Feature
How to design term limits for the Supreme Court
Scholars conclude terms limits would help restore ideological balance to the nation’s highest court
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
Q+A
“Lengthy and convoluted and vague”: HKS historian Alex Keyssar on the problems with the Electoral Count Act and how proposed reforms could fix it
A law written in post-Civil War America to try to avoid problems with the counting of Electoral College votes has never been very clear. A new set of proposed reforms tries to change that.
Video
Beyond Winner-Take-All: Possibilities for Proportional Voting in the United States
At a time when many are rightly concerned about the health of American democracy, scholars and reformers are evaluating proposals to make democracy more functional and representative. One such proposal is to move beyond the winner-take-all electoral system used at the federal and state levels in the United States to enable adoption of proportional voting systems. What would be the impact of proportional voting in the United States, and what will it take to enact it?
Join panelists Rob Richie, President and CEO of FairVote, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Community Engagement Consultant and Former Utah State Legislator, and Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University in discussion. Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at Harvard Kennedy School, Director of the Ash Center’s Democratic Governance Programs, moderated.
Feature
Should all residents—including noncitizens—be able to vote in Boston?
Following recent victories in San Francisco and New York City, Boston advocates are looking to expand the franchise to all residents with legal status for local elections.
Video
Should voting be a right or a requirement?
Harvard Ash Center Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy Miles Rapoport advocates that universal voting, a requirement that every citizen cast a ballot, could reduce polarization and pave a pathway to a more equitable American democracy.
Video
Book Talk with Michael Kazin, Author of “What it Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party”
Join the Ash Center for an online book talk with Michael Kazin, author of “What it Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party” (Macmillan, 2022). Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School served as moderator.
Q+A
The future of the filibuster and voting rights in Congress
To discuss the filibuster and its impact on voting rights and the Senate, we sat down with Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Democracy at Harvard Kennedy School and the director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation’s Democratic Governance Program.
Q+A
Massachusetts Uniquely Positioned to Adopt Universal Voting Argues Miles Rapoport
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.
Video
Rethinking the US Constitution through a Participatory Process
What would it be like to really rethink our Constitution? In this webinar, we learned about participatory constitution building, a way of writing a new constitution with full public participation. Participatory constitution building is common around the world, but how it is designed and the process by which it is undertaken is critical to making it a success anywhere. We learned with experts on participatory constitution building globally, in Chile at this moment, and among tribal governments. What are the practices we might think about as we reconsider the strengths and weaknesses of our own constitution in this country?
Speakers included:
- Erin Houlihan, Program Officer, International IDEA
- Pamela Figueroa Rubio, Académica, Facultad de Humanidades – Universidad De Santiago
- Joseph Kalt, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy, HKS; Co-Director, The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
- Co-moderated by Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government, Harvard Kennedy School
- Pedro Arcain Riccetto, Democracy Visiting Fellow, Ash Center
Policy Brief
Understanding the Role of Local Election Officials: How Local Autonomy Shapes U.S. Election Administration
Feature
Rocking the vote from the ER to the Peach State
Two Kennedy School student research projects chart path forward on voter engagement.
Video
100 Days of Biden Administration: What’s Next for Immigration, Health Policy, and Economic Justice
Video
Voting Rights and Democracy Reform in the States and on the Hill
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation convened advocates from the states and Capitol Hill to discuss what is at stake and the strategies being used in the fight for voting rights and democracy reform.
Video
Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century
The Ash Center and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) hosted a discussion of Our Common Purpose, a report issued by the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.
Commentary
Voting Rights Battle Enters a New Round
On March 1, the Georgia House of Representatives passed H.B.531, a sweeping elections bill that critics and voting rights advocates were quick to note increases restrictions on absentee voting and curtails weekend early voting hours.