124 Mt. Auburn St., Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA
Susan Crawford, John A. Reilly Visiting Professor in Intellectual Property at Harvard Law School and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
About the Session This interactive session will focus on government officials and civic activists using new data tools to transform city government, in particular on the institutional and cultural considerations of organizational change, from bureaucratic hurdles to communicating and sharing data across departments and across sectors to the importance of leadership.
Wiener Auditorium, Ground Floor, Taubman Building, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA
Errol Morris, Filmmaker and AuthorArchon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship (Moderator)
Seats are limited and will be first come first serve.
About the Event Join us for a screening of The Unknown Known, Errol Morris’ latest documentary film profiling former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Following the screening, Morris will participate in a discussion, moderated by Archon Fung, on the expansion of presidential power and the potential threats it poses to our democracy’s compact between the chief executive, Congress, the courts, and the people. In The Unknown Known, Rumsfeld gives unprecedented access to the Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris. Whether you think Rumsfeld is a patriot or a liar, he is always fascinating.... Read more about The Unknown Known: Film Screening and Discussion Featuring Director Errol Morris
124 Mt. Auburn St., Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA
Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship Chris Osgood, Co-chair, Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics Shari Davis, Executive Director, Boston Youth Fund
About the Session This interactive session will focus on innovations in participatory democracy including Boston’s youth participatory budgeting project, the first ever in the country. Guests will include Chris Osgood, co-chair of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, and Shari Davis, Executive Director of the Boston Youth Fund.... Read more about Cities, Technology and Democracy Study Group Session 1: Participatory Budgeting
American Repertory Theater, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA
Performance at the American Repertory Theater Followed by a discussion on inequality and the quest of a modern Robin Hood
Steve Meacham, City Life/Vida Urbana Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship
About the Event “In this spectacular rendition of the English legend, the notorious Robin Hood and his band of merry men steal from the rich, but refuse to share with the oppressed peasantry. As the wicked Prince John threatens all of England, it is down to Marion to boldly protect the poor and convert Robin Hood from outlaw to hero. First seen at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2011, this new production is filled with high adventure, epic romance, amazing fight choreography, and an original score inspired by contemporary British folk music.”
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
All the King’s Men (1949) with Harvard Film Archive
About the Event Join us for a screening of the 1949 classic All the King’s Men at Harvard Film Archive’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Directed by Robert Rossen,All the King’s Men was based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren chronicling the rise and fall of local politician Willie Stark (based loosely on a former governor of Louisiana named Huey Long). Ash Center Director Tony Saich will introduce the film with brief remarks on how politics has or has not changed in the last six decades and on the health of American democracy today.... Read more about All the King’s Men
Malkin Penthouse, Littaeur Building, 79 JFK St, Cambridge, MA
Tom Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, David King, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, and Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship (Moderator)
About the Event Coming close on the heels of the recent federal government shutdown and narrowly avoided default, this discussion will explore the relationship between the president and Congress. What have we learned from recent events about the shifting nature of power between the executive and legislative branches? How have different presidents, in relation to Congress, approached leadership and authority; negotiation and compromise? Is partisan brinksmanship the new norm both in Congress and in the relationship between the president and Congress? What is driving the gridlock? Where is the greatest potential for change? What can individual citizens do?... Read more about Too Many Checks, No Balance: Partisan Brinkmanship or a Shrinking Presidency as the New Normal?
Weil Town Hall and Starr Auditorium, Belfer Building, 79 JFK St, Cambridge, MA
Hosted by Tech for Change, a student group at Harvard Kennedy School
About the Event The Ash Center is delighted to co-sponsor Harvard Kennedy School’s first hackathon, America’s Datafest. The event will convene policy wonks, computer programmers, immigrant advocates, data scientists and business experts for a one-day event committed to helping solve some of the biggest challenges related to immigration. Over the course of the day, participants will form teams, brainstorm ideas, design prototypes, and present solutions – a mobile app, business plan, new product, data insight, or something completely different. The winning two teams, selected by a panel of local experts, will compete for the global prize.... Read more about America’s Datafest with Tech4Change
About the Seminar Are presidents and prime ministers – whether Thatcher, Blair, Reagan or Obama – responsible for the dysfunctions of democratic governance today? In this seminar, Stein Ringen argues that they are. The role of the chief executive in ensuring good governance is to “maintain order in a nation of devils,” a concept Ringen borrows from Immanuel Kant. They inevitably face opposition from those seeking to frustrate their plan – whether in moving a giant bureaucracy or in ensuring citizen compliance.... Read more about Leading a Nation of Devils: How to Get Things Done in a Democracy
About the Speaker Alex Keyssar is the Stirling Professor of History and Social Policy at the Kennedy School. His books include The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States (2000 and 2009), which was named the best book in U.S. history by the American Historical Association and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history. Keyssar is also the author of an award-winning history of unemployment in the United States. In addition to his scholarly publications, he writes frequently for newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times and Folha de Sao Paulo.... Read more about Robert Schenkkan’s All the Way
JFK Jr. Forum, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK St., Cambridge, MA
Moderated by Tom Ashbrook, host of On Point.
Featuring
Chrystia Freeland Liberal Party Candidate for Canadian Parliament, Journalist and Author of Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else
Martin Gilens Professor of Politics, Princeton University, Author, Affluence & Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America
Alex Keyssar Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy, HKS Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy
About the Event The subject of growing wealth and income gaps between the wealthiest and the rest is particularly salient to the health of our democracy – testing our sense of fairness, social mobility and equal opportunity. Economic inequality also threatens to undermine the principle of political equality upon which our country is founded.
This discussion, moderated by Mr. Ashbrook and to be broadcast on WBUR and NPR’s On Point soon after, will examine economic inequality and its relationship with political inequality – in particular how and why life looks so different for the richest and the poorest Americans. How do the very poor view their opportunities to get ahead?... Read more about Challenges to Democracy Launch Event: Inequality vs. Democracy with WBUR and NPR’s On Point
Susan Crawford, John A. Reilly Visiting Professor in Intellectual Property at Harvard Law School and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
rrol Morris, Filmmaker and AuthorArchon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship (Moderator)
Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship
Performance at the American Repertory Theater
All the King’s Men (1949) with Harvard Film Archive
Tom Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, David King, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, and Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship (Moderator)
Hosted by Tech for Change, a student group at Harvard Kennedy School
Stein Ringen, University of Oxford
Featuring Bryan Cranston as Lyndon Baines Johnson
Moderated by Tom Ashbrook, host of On Point.