Media Release
Danielle Allen’s Radical Duke Recasts the Origins of the Age of Revolution
A new book from Harvard scholar Danielle Allen revisits the forgotten British radical movement that helped shape modern democracy.
News and Analysis
Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Newest
Q+A
Does France’s pension reform controversy highlight the need for deliberative democracy?
French President Emmanuel Macron’s end run around parliament may be legally sound, but Ash Center Democracy Fellow Yves Sintomer argues the move was markedly anti-democratic.
Commentary
Crowd Counting Consortium: Pushing Back Against Anti-LGBTQ Legislation
For the past three legislative cycles, state lawmakers have tabled record numbers of bills that harmfully target LGBTQ+ people or seek to enforce chauvinistic ideas about sexuality and gender norms.
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.
Feature
Democracy on the Precipice?
Archon Fung on the threats to American democracy and what we can do about it.
The Other “Big Lie” and Our Democratic Fragility
Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, Archon Fung argues that misinformation about the existence of weapons of mass destruction damaged American democracy for decades to come.
Commentary
How AI could write our laws
ChatGPT and other AIs could supercharge the influence of lobbyists—but only if we let them.
David Souter showed the Supreme Court how to free itself from politics
Video
Democracy on the Precipice?
On Thursday, March 9, 2023, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation Director Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, spoke to Kennedy School community members about threats to American democracy and how we can overcome them.
Video
Book Talk – A Hacker’s Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society’s Rules, and How to Bend them Back
You’re invited to watch a book talk with Harvard Kennedy School’s Bruce Schneier, author of “A Hacker’s Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society’s Rules, and How to Bend them Back.” Schneier was joined in conversation by moderator Archon Fung, Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government.