Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Commentary
Allen Lab Policy Fellow Hillary Lehr provides a late-October 2026 snapshot of the multiple ways that AI and the midterms are intersecting, including campaign use cases, policy issues, and voters’ use of LLMs.
Newest
Feature
Erica Chenoweth shares a brief addendum to the Nonviolent Action Lab’s workshop held in December 2024 on how AI can influence social mobilization, for better or worse.
Commentary
In his latest article for The Conversation, Archon Fung defines “conflicts of interest,” highlights their risks to good governance, and outlines strategies to mitigate their impact.
Feature
In response to the recent anti-democratic patterns in the United States, the Ash Center hosted a panel of Harvard scholars to discuss how civil society can resist democratic backsliding through social mobilization and organizing.
Commentary
Ranked choice voting (RCV) aims to expand voter choice and improve representation, but Nolan McCarty’s research warns it could have unintended negative effects on minority communities’ representation and influence.
Commentary
Maya Sen argues that federal courts are unlikely to protect democracy from threats posed by Trump and Musk, as the judiciary’s power to check executive overreach is limited and increasingly challenged.
Commentary
At a conference earlier this month, Professor Danielle Allen argued that what we are seeing with DOGE is the real time implementation of an extreme ideological vision of the role that technology and a small cohort of its wealthiest leaders should have in the world.
Commentary
Alison Stanger argues that the question facing Americans isn’t whether government needs modernization – it’s whether they’re willing to sacrifice democracy in pursuit of Musk’s version of efficiency.
Media Release
Richer, former county recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona, joins the Ash Center as the newest Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy.
Q+A
On January 20, 2025, as Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, the nation reached a critical turning point.