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
Upcoming Events
Labor in the Courts: How Unions Have Stood Up for Workers’ Rights During the First 100 Days
Online Event
Virtual Event
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
Labor at the Polls: Understanding How Union Members Approached the 2024 Election
Online Event
Virtual Event
11:00 am – 12:30 pm EDT
The Latest News and Research
Video
Book Talk: How to Steal A Presidential Election
On April 30, the Ash Center hosted a book talk with Lawrence Lessig and Matt Seligman, authors of How to Steal a Presidential Election (Yale, 2024). The discussion was moderated by Ian Bassin, co-founder and Executive Director of Protect Democracy.
Feature
Moving beyond the Electoral College
At an Ash Center symposium on Electoral College reform, Congressman Jamie Raskin makes the case that the US should finally move to a direct popular vote for selecting presidential winners.
Feature
The Electoral College: What’s to be Done
During an opening panel at an Ash Center symposium on the future of the Electoral College, scholars examined the history behind how the US adopted its peculiar centuries-old system of choosing presidential election winners – and what should be done to reform or even abolish the practice today.
Additional Resource
Resource Page — The Electoral College: What’s to be Done
The Electoral College is viewed as a democratic anachronism in modern-day America, yet it has persisted for over two centuries despite repeated attempts to reform or abolish the institution. To build off of an Ash Center symposium hosted in April 2024, our scholars and researchers continue to seek answers to some of the biggest questions surrounding why the Electoral College has remained impervious to change for so long and what are the prospects for reform. Below, we invite you to explore several resources geared toward resolving these enduring debates.
Video
The Future of the Electoral College: A Conversation with Congressman Jamie Raskin
Harvard-ID holders were invited to join the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Institute of Politics for a conversation with Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) about the future of the Electoral College.
Video
Electoral College Symposium: What’s to be Done?
On April 3rd, panelists discussed if there is, in fact, a better way to elect the President of the United States.
Q+A
What role can sports teams play in 2024 voter turnout?
Ash Center Senior Researcher Tova Wang and NFL Network analyst Scott Pioli answer questions about how sports teams can foster civic engagement.
Feature
How politicians can draw fairer election districts − the same way parents make kids fairly split a piece of cake
Ben Schneer discusses the implications of redistricting and how those policies can be amended to combat gerrymandering and create fairer elections.
Additional Resource
Recommendations for Implementing Jail Voting: Identifying Common Themes
This guide is intended for advocates, organizers, and practitioners working across America to facilitate the voting process for eligible voters in jails.
Additional Resource
The Double-Edged Sword of Algorithmic Governance: Transparency at Stake
This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Niclas Boehmer at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.
Additional Resource
Can We Talk? An Argument for More Dialogues in Academia
This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Manon Revel at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.
Additional Resource
Ensuring We Have A Democracy in 2076
This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Aditi Juneja at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.
Case Study
Jail-Based Voting in the District of Columbia: A Case Study
Additional Resource
Resonance, Not Scalability
This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Nick Couldry at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.
Media Release
New research outlines novel partisan solution to partisan gerrymandering
In a new paper in Political Analysis, Ben Schneer, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, alongside co-authors Maxwell Palmer, Associate Professor, Boston University; and Kevin DeLuca, Assistant Professor, Yale University; present a new method for drawing legislative boundaries, the Define–Combine Procedure.