News and Analysis
Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Newest
Commentary
The Web3 Decentralization Debate Is Focused on the Wrong Question
Fixating on the degree—rather than the type—of decentralization is leading us astray.
Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul
Web3 today centers around expressing transferable, financialized assets, rather than encoding social relationships of trust.
Q+A
Is an emboldened conservative majority taking the Supreme Court in an unpopular new direction?
HKS Professor Maya Sen analyzes the new balance of power on the Supreme Court and how the conservative majority aligns with the beliefs of Americans.
Video
Book Talk — Growing Fairly: How to Build Opportunity and Equity in Workforce Development
You are invited to a virtual book talk featuring Stephen Goldsmith, Derek Bok Professor of the Practice of Urban Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Kate Markin Coleman, director of ias advising, LLC. Goldsmith and Markin, co-authors of “Growing Fairly: How to Build Opportunity and Equity in Workforce Development.” They were joined by moderator Earl Buford, President, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL.)
Video
Beyond Winner-Take-All: Possibilities for Proportional Voting in the United States
At a time when many are rightly concerned about the health of American democracy, scholars and reformers are evaluating proposals to make democracy more functional and representative. One such proposal is to move beyond the winner-take-all electoral system used at the federal and state levels in the United States to enable adoption of proportional voting systems. What would be the impact of proportional voting in the United States, and what will it take to enact it?
Join panelists Rob Richie, President and CEO of FairVote, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Community Engagement Consultant and Former Utah State Legislator, and Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University in discussion. Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at Harvard Kennedy School, Director of the Ash Center’s Democratic Governance Programs, moderated.
Feature
Should all residents—including noncitizens—be able to vote in Boston?
Following recent victories in San Francisco and New York City, Boston advocates are looking to expand the franchise to all residents with legal status for local elections.
Video
Non-Citizen Voting in Boston: The Next Step for Expanding the Franchise?
As efforts get underway to expand the franchise to non-citizens in Boston, the Ash Center and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston hosted a conversation to learn about how non-citizen voting once was the norm and how it’s making a comeback.
Video
Should voting be a right or a requirement?
Harvard Ash Center Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy Miles Rapoport advocates that universal voting, a requirement that every citizen cast a ballot, could reduce polarization and pave a pathway to a more equitable American democracy.
Feature
As 2022 elections near, eyes turn to growing Asian American and Pacific Islander voter bloc
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to engaging the diverse AAPI voter community says expert panel.