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
Senior Researcher in Democratic Practice
Upcoming Events
Ash Center Open House
In-Person Event
Ash Center Foyer, Suite 200, 124 Mount Auburn Street
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT
The Latest News and Research
Video
Democracy on the Precipice?
On Thursday, March 9, 2023, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation Director Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, spoke to Kennedy School community members about threats to American democracy and how we can overcome them.
Feature
In a tight labor market, some states look to another type of worker: Children
Featuring David Weil
Q+A
Hacking to harm and heal democracy
In a new book, Bruce Schneier details how tricks, exploitations, and loopholes are benefiting those in power — and how a ‘hacking’ mindset can help us set things right.
Q+A
Youth without representation
Aksel Sundström explores how the absence of young adults in our governing institutions is weakening our democracy.
Feature
Democracy on the (down) ballot
Ash panel unpacks election reforms at stake during the midterms
Video
Democracy on the (Down) Ballot: Unpacking the Midterms, Voting Rights, and Local Electoral Reforms
During the 2022 midterms, voters not only cast a ballot to decide the balance of power in congress, but in in many states voters decided on a range of consequential ballot initiatives impacting the nuts and bolts of the electoral process including voter-ID laws, party primary reform, ranked choice voting, and proportional representation. The outcomes of these statewide and local level ballot initiatives have direct implications for future elections and participatory democracy.
This midterm recap webinar goes beyond the candidate horse race and focus on analysis and perspectives from advocates and scholars on recent voting-related ballot initiatives, immediate implications for future elections, and what’s ahead for emerging electoral reforms at the state and local level. See panelists Deb Otis, Director of Research at FairVote; Jenny Lee, Deputy Director of the Coalition of Communities of Color; and Wendy Underhill, Director of Elections and Redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Ash Center Reimagining Democracy Fellow Nick Chedli Carter moderated.
Commentary
How fragile is our democracy? Five midterm indicators
The midterm elections will forecast not only which party controls Congress but the health of our democracy, writes Archon Fung in a new essay.
Q+A
How to reduce rejected ballots
With the 2022 midterm vote approaching, the issue of ballot “curing” or correcting clerical errors on ballots has garnered increased attention as some jurisdictions work to expand vote by mail, while others have sought to curb the practice.
Feature
How to save democracy
Events this week in JFK Jr. Forum examined what can be done to address grinding problems of race, internet’s power to exploit political, and cultural schisms to destructive ends.
Media Release
New Report Finds Mail Ballot Rejection Rates Decreased in 2020
In Ensuring All Votes Count: Reducing Rejected Ballots, Wang and Alitamirano tackle the questions: Were mail ballots rejected at a higher rate in 2020 compared to previous years? What impact did policy changes, the political environment, and voter outreach have on mail ballot rejection rates in such an extraordinary election year?
Policy Brief
Ensuring All Votes Count: Reducing Rejected Ballots
Feature
How to design term limits for the Supreme Court
Scholars conclude terms limits would help restore ideological balance to the nation’s highest court
Q+A
“Lengthy and convoluted and vague”: HKS historian Alex Keyssar on the problems with the Electoral Count Act and how proposed reforms could fix it
A law written in post-Civil War America to try to avoid problems with the counting of Electoral College votes has never been very clear. A new set of proposed reforms tries to change that.
Feature
What happens when sports stadiums and arenas are used as polling sites?
Research shows professional sports stadiums and arenas are not only ideal polling locations, but support for their use in elections reaches across the aisle and benefits the team.
Media Release