Podcast
Wait, Wait — What Happened?
Co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer look back at the last five months of headlines as they celebrate the twentieth episode of Terms of Engagement.
News and Analysis
Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Newest
Feature
Indigenous Governance Summer Reading List
From a fictional thriller to a leading report on Native children, the HKS Project on Indigenous Governance and Development shares recommendations for must-reads this summer.
Q+A
India’s Surprising Election Results A “Watershed Moment”
Expecting to be returned to power with a resounding mandate, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was instead humbled as India’s voters “sprung a surprise,” said HKS Assistant Professor of Public Policy Gautam Nair. Nair, who studies the politics of inequality and redistribution with a special focus on South Asia, discussed how handwringing over the erosion of India’s democracy under Modi may be premature as his Hindu nationalist message seemingly failed to resonate across much of the electorate.
Feature
AI and Democracy Summer Reading List
This list, curated by the GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, highlights a mix of foundational texts and new thinking on the timely issue of how AI will impact democracy, especially as we head into election season.
Feature
Priya Millward MPP ’24 highlights neighborhood associations as civic participation building blocks
As some of the oldest civic organizations in Boston, neighborhood associations are integral to the city’s local politics. Millward examines who participates, and how to make these groups more inclusive.
Feature
Sports Franchises and Election Administrators Team Up to Create New Polling Places
The Ash Center’s Tova Wang and NFL executive Scott Pioli make the case for using sports stadiums as polling places this fall.
Feature
Conference on the Political Economy of AI
Experts gathered at the Allen Lab conference to examine the incentives and structures of AI development, as well as to discuss the past, present, and potential future of steering AI towards better serving the public interest.
Commentary
Crowd Counting Consortium: An Empirical Overview of Recent Pro-Palestine Protests at U.S. Schools
Crowd Counting Consortium data show more than 3,700 days with pro-Palestinian protest activity at over 500 U.S. schools since October 7, 2023, including encampments at more than 130 of them.
Feature
Can Higher Ed Renew Our Democracy?
In new paper, Danielle Allen explores how higher ed can play a role in promoting the health of our democracy.
Feature
Could deliberative democracy ameliorate democratic backsliding? Two HKS students believe it might.
As concerns for the health of democracy mount, Medha Uniyal and Kartikeya Bhatotia consider one particular “experimental democratic practice” that could increase connectivity between citizens and decision-making processes.