Archon Fung
Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation;
Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government
Reimagining Democracy Program
Reimagining our political institutions to meet the democratic challenges of today.
To confront the growing challenges to democracy around the world, it’s time for new ideas.
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.
Meet the Team
Tova Wang
Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice
The Latest News and Research
Book
Empowering Affected Interests: Democratic Inclusion in a Globalized World
Empowering Affected Interests explores the radical implications of the All-Affected Principle—the idea that all those impacted by collective decisions should have a say—by bringing together leading theorists to debate how democracy can address the interdependence of states, markets, and peoples on issues like immigration, climate change, and labor markets.
Article
To ride-hail or not to ride-hail? Complementarity and competition between public transit and transportation network companies through the lens of app data
In this study, the authors use nine months of trip planning data to understand how travelers engage with multiple transit options in real-time.
Feature
‘Both parties now can claim the mantle of a multiracial electorate’
From global election trends to inflation anger, swing state performance, and failed voting reform initiatives, Harvard election law experts break down last week’s presidential election and what it might mean for the future of American democracy.
Commentary
Election 2024: Appreciating The Front-Line Workers of Democracy
As the dust settles from the U.S. presidential election, the American public can celebrate that the election process was largely nonviolent and smooth. However, it is important that the public not be lulled into thinking this signals the end of election administrators’ problems.
Additional Resource
Trump’s threat to American democracy
In her most recent contributing article to the U.S. Election Analysis 2024: Media, Voters and the Campaign, Pippa Norris discusses events preceding the 2024 election, voter behavior, and what the results may mean for democratic institutions.
Commentary
The Electoral College and Our Broken Presidential Election System
Roughly 80 percent of the population who do not live in “swing states” lack a clear notion of what they “need to do” to actively support their candidates.
Q+A
Will Mobile Voting Defeat Gerrymandering and Increase Participation?
Video
Engaging Fans, Empowering Voters: How Professional Sports are Promoting Civic Engagement
The Ash Center hosted a discussion with representatives of the NBA, NFL Votes, the co-founder of Vet the Vote, and the Deputy Secretary of State of Georgia to discuss how these partnerships are succeeding at supporting voter participation and fair and secure elections.
Feature
Beyond the Ballot: Ensuring a Transparent, Secure, and Fair Election in 2024
Election integrity is under the microscope as we near the 2024 Presidential Election, and many Americans are apprehensive about election security, the timeframe of learning the results, and how peaceful the transfer of power will be.
Feature
In Swing States, Rest Assured: Election Officials Are Prepared for Anything
In a climate of growing distrust surrounding elections, election administrators play a pivotal role in safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process.
Video
Election Officials in Swing States and the 2024 Election
The Ash Center hosted a discussion with the heads of elections from Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and North Carolina to hear about their actions to ensure the election process is smooth and can be trusted.
Commentary
A Sudden Change at the Top: Was the Democratic Party’s Transition Truly Democratic?
Never in American history has a party shifted course as quickly and effectively as the Democratic Party did this summer. The rapid transition from Biden to Harris has left many wondering: Was this process truly democratic?
Feature
In Denver, a Model for Jail-Based Voting
Across the United States, hundreds of thousands of people in jail retain their right to vote while being held in pretrial detention, having not been convicted of a crime.
Commentary
What is Kamala Harris’s Story and Why Does it Matter So Much?
“In public life, if you don’t claim authorship of your own story, others will claim it for you.”
Q+A
Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader on the election, the protests, and the future of the country
HKS research fellow Freddy Guevara MC/MPA 2024 remains optimistic about a democratic transition and that the July election was the beginning of the end for the Maduro regime.