President Barack Obama delivers a health care address to a joint session of Congress at the United States Capitol

Democratic Reform

At the Ash Center, we’re working to generate new ideas to reform our democratic institutions for the 21st century.

Lucas, Flickr, Creative Commons

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.

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Voting Rights and Democracy Reform in the States and on the Hill

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.

Voting Rights Battle Enters a New Round
Photo of the Capitol building

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.

Myanmar After the Coup
Photo of a computer screen that's displaying a zoom

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.

Tarek Masoud Reflects on the Arab Spring Ten Years Later
Photo of Tahrir Square

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.

Will This Election Pick the Next President: Election Break Down and What to Do About It

Video

Will This Election Pick the Next President: Election Break Down and What to Do About It

In this discussion, the speakers explored what election breakdown could look like: A President refusing to concede, a state legislature disregarding the popular vote, a tie-breaker by a Supreme Court some view as illegitimate, Congress deciding the election according to “contingent election” provisions, or something else altogether?

A Win for Democracy

Feature

A Win for Democracy

Mauzy Award-Winner Demarquin Johnson sees democratic action as the path to overcoming injustice and protecting voting rights