Kettering Foundation Names Three Research Fellows to Confront Democracy's Challenges

Three chosen for their innovative thinking and scholarship on democracy

DAYTON, Ohio, June 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Charles F. Kettering Foundation has appointed three distinguished research fellows to help it advance inclusive democracy by equipping the public, policymakers and civic leaders with essential knowledge needed to understand the forces destabilizing democracy. The research fellows will support the foundation's efforts to combat the complex forces undermining democracy today. The work of the fellows will help illuminate the erosion of democratic norms, the rise of authoritarianism and the roles that religion and social movements play in shaping democratic futures. The scholars include:

Erica Frantz, an associate professor of political science at Michigan State University. Frantz is an expert on authoritarian politics, democratic backsliding and the dynamics of political change. Frantz has published eight books on these themes, including "The Origins of Elected Strongmen" (Oxford University Press, 2024, with Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Joseph Wright) and "Authoritarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know®" (Oxford University Press, 2018).

Andrew L. Whitehead, a professor of sociology at Indiana University Indianapolis. Whitehead is one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States. He is the author of "American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church" and winner of the 2024 Gold Medal Book Award for Religion from Foreword Reviews and the 2024 Midwest Book Award winner for Religion and Philosophy. Whitehead, along with Samuel Perry, coauthored "Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States," which won the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Whitehead serves as executive codirector of the Association of Religion Data Archives, the world's largest online religion data archive, at the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture.

Deva Woodly, a professor of political science at Brown University. Woodly is the author of the book "Reckoning: Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Necessity of Social Movements" (Oxford University Press, 2021), which in 2022 won the Best Book Award in the field of Race, Ethnicity and Politics from the American Political Science Association. Woodly has held fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, as well as the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.

"We selected these fellows because their scholarship confronts some of the most dangerous dynamics threatening inclusive democracy today," said Sharon L. Davies, president and CEO of the Kettering Foundation. "Whether exposing the rise of authoritarian strongmen, mapping the corrosive effects of Christian nationalism or examining the democratic necessity of social movements, their work brings clarity to the forces eroding democratic norms and helps us chart pathways to resilience, accountability and renewal."

These research fellows will contribute to the national conversation on democracy through the From Many, We blog series, The Context podcast, The Stakes video series and the foundation's convenings—both virtual and in-person. They will also contribute to other Kettering publications. They join a distinguished community of Kettering Foundation appointees, including broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff, the Katherine W. Fanning Fellow in Journalism and Democracy; former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, the inaugural David Mathews Democracy Fellow; former Poet Laureate of the United States Joy Harjo, the Ruth Yellowhawk Fellow; and fourteen senior fellows, William J. Barber II, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, James Comey, Neal Katyal, María Teresa Kumar, Steven Levitsky, Sarah Longwell, J. Michael Luttig, Chris Matthews, Maureen O'Connor, David Pepper, Kelley Robinson, Alexander Vindman and Christine Todd Whitman.

The Charles F. Kettering Foundation, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of inventive research. Founded in 1927 "to sponsor and carry out scientific research for the benefit of humanity," the foundation is inspired by the innovativeness and ingenuity of its founder, the American inventor Charles F. Kettering. For the past four decades, the foundation's research and programs have focused on the needs of democracy worldwide. Today, the organization is committing itself to advancing inclusive democracies by fostering citizen engagement, promoting government accountability, and countering authoritarianism.

Contact

Melinda Gilmore

Charles F. Kettering Foundation

Director of Communications

Cell: 937.260.8584

[email protected]

SOURCE Charles F. Kettering Foundation