Bailey Flanigan: A Curiosity-Driven Path to Reimagining Democratic Participation
Bailey Flanigan, a rising star in interdisciplinary research, has charted a remarkable trajectory from a spirited child on a Wisconsin farm to a pivotal figure at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is revolutionizing the landscape of democratic participation through computational and mathematical innovation. Her journey, characterized by an insatiable and wide-ranging curiosity, has led her through diverse fields including medicine, public health, economics, and ultimately, to the confluence of computer science and political science. Flanigan’s work at MIT, particularly her development of algorithms for citizen assemblies, addresses a fundamental challenge in modern governance: ensuring that public input is both representative and legitimate.
From Rural Roots to Academic Pursuits
Flanigan’s formative years on her family’s farmland in Wisconsin instilled in her a profound sense of inquisitiveness. Even as a child, she exhibited a multifaceted engagement with the world, from constructing elaborate booby traps and experimental projects to exploring a deep-seated interest in medicine. Her early explorations also encompassed creative writing, music composition, and a nascent ambition to address social inequality through nonprofit initiatives. This early inclination towards tackling complex problems with creative solutions foreshadowed the direction of her future academic and professional endeavors.
As Flanigan progressed through high school, her intellectual drive became more focused. She eschewed the traditional pursuit of Advanced Placement (AP) classes solely for the sake of credentials, instead gravitating towards subjects that allowed for creative expression and the application of knowledge to real-world challenges. "I found myself unmotivated to take all the AP classes for the sake of it," Flanigan stated. "My interest was captured by classes where I could be creative—where I could use math to solve real-world problems, creatively write, make music, connect distant ideas, or deeply explore the humanities—and I worked on such classes obsessively, as an opportunity to explore my intuitions and interests." This period was marked by an intense self-directed learning process, where she prioritized understanding her own intellectual inclinations over conventional extracurricular participation.
A Multidisciplinary Odyssey
Flanigan’s academic and professional career has been a testament to her willingness to bridge disparate disciplines. Her current affiliation as a shared faculty member across MIT’s Schwarzman College of Computing, and the departments of Political Science and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), along with her role as a principal investigator at the MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, underscores the breadth of her expertise. Her research has been shaped by experiences at esteemed institutions such as the University of Wisconsin, the National Institutes of Health, Google, and universities including Carnegie Mellon, Drexel, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford.
Her academic journey began at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she engaged in both wet lab research on cancer therapeutics and computational analysis of tumor genetics. While intellectually stimulating, this work soon prompted deeper reflection on its potential societal impact. "At the time, I started to worry that the science I was developing might only, in the best case, be used by a small, relatively wealthy fraction of the world, when there were people suffering from much more-preventable diseases in much larger numbers," Flanigan recalled. This concern catalyzed a shift towards public health, where she investigated microfluidic devices for HIV detection suitable for low-resource settings. However, the underlying systemic issues contributing to resource scarcity continued to niggle at her, leading her to explore economics.
This interdisciplinary exploration was not solely self-driven. Flanigan credits several key mentors with challenging her preconceptions and expanding her vision for her career. Steven Wright, a professor of law and creative writing at UW-Madison and an informal mentor, guided her through her evolving interests in science, social inequality, and economics. "He was one of the people most responsible for convincing me that I could aim higher in my career, and that I could actually go to places like MIT or Harvard," Flanigan remarked.
Similarly, the persistent encouragement from Debbie Berger and Julie Stubbs, heads of the UW-Madison scholarship office, was instrumental. Despite her initial skepticism about her own qualifications, their repeated emails nudged her to apply for a Goldwater Scholarship. "I kept deleting their emails, thinking they were spam—I didn’t think I was the kind of person that would apply for something like that," she admitted. "Their persistence convinced me to apply, and in the process, the horizons I perceived for myself started to change."
The Pivotal Role of Formal Mathematics
Following her undergraduate studies, Flanigan’s academic trajectory took another significant turn during her time as a predoctoral research assistant in economics at Princeton University. A pivotal moment occurred when Professor Evita Nestoridi (now an associate professor at Stony Brook University) allowed Flanigan to audit her real analysis class. This experience proved transformative. "Evita’s class was my first real exposure to formal mathematics and proofs, and I loved it so much that it completely changed my career trajectory," Flanigan stated. "Despite my initial doubts, she convinced me that I could do math at the graduate level; because of her encouragement, I applied to computer science PhD programs the subsequent fall."
This exposure to rigorous mathematical frameworks provided Flanigan with a powerful new lens through which to view and address complex societal problems. The ability to translate abstract mathematical concepts into tangible solutions became a hallmark of her research.
Advancing Democratic Processes Through Computation
Flanigan chose Carnegie Mellon for her doctoral studies, where her research centered on social choice and democratic decision-making. This choice directly aligned with her dual passions for technical inquiry and the fundamental question of resource allocation, echoing the sentiment of Nobel laureate economist Al Roth: "who gets what and why."
Her groundbreaking work has led to the development of sophisticated algorithms designed to improve the selection process for participants in citizens’ assemblies. These assemblies are increasingly recognized as a vital mechanism for gathering informed public input on complex policy issues. However, a common challenge arises when willing participants self-select into these assemblies, potentially leading to a skewed representation of the broader population. For instance, an assembly focused on artificial intelligence might disproportionately attract younger, more technologically inclined individuals, underrepresenting other demographics who are nonetheless stakeholders.
To address this, Flanigan’s algorithms introduce a mechanism for random selection that balances several critical factors. These include ensuring equality of opportunity for participation, building resilience against manipulation of the selection process, and promoting transparency. These elements are crucial for fostering public trust and ensuring the perceived legitimacy of decisions made by such deliberative bodies.
The practical application of Flanigan’s research is evident on panelot.org, a widely utilized open-access website that offers algorithms for the random selection of citizen assembly participants. This platform empowers practitioners by guiding them through complex technical trade-offs, making them comprehensible, and optimizing the selection process according to user-defined priorities. "The site basically walks practitioners through a series of otherwise very technical trade-offs, making those trade-offs legible and then optimizing according to the priorities practitioners dictate," Flanigan explained.
The Imperative of Legitimate Governance
Flanigan’s motivation stems from a deep-seated belief in the necessity of improving public decision-making processes. "I am motivated to improve how the public makes political decisions, because if any political solution is going to be viable, the public needs to feel that it was arrived at via a legitimate political process—at least under the forms of government I find most appealing," she stated. This perspective highlights the critical link between the perceived legitimacy of a decision-making process and its ultimate effectiveness and acceptance.
Beyond citizens’ assemblies, Flanigan’s ongoing research explores novel approaches to systematically elicit public input on intricate issues. She is also investigating how the framing of questions in preference elicitation contexts can significantly influence the conclusions drawn from public opinion surveys and deliberative processes. Her interdisciplinary approach, straddling political science and EECS, grants her the unique freedom to delve deeply into both the political and technical dimensions of tools for more direct governance.
Finding a Home at MIT
Flanigan’s unconventional and curiosity-driven path feels particularly well-suited to the innovative environment at MIT. "From the beginning, I got this sense of belonging at MIT—like my ways of thinking and problem-solving, which had seemed peculiar in many situations, actually made me belong more," she shared. This sense of intellectual kinship has been profoundly validating. "This was a super refreshing feeling, and it has been 100 percent borne out since I arrived."
Her presence at MIT signifies a broader trend of academic institutions recognizing the value of interdisciplinary research and supporting scholars who dare to traverse traditional boundaries. Flanigan’s work not only pushes the frontiers of computational social science but also offers tangible solutions for strengthening democratic institutions in an increasingly complex world. Her journey serves as an inspiration, demonstrating that a relentless pursuit of knowledge, coupled with a commitment to societal impact, can indeed lead to profound advancements in how we govern ourselves. The implications of her research are far-reaching, potentially influencing everything from local community planning to national policy-making, by ensuring that the voices of all citizens are heard and considered in the democratic process.
