Theory
Formalize how institutions compress social reality, allocate judgment, and create representation wedges.
Behavior · computation · governance
How should
intelligent institutions
decide?
We study how institutions represent the world, how those representations shape judgment and welfare, and how technology can help institutions reason more faithfully—and responsibly.
Institutional representation58% fidelity
what the institution can see
More tractableMore faithful
A workable institutional model
The institution retains enough detail to act while making its simplifications visible and contestable.
01
The argument
Our point of departure
Institutions do not act on the world directly. They act on representations of it.
A risk score, legal category, case file, performance metric, or algorithm is a compressed model of reality. The model may be necessary. It is never neutral.
02
Institutions turn complexity into decisions.
Rules, categories, procedures, and technologies are representations of reality. They make collective action possible by deciding what will count.
02
Where we build
Two major initiatives
One research program. Two ways into the work.
03
The program
How the work fits together
From a formal object to a repair program.
Evidence
Study how information, discretion, timing, language, and organizational rules change real decisions.
Infrastructure
Build datasets and observatories that make previously invisible institutional systems measurable.
Repair
Design and test tools that help institutions reason without surrendering responsibility.
Selected work in motion
Empirical problems that reveal institutional design.
The Lab
People who study—and build—responsible institutions.
Faculty Director
Diag Davenport
Assistant Professor of Technology Policy, Governance, and SocietyPhD Student
Deja Dunlap
Year 1PhD Student
Carl Illustrisimo
Year 1PhD Student
Ella Montgomery
Year 2PhD Student
Lauren Chambers
Year 5Assistant Project Scientist
Nela Mrchkovska
Local Law ObservatoryAssistant Specialist
Evalynna Ong
Public Interest Technology ClinicBellwether Postdoctoral Scholar