Through our books, case studies, journal articles, papers, and surveys, the Ash Center is home to some of the world’s most advanced research and publications on issues related to democratic governance and self-governance.
To explore all research authored by Ash Center faculty, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School website. You can view the Ash Center’s open access policy here.
Paper
A new paper by Executive Session on Elections and Election Administration members Trey Grayson, Tammy Patrick, Judd Choate, Wesley Wilcox and Al Schmidt advocates for strengthening and investing in state associations to support election administrators year-round.
Newest
Additional Resource
“The Real Dangers of Generative AI” by Danielle Allen and Glen Weyl was featured in the January 2024 Journal of Democracy.
Abstract: As perhaps the most consequential technology of our time, Generative Foundation Models (GFMs) present unprecedented challenges for democratic institutions. By allowing deception and de-contextualized information sharing at a previously unimaginable scale and pace, GFMs could undermine the foundations of democracy. At the same time, the investment scale required to develop the models and the race dynamics around that development threaten to enable concentrations of democratically unaccountable power (both public and private). This essay examines the twin threats of collapse and singularity occasioned by the rise of GFMs.
Additional Resource
This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Jon Evans at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.
Additional Resource
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.
Occasional Paper
Policy Brief
In 2023, federal investigators found nearly 5,800 children employed in violation of labor law — 2.5 times the number just five years earlier — cleaning “skull splitters” and “brisket saws” on meatpacking kill floors, running equipment in Hyundai and Kia supply plants, and working overnight shifts in bakeries supplying Frito-Lay and General Mills. Every case traces back to the same business model: major brands outsourcing labor through layers of contractors and staffing agencies, then professing outrage when children turn up on the factory floor. The Fair Labor Standards Act has banned this exact kind of work since 1938. So why is it the contractors, not the Fortune 500 names on the label, taking the blame?
Policy Brief
Additional Resource
On November 7, 2023, the Summit on AI and Democracy gathered experts across multiple institutions to discuss ongoing research, policy, and development efforts related to the recent advancements in artificial intelligence.
Policy Brief
Policy Brief