Journalist Dai Qing and Deng Xiaoping in 1989: A Conversation between Ms. Dai Qing and Professor Rana Mitter
In-Person Event
Ash Center Seminar Room 225, Suite 200, 124 Mount Auburn Street
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm EST
Democracy in Hard Places Initiative
Fostering social science research on democratic experiments — both successful and failed — throughout the developing world to learn how democracy can be built and maintained in a variety of terrains.
For a majority of the world’s people, the dream of living under a liberal, democratic government that is accountable to its citizens and respectful of their freedom and physical integrity is a distant one. This is particularly true in the developing world, where endemic poverty, illiteracy, ethnic conflict, economic inequality, as well as legacies of colonial domination and military tutelage pose serious obstacles to getting and keeping a democratic government.
Given the difficulty of democratic transition and the frequency of democratic breakdown in the developing world, one might be tempted to think that efforts to bring democracy to the world’s poor are wasted. And yet, in countries such as India, Indonesia, and Senegal, democracy has survived and thrived despite seemingly insurmountable challenges.
The Ash Center’s Initiative on Democracy in Hard Places, directed by Professor Tarek Masoud, aims to foster social science research on democratic experiments — both successful and failed — throughout the developing world to learn how democracy can be built and maintained in a variety of terrains. And, through engagement with policymakers, practitioners, and activists, it aims to translate that research into action.
Upcoming Events
The latest news, resources, and research
Commentary
The Democratic Dismantling of Democracies: How Leaders Undermine the Systems That Elect Them
A recent panel discussion explored global patterns of democratic backsliding, focusing on the experiences of Venezuela, Thailand, and the United States. Moderated by Archon Fung, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, the conversation shared insights into how democratically elected leaders systematically erode checks and balances to consolidate power. The panelists highlighted common tactics of democratic erosion, and also strategies for safeguarding democracy.
Video
The World’s Protracted and Deepening Democratic Recession, and How to Reverse It
Harvard community members joined the Ash Center for a Democracy in Hard Places Initiative event featuring Larry Diamond, Mosbacher Senior Fellow of Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
Book
Defending Democracy in an Age of Sharp Power
In Defending Democracy in an Age of Sharp Power, editors William J. Dobson, Tarek Masoud, and Christopher Walker bring together leading analysts to explain how the world’s authoritarians are attempting to erode the pillars of democratic societies—and what we can do about it.
Feature
Hope Persists for Champion of Egyptian Democracy
Shady ElGhazaly Harb MC/MPA 2023, a prominent youth activist during the 2011 uprising, finds new ways to understand the continuing struggle for democracy in Egypt during his time at Harvard Kennedy School.
Commentary
As others study how democracy dies, Tarek Masoud studies how it can survive
The Democracy in Hard Places program has grown from an obsession with how countries that lack democracy can get it and keep it.
Book
Democracy in Hard Places
In Democracy in Hard Places, Scott Mainwaring and Tarek Masoud bring together a distinguished cast of contributors to illustrate how democracies around the world continue to survive even in an age of democratic decline.
Media Release
Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki to Join Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center as Senior Fellow
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School announced the appointment of former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki as a senior fellow. Marzouki, Tunisia’s first post-Arab spring head of state will join the Ash Center’s Democracy in Hard Places initiative.
Feature
Myanmar After the Coup
During a recent Ash Center event, experts discussed how the people of Myanmar have responded to recent events and what potential remains for a democratic future in the country.
Q+A
Tarek Masoud Reflects on the Arab Spring Ten Years Later
As the world looks back on the events that convulsed much of the Middle East a decade ago during what became known as the Arab Spring, the Ash Center sat down with Tarek Masoud, Professor of Public Policy and Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman Professor of International Relations, to discuss the prospects for democracy in the region today.
Feature
Scholarship on Stage
Tarek Masoud works with the A.R.T. to help bring the story of the Egyptian revolution to the theater
Book
The Arab Spring: Pathways of Repression and Reform
Why did regime change take place in only four Arab countries and why has democratic change proved so elusive in the countries that made attempts? This book attempts to answer those questions.