Podcast
Is Trump’s higher education compact a bad deal but a good opportunity?
This week, Danielle Allen joins Archon Fung and Stephen Richer on Terms of Engagement.
Democratic Reform
At the Ash Center, we’re working to generate new ideas to reform our democratic institutions for the 21st century.
Related Programs
Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, Reimagining Democracy Program
Many of our most basic democratic institutions, from the Electoral College to Congress itself, were born in the eighteenth century when American democracy and America looked markedly different than today. At the Ash Center, we’re working to modernize and reform these institutions for a healthy 21st-century democracy.
As political polarization continues to test the strength of even our most bedrock political institutions, the Ash Center brings together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers from across the country to discuss how to protect and modernize our democracy.
Through working groups and convenings, case studies, and research projects, the Ash Center is working to identify reforms both large and small that will help strengthen the future of American democracy for generations to come.
The Latest News, Research, and Resources
Commentary
Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact
Last week’s leak of the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” drew intense reactions across academia. Critics call it government overreach threatening free expression, while supporters see a chance for reform and renewed trust between universities and policymakers. Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, director of the Democratic Knowledge Project and the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, weighs in.
Commentary
Setting the 2025-26 Agenda for the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Amid rising illiberalism, Danielle Allen urges a new agenda to renew democracy by reorienting institutions, policymaking, and civil society around the intentional sharing of power.
Commentary
Ten ways to take down the political temperature
The intensification of political polarization in recent years has raised pressing concerns about the health of democratic discourse and the rise of political violence. Ash Center Senior Fellow Stephen Richer shares ten principles he believes provide a framework for fostering more constructive engagement: encouraging self-reflection, prioritizing substantive dialogue over hyperbole, and creating incentives that reward integrity and ideas rather than division.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – Election Administration Fight Forms
Archon Fung and Stephen Richer discuss President Trump’s assertions about mail-in voting and what they portend for future elections and voter participation.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – The Great American Redistrict-Off
A fight is brewing between some of America’s largest states. A line has been drawn, not in the sand, but on a Texas map.
Article
Chicago’s Solution To Public Pension Debt is a Generational Scam
In this op-ed, Jennifer Hochschild explains that Chicago is facing a financial crisis decades in the making — a crushing burden of pension debt that no current resident created but all must bear. Instead she says, it is the result of a century of political promises, underfunded commitments, and systemic avoidance — leaving Chicagoans to reckon with the consequences today.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – Democracy: The Worst Form of Government — Except All the Rest?
A majority of people agree that democracy is worth fighting for, but when asked if democracy is at risk, opinions begin to differ. Are we all operating under the same idea of what a democracy truly is?
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – ICE Expansion, Raids, Protests, and Democracy
From rank-choice voting to reconciliation, American democracy is headline news. Let’s talk about it.
Feature
A Summer Reading List for America’s 250th Anniversary
On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As this milestone approaches, the team at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation has curated a collection of books, podcasts, and events that explore the meaning and impact of the declaration from 1776 to today. Join us in revisiting the document itself, reflecting on its legacy, and considering the ongoing struggle to uphold democratic ideals.
Feature
Reimagining Democracy Summer Reading List
A collection of must-reads curated by Ash Center’s Reimagining Democracy team.
Feature
Stephen Richer’s Summer Reading List
The official start of Summer is almost here, and Stephen Richer, Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy and former elected Maricopa County Recorder, shares his summer reading list with a range of books focused on his work of democracy and elections, as well as his personal favorites.
Policy Brief
Information Inequality Can Be a Matter of Life or Death
In this paper, Mary W. Graham, co-director of the Center’s Transparency Policy Project, examines how unintended information inequities undermine critical health and safety alerts. Focusing on three key policies — wildfire alerts, drinking water reports, and auto safety recalls — she identifies common roots of these disparities and highlights efforts by policymakers to address them.
Commentary
The Voter Experience
Despite these unprecedented investments in mobilizing voters, overall trust in electoral health, democratic institutions, voter satisfaction, and electoral engagement have significantly declined. What might we be missing? Bruce Schneier and Hillary Lehr explore ways to enhance the voter experience in elections.