Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
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Commentary
Information Inequality Can Be a Matter of Life or Death
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.
In visit to Harvard Kennedy School, Vietnamese prime minister underscores multilateral ambitions
In a visit organized by the Ash Center’s Vietnam Program, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính outlined his country’s desire to remain politically and economically integrated.
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.)
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.