Paula Berman

Paula Berman is a researcher and facilitator working with governments to expand citizen participation and pioneer new models of democratic governance. Her writing examines institutional design and the ways governance and technology can be structured to strengthen participation and resilience in democracy.

Selected work

Applied / Policy

• The Missing Half of Open Government, RadicalxChange (2025)

• Colorado Climate Assemblies, New America (2024)

• The Community Wallet: Participatory Budgeting with Quadratic Voting, New York City Council District 9 (2023)

• Future Democracy Lab, Brazil (2022)

Peer-reviewed

• Compressed to 0: The Silent Strings of Proof of Personhood, Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy (2025)

• Who Watches the Watchmen? A Review of Subjective Approaches for Sybil-Resistance in Proof of Personhood Protocols, Frontiers in Blockchain (2020)