
Podcast
The Fight Over Free Speech
This week on Term of Engagement, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer explore and debate the boundaries of free speech, threats to it, and the impact on our democracy.
Q+A
Requiring citizens to vote, or actively abstain, would increase voter participation and make democracy more representative in the Bay State says Ash Center Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy.
As Boston looks back on a historic election season, which saw Michelle Wu become the city’s first person of color and first female elected mayor in the city’s history, one figure stood out as the votes were counted last week – the number of Bostonians who didn’t vote. Only 30% of eligible voters showed up to the polls, down 8 points from 2013, the last time there was no incumbent running for mayor, even though opportunities for mail-in voting and drop box locations were dramatically expanded in intervening years. One solution to reversing anemic voter turnout numbers in Massachusetts and across the country is universal civic duty voting. To learn more about universal voting, we spoke with Ash Center senior practice fellow Miles Rapoport, who recently testified before the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Election Laws about how this tool could be used in the Bay State to spur more people to the polls.
Podcast
This week on Term of Engagement, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer explore and debate the boundaries of free speech, threats to it, and the impact on our democracy.
Policy Brief
Sports facilities are uniquely positioned to provide an enjoyable voting experience and strengthen civic engagement. A new report by Tova Wang, Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice, explores the impact of stadium voting in 2024 at Allegiant Stadium, drawing widespread, bipartisan support from voters and election officials and strengthening the relationship between the Las Vegas Raiders and the surrounding community.
Podcast
This week on Terms of Engagement, Alex Keyssar joins Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to examine the broader issue of political violence in the U.S.
Commentary
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
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
Archon Fung and Stephen Richer discuss President Trump’s assertions about mail-in voting and what they portend for future elections and voter participation.