Feature
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.
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If we want to fix our democracy, we have to look closely at how we connect with one another, whether that’s through structural reforms to our voting systems or the community we build at a sporting event. To help spark new ideas on how we participate in public life, the Reimagining Democracy Program’s Tova Wang shares a curated list of books, articles, reports, and podcasts to check out this summer.
David Sikorjak and Ben Valenta
This book provides data and real examples of how sports build community, social connection, and increased trust in ways that benefit us individually and as a society. Reading this was transformative for me — everything that I had ever intuited about the power of sports had well-conducted research and data to back it up. It is a very enjoyable read for any sports fan.
More in Common
Following up on the work by Sikorjak and Valenta, the fantastic organization More in Common conducted a survey on how sports fans differ from casual or non-sports fans in their values and civic engagement. Without giving away too many spoilers, the report provides data showing how big sports fans vote more, are more willing to talk to people across political divides, and score higher on many other metrics of greater civic health and social bonds.
Guy-Uriel Charles, Michael Latner, and Luis Fuentes-Rohwer
Professor Guy-Uriel Charles at Harvard Law School has been a friend and colleague for over 20 years and is one of our nation’s most brilliant legal scholars on the Voting Rights Act, among other issues. In this piece, he explains his view of what should come next now that the Supreme Court has eviscerated this historic piece of legislation, pointing toward structural fixes like proportional representation. His new edited volume, “America Unfinished,” is also just days away from publication. I legitimately can’t wait.
Daniel Stid
Daniel Stid has been a leader in the democracy space for many years, currently serving as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. I find him to be one of the most thoughtful, insightful, and creative thinkers and writers on a range of topics, including the role of philanthropy in our democracy. He consistently gets me to think about things in a new way, broadening my perspective and understanding. And now he has a podcast, too!
Dakota Hall
Dakota Hall is one of our most thoughtful leaders when it comes to youth attitudes, behavior, and voter engagement. Read this newsletter for a substantive and nuanced understanding of Gen Z politics in 2026 and beyond.
Tova Wang is the Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice at the Ash Center. A longtime leader in election reform and increasing political participation among marginalized groups, she previously directed policy and research at the Center for Secure and Modern Elections and authored The Politics of Voter Suppression.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Ash Center or its affiliates.
Podcast
Public interest technologist Bruce Schneier joins Terms of Engagement hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss circumstances under which AI systems could defy doom-and-gloom scenarios and actually enhance democracy and civic engagement.
Podcast
Andrea Hailey, who leads Vote.org, one of the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter engagement platforms, joins hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer on Terms of Engagement to discuss trends, turnout, and trepidation as we head into the pivotal 2026 midterm elections.
Podcast
Oxford University Professor Pepper Culpepper joins Terms of Engagement hosts Archon Fung and Steven Richer to discuss corporate excess, bipartisan popular anger, and his new book “Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How It Could Save Democracy.”
Commentary
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.
Commentary
Allen Lab member Charlie Covit reflects on the After Neoliberalism conference and examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and the future of work, arguing that AI forces a democratic reckoning with the meaning of labor itself and that an economy which generates abundance while stripping citizens of purpose and dignity undermines the very foundation of democratic life.
Policy Brief
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.
