“Our democracy depends on voting,” said Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government and director of the Ash Center’s Democratic Governance Program, at the opening of an all-day symposium on increasing voter participation sponsored by the Ash Center; the Institute of Politics; and the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. The event, “Getting to 80%: A Symposium Advancing Voter Participation,” convened on May 3 at Harvard Kennedy School and brought together journalists, technologists, business leaders, elected officials, scholars, and grassroots advocates and organizers to discuss how best to spark cultural and policy shifts needed to increase voter participation in the United States.
The US ranks 26th out 32 OECD countries in voting turnout for nationwide elections, with just 55 percent of the voting age population going to the polls in 2016. “That is not a proud statistic for a country that has been for some time in the business of trying export democracy,” said Fung during opening remarks. The event was an opportunity to discuss strategies for increasing voter participation rates to 80 percent of all eligible voters in the US, a figure reached by only a handful other countries.
Nearly 140 participants spent the day examining issues such as how to create a culture of voting, the roles of technology and social media in encouraging voter participation, strategies for engaging with younger voters, innovations in voter participation at the state level, mobilizing non-voters, and advancing universal registration and voting. “We heard a lot of very powerful ideas about how to turn these numbers around from simple policy fixes such as automatic voter registration and universal vote-by-mail to how best to elevate the way voting is perceived across all sectors of society,” reflected Miles Rapoport, the Ash Center’s Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy and an organizer of the conference.
When former Vice President Mike Pence visited Harvard’s Institute of Politics for a discussion on “The Future of Conservatism and American Democracy,” he was introduced not just by a moderator, but by a longtime friend and admirer — Ash Center Senior Fellow Stephen Richer. A former Republican officeholder, Richer has often cited Pence as a personal role model for integrity and constitutional fidelity. Their friendship added a layer of warmth and sincerity to an evening that balanced deep ideological reflection with a spirit of civility and mutual respect.
This week on Term of Engagement, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer explore and debate the boundaries of free speech, threats to it, and the impact on our democracy.
Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact
Last week’s leak of the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” sparked intense reactions across the academic world sparking both criticism and support. Critics say it would be government overreach and a threat to free expression while supporters say it could be something that could serve as a catalyst for meaningful reform, offering universities and policymakers a chance to rebuild trust and redefine the nation’s partnership with higher education. Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Democratic Knowledge Project and of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation gives her take.
Setting the 2025-26 Agenda for the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Amid rising illiberalism, Danielle Allen urges a new agenda to renew democracy by reorienting institutions, policymaking, and civil society around the intentional sharing of power.
The intensification of political polarization in recent years has raised pressing concerns about the health of democratic discourse and the rise of political violence. Ash Center Senior Fellow Stephen Richer shares ten principles he believes provide a framework for fostering more constructive engagement: encouraging self-reflection, prioritizing substantive dialogue over hyperbole, and creating incentives that reward integrity and ideas rather than division.
