
Archon Fung
Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation;
Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government
Reimagining our political institutions to meet the democratic challenges of today.
Democracy requires deep and structural changes to survive and grow. The Ash Center’s Reimagining Democracy Program provides scholars and those on the frontlines of our democracy with a space for generating ambitious ideas and practices to make democracy more resilient, responsive, and inclusive.
Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation;
Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government
Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice
Senior Associate Director, Center-wide Democracy Initiatives
Program Manager
Program Administrator
Podcast
This week on Terms of Engagement, Alex Keyssar joins Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to examine the broader issue of political violence in the U.S.
Commentary
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.
Podcast
Archon Fung and Stephen Richer are joined by Andrew Crespo, Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, to discuss a recent court case that found the Trump Administration’s freeze of over $2 billion in federal grants to Harvard illegal.
Podcast
Former Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, now the Emma Bloomberg Professor of Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, joins Archon Fung and Stephen Richer.
Podcast
Archon Fung and Stephen Richer discuss President Trump’s assertions about mail-in voting and what they portend for future elections and voter participation.
Podcast
New York Times Opinion Columnist Michelle Goldberg joins Stephen Richer and Archon Fung to discuss “South Park” and the role political satires play in political discourse.
Podcast
A fight is brewing between some of America’s largest states. A line has been drawn, not in the sand, but on a Texas map.
Feature
When Josh Cortez crossed the stage to graduate from Harvard Kennedy School in May 2025 as a recipient of the Roy and Lila Ash Scholarship in Democracy, he carried more than a degree—he carried generations of heritage, grit, and purpose. His story doesn’t begin in Cambridge but hundreds of years earlier, on the banks of the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas.
Podcast
What does Columbia’s recent settlement with the Trump administration mean for higher education? Are the First Amendment rights of Columbia and other universities being infringed?
Article
In this op-ed, Jennifer Hochschild explains that Chicago is facing a financial crisis decades in the making — a crushing burden of pension debt that no current resident created but all must bear. Instead she says, it is the result of a century of political promises, underfunded commitments, and systemic avoidance — leaving Chicagoans to reckon with the consequences today.
Podcast
A majority of people agree that democracy is worth fighting for, but when asked if democracy is at risk, opinions begin to differ. Are we all operating under the same idea of what a democracy truly is?
Podcast
From rank-choice voting to reconciliation, American democracy is headline news. Let’s talk about it.
Feature
In a warning to lawmakers, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sharply criticizing the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) handling of federal data. Describing DOGE’s security protocols as dangerously inadequate, Schneier warned that the agency’s practices have put sensitive government and citizen information at risk of exploitation by foreign adversaries and criminal networks.
Feature
A collection of must-reads curated by Ash Center’s Reimagining Democracy team.