Feature
Reimagining Democracy 2026 Summer Reading List
Tova Wang, director of research projects in democratic practice at the Ash Center, shares her top picks for summer reads focused on making democracy more resilient, responsive, and inclusive.
Video
Voting in the Extraordinary 2020 Elections: What Worked for Voters, What Didn’t?
The 2020 elections were a dramatic interplay of major procedural changes brought about as a result of COVID-19, multiple attempts to limit and discourage voting and a strong pushback against them, and extraordinary efforts to mobilize citizens to vote.
Issues
Commentary
Allen Lab Fellow Spotlight: City Charters Are Deliberative Democracy’s Friends
Allen Lab Fellow Tyler Fisher examines the untapped potential of city charters as a vehicle for deliberative democracy, arguing that advocates should work to embed tools like citizen assemblies, participatory budgeting, and town meetings directly into the governing architecture of cities, institutionalizing deliberative democracy one municipality at a time.
Policy Brief
DOCE Beats DOGE: The Case for Meaningful Government Transformation Through Citizen Empowerment
A new policy brief by Jon Alexander, Non-resident Democracy Fellow at the Ash Center, argues for the development of a Department of Citizen Empowerment (DOCE) at all levels of government around the world.