Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Feature
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the size and scale of anti-Trump protests this year have dwarfed those in 2017, and they have been extraordinarily peaceful. This article was originally published in Waging Nonviolence.
Newest
Q+A
With the 2022 midterm vote approaching, the issue of ballot “curing” or correcting clerical errors on ballots has garnered increased attention as some jurisdictions work to expand vote by mail, while others have sought to curb the practice.
The authors propose an alternate approach to mainstream AI practice that broadens the focus beyond algorithms viewed in isolation to processes of human-algorithm collaboration.
Commentary
Feature
Speaking in the JFK Jr. Forum, civil rights leader Maya Wiley underscored the entwined fate of democracy and racial justice
Feature
Events this week in JFK Jr. Forum examined what can be done to address grinding problems of race, internet’s power to exploit political, and cultural schisms to destructive ends.
Media Release
In Ensuring All Votes Count: Reducing Rejected Ballots, Wang and Alitamirano tackle the questions: Were mail ballots rejected at a higher rate in 2020 compared to previous years? What impact did policy changes, the political environment, and voter outreach have on mail ballot rejection rates in such an extraordinary election year?
Media Release
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School announced the appointment of former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki as a senior fellow. Marzouki, Tunisia’s first post-Arab spring head of state will join the Ash Center’s Democracy in Hard Places initiative.
Commentary
There isn’t much we can agree on these days. But two sweeping statements that might garner broad support are “We need to fix technology” and “We need to fix democracy.”
Feature
Mark Moore began his career at the Kennedy School as a member of the inaugural class of the Master in Public Policy (MPP) program. He was subsequently awarded one of Harvard’s first Ph.D.s in public policy before being appointed assistant professor in 1974, and the Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice Policy and Management in 1979. On the eve of his retirement, Moore, now a Research Professor at HKS, sat down with the Ash Center to discuss his work and share his unique perspective on the Kennedy School’s decades-long evolution.