirit, the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI) draws on the Hoover Institution’s scholarship, government experience, and convening power to study the reasons behind the crisis in trust facing American institutions, analyze how they are operating in practice, and consider policy recommendations to rebuild trust and increase their effectiveness.

RAI is a center within the Hoover Institution, which as a part of its mission “must constantly and dynamically point the road to peace, to personal freedom, and to the safeguards of the American system.”

The Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI) is accepting proposals for funding (up to $25,000) to support innovative research projects directly related to its mission that address key questions in the areas of government institutions, organizations and democratic practice, and democratic citizenship. Examples of such questions might include (but are certainly not limited to):

• How well is Congress (or another institution) representing voters’ preferences and meeting voters’ expectations?
• How are bureaucracies employing artificial intelligence (AI)–related technologies to improve organizations’ effectiveness, and what are the opportunities and risks this development presents to democratic governance?
• How have state-level campaign finance reforms affected state government policymaking and candidate recruitment?
• How do local electoral procedures and practices (e.g., the timing of elections, whether elections are nonpartisan, or the overlapping nature of local electoral boundaries) influence fiscal policies such as pensions and targeted benefits? 
• How is the Supreme Court’s Chevron reversal affecting lawmaking and bureaucratic policymaking?
• Why has trust and confidence in higher education declined, and how can institutions of higher learning restore this trust and confidence? 
• How have patterns of youth voting in the United States changed over time, and what factors help explain these developments?

Proposals will be accepted throughout the winter and spring quarters of the 2024-25 academic year until funds have all been granted. The RAI research steering committee will review submissions and award funding. Seed grant applications will begin to be reviewed after March 1.

Applications will be assessed using the following criteria:

1. Quality of Research. The proposed research plan uses state-of-the art methods (whether quantitative or qualitative) for the research question and adheres to practices that facilitate transparency and replicability, where appropriate.
2. Mission Alignment. The effort is aligned with the missions of RAI and the Hoover Institution, including RAI’s efforts to understand the reasons behind the crisis in trust facing American institutions, to analyze how they are operating in practice, and identify evidence-based recommendations to rebuild trust and increase their effectiveness.
3. Innovation. The effort represents innovative data, a novel approach, or investigation of a new question and therefore has the potential to advance and reshape scholarship in the area.
4. Cost Effectiveness. The proposed research is conducted in a cost-effective way and there is evidence that the funding will move the research forward, which may involve leveraging resources from multiple sources or using this funding as a seed grant to establish proof of concept.
5. Implementation. The proposal clearly identifies how the research can be carried out successfully.

This seed grant program is open to Hoover Institution fellows, Stanford University Academic Council faculty, and Stanford University doctoral students; doctoral students must apply with sponsorship from an Academic Council faculty member or Hoover fellow.

An application, CV, and proposal are required to be submitted for consideration. Additionally, graduate students must ask their advisors to submit a letter of recommendation by submitting the letter via email to rai-hoover@stanford.edu. Your proposal must include the following elements:

• Abstract
• Description of research (5 pages maximum, not including references), including
  • Objectives
  • Methodology
  • Alignment with Selection Criteria
  • Timeline
  • References
• Budget, with details for each expense
  • Note that proposals need not total $25,000 and that the necessity of each expense will be a part of the review process

What We Won't Fund

• Principal investigator (PI) salaries or supplements (this does not preclude funding to employ research assistants)
• Conference travel that does not relate directly to the execution of the research

Click on the link below to complete an application and attach your proposal and CV.

Grant Submission Form

Review of seed grant applications will begin on March 1. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed quarterly by the RAI Research Steering Committee.

Additional Information

Only complete proposals will be reviewed.

An applicant may receive funding for one project per academic year. Full or partial funding may be awarded.

Examples of previously funded projects

Paul Sniderman, Political Distemper: Three Studies in Illiberal Politics

Professor Sniderman conducted survey research focusing on three forms of illiberalism: cancel culture, identity politics, and Trumpism.  Support from RAI is enabling follow-up surveys via YouGov that explore facets of cultural and identitarian politics for publication in a forthcoming book: Political Distemper: Three Studies in Illiberal Politics.

Robb Willer, Impact of Public Service Announcements

Working with the National Governors Association (NGA), Professor Willer conducted research to determine if public service announcements promoted by the NGA’s “Disagree Better” project (like the one seen in this story) impact Americans’ attitudes and behaviors toward bipartisan cooperation, civil discourse, and democratic norms. RAI was one of multiple funders of Professor Willer’s research, which was conducted through his Polarization and Social Change Lab and cosponsored by the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.

Deliberative Democracy Lab, America in One Room: The Youth Vote

RAI provided support for a deliberative poll in Washington DC in July 2024, involving a nationally representative sample of nearly 500 young first-time voters. Participants were asked a series of questions related to the economy, the rise of AI, healthcare, the environment, and their personal voting intentions. RAI's support enabled inquiry into youths’ perceptions of civic education that informed our landscape analysis. The group came to some interesting conclusions, all of which can be found here. A video of the event can be found here.