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.
Related Programs
Related Topics
Institutional Reforms, Electoral College, Civic Engagement, Multiracial Democracy, Sports and Civic Participation
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
Christina Marchand
Senior Associate Director, Center-wide Democracy Initiatives
Jose Martinez
Program Manager
Jahaida Hernández Jesurum
Program Administrator
Upcoming Events
Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress
In-Person Event
Ash Center Seminar Room 225, Suite 200, 124 Mount Auburn Street
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
Hope, Protest, and Power: Student Activism from 1968 to 2026
In-Person Event
Rubenstein 414 (Democracy Lab), Harvard Kennedy School
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST
The Latest News and Research
Commentary
What are conflicts of interest and what can be done about them?
In his latest article for The Conversation, Archon Fung defines “conflicts of interest,” highlights their risks to good governance, and outlines strategies to mitigate their impact.
Feature
From Crisis to Action: Turning the Tide on Democratic Erosion Through Organizing
In response to the recent anti-democratic patterns in the United States, the Ash Center hosted a panel of Harvard scholars to discuss how civil society can resist democratic backsliding through social mobilization and organizing.
Video
Organizing and Mobilization during Democratic Backsliding
In this webinar, panelists drew upon lessons from around the world about how civil society groups can protect and promote democracy and the rule of law during episodes of democratic backsliding.
Commentary
Why federal courts are unlikely to save democracy from Trump’s and Musk’s attacks
Maya Sen argues that federal courts are unlikely to protect democracy from threats posed by Trump and Musk, as the judiciary’s power to check executive overreach is limited and increasingly challenged.
Media Release
Stephen Richer Joins Ash Center of Democratic Governance and Innovation
Richer, former county recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona, joins the Ash Center as the newest Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy.
Q+A
In what ways does Inauguration Day 2025 symbolize the resilience or fragility of American democracy?
On January 20, 2025, as Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, the nation reached a critical turning point.
Occasional Paper
Problem-Solving at the Community Scale: A Deweyan Approach to the Democratic Practices of Minoritized Groups within the United States, South Africa, and Australia
Commentary
The Global Impact of the United States Election
No matter where you are in the world, the effects of November 5, 2024, are enormous, and its global ramifications will be seen very soon, for better or for worse.
Book
Empowering Affected Interests — Democratic Inclusion in a Globalized World
In this book, Empowering Affected Interests, Archon Fung and Sean W. D. Gray explore the radical implications of the All-Affected Principle in a globalized world, bringing together leading theorists to examine how democracy might be reimagined to address cross-border interdependence 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?
The Ash Center sits down with Bradley Tusk to discuss how mobile voting could not only revitalize civic engagement but also restore trust in government on a broad scale.