Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Commentary
In this paper, Mary W. Graham, co-director of the Center’s Transparency Policy Project, explores the unintended information inequities that weaken the nation’s vital health and safety alerts. By examining three policies — wildfire alerts, drinking water reports, and auto safety recalls — she suggests common sources of inequality problems and steps policy makers are taking to remedy them.
Newest
Feature
This semester, Ash Center researchers offered a solution to partisan gerrymandering, provided real-time data on protests across the country, outlined a pathway for better AI development, and more.
Commentary
Will AI-assisted polls soon replace more traditional techniques?
Feature
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
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
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
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
The Ash Center’s Tova Wang and NFL executive Scott Pioli make the case for using sports stadiums as polling places this fall.
Feature
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 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.