Archon Fung
Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation;
Co-Director of the Program on Democracy and the Informed Public;
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
Jessica Creighton
Program Director
Mark Seah
Assistant Director
Upcoming Events
Lessons from Venezuela: Electoral Resistance to Popular Autocrats (2007–2013)
Online Event
Zoom Webinar
11:00 am – 12:30 pm EDT
Democratic Backsliding and Resilience: South Korea’s December 3 Martial Law Crisis
Online Event
Zoom Webinar
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT
Beyond Efficiency: Reimagining Democracy Through Citizen Power
Online Event
Zoom Webinar
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
The Latest News and Research
Additional Resource
The Enrichment and Decay of Ionia
This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Eugene Fischer at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.
Q+A
Charting a new course for the future of American conservatism
As divisions within the GOP were on vivid display last month during the tumult over the US House Speaker’s gavel, the Kennedy School’s Steve Goldsmith and UT-Austin’s Ryan Streeter ask whether conservatives should embrace a more aspirational, ideas-driven future?
Commentary
Ten Ways AI Will Change Democracy
In a new essay, Harvard Kennedy School’s Bruce Schneier goes beyond AI generated disinformation to detail other novel ways in which AI might alter how democracy functions.
Video
Problems at the Polls? Election Administration in the Midterms
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Institute of Politics, and HKS Black Alumni Association invited folks to watch a discussion with former West Virginia Secretary of State and current Institute of Politics Fellow Natalie Tennant, and Ash Center’s Tova Wang for a discussion on running an election in turbulent times.
Commentary
Who’s accountable for AI usage in digital campaign ads? Right now, no one.
In a new essay, Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders argue that AI is poised to dramatically ramp up digital campaigns and outline how accountability measures across platforms, government, and the media can curb risks.
Video
Book Talk – When Democracy Breaks
The Ash Center invites you to watch a book talk with contributors to When Democracy Breaks (Oxford, 2023), a new edited volume intended to deepen our understanding of what separates democratic resilience from democratic fragility — by focusing on the latter.
Media Release
In new discussion paper, Stephen Goldsmith and Ryan Streeter lay out a case for a new, more aspirational conservatism
In a recently published discussion paper from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School, Stephen Goldsmith and Ryan Streeter propose a new ideological framework for the conservative movement in the United States centered around aspiration, opportunity, and personal responsibility to help drive upward mobility.
Commentary
Disclosure Dilemmas: AI Transparency is No Quick Fix
In a new essay, Mary Graham argues that transparency measures can help curtail AI-related risks but not overnight — transparency efforts require sustained, long-term engagement and effort.
Commentary
Re-imagining democracy for the 21st century, possibly without the trappings of the 18th century
Imagine that we’ve all – all of us, all of society – landed on some alien planet, and we have to form a government: clean slate. How would we govern ourselves?
Commentary
Can you trust AI? Here’s why you shouldn’t
In a new article for The Conversation, Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders highlight some of the reasons to feel skeptical towards AI.
Commentary
AI could shore up democracy – here’s one way
What if AI turns out to be the one tool able to identify what makes your ideas special, recognizing your unique perspective and potential on the issues where it matters most?
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