Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Podcast
Archon Fung and Stephen Richer are joined on Terms of Engagement by Air Traffic Controller Jack Criss to discuss the real-world impact of the ongoing shutdown.
Newest
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.
Commentary
No matter where you are in the world, the effects of November 5, 2024, are enormous, and its global ramifications will be seen very soon, for better or for worse.
Commentary
As 2024 draws to a close, it’s instructive to take stock of how democracy did.