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
Feature
How will the Voting Rights Act ruling impact redistricting?
According to Kennedy School’s Benjamin Schneer, the decision that an Alabama congressional map illegally weakened the power of Black voters has implications beyond the southern state’s borders.
Feature
Is democracy in decline? Kennedy School professors voice optimism and concerns.
From polarization to populism, democracy is facing off against formidable foes and we need big ideas to save it says expert panel.
Commentary
How AI could take over elections – and undermine democracy
In a new article for the Conversation, Ash Center Director Archon Fung and Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig introduce Clogger, a hypothetical political campaign in a black box.
Q+A
Claims against nonpartisan voter record system are baseless says former West Virginia Secretary of State
Natalie Tennant discusses the impact of states leaving the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a resource for maintaining accurate voter records across state lines
Q+A
Does France’s pension reform controversy highlight the need for deliberative democracy?
French President Emmanuel Macron’s end run around parliament may be legally sound, but Ash Center Democracy Fellow Yves Sintomer argues the move was markedly anti-democratic.
Feature
Bruce Schneier Wants to Recreate Democracy
Arguing that American democracy has been hacked, the computer security expert doesn’t want to just fiddle on the margins when it comes to re-envisioning what a new 21st-century American democracy should look like.
Feature
Democracy on the Precipice?
Archon Fung on the threats to American democracy and what we can do about it.
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.