Article
The Resistance Reaches into Trump Country
As organizers for No Kings 2 seek historic turnout on October 18, the broader pro-democracy movement has already broken new ground.
Research & Resources
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.
Newest
Additional Resource
Understanding DOGE and Your Data
Over the past several weeks, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the Trump Administration has been embedding staff in a range of United States federal agencies. These staff have gained access to data maintained by the federal government. This guide explains what is in the data, what DOGE is doing with it, and why it matters to all Americans.
Policy Brief
GETTING-Plurality Comments on White House OSTP AI Action Plan
The GETTING-Plurality Research Network submitted a public comment on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Request for Information on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan.
Occasional Paper
How AI Can Support Democracy Movements: Summary Report of a Research and Practice Workshop
In this report, Erica Chenoweth summarizes a December 2024 workshop on the specific issue of AI adoption within democracy movements and offers some key recommendations.
Video
CommUniversity Session: Sports, Activism, and Philanthropy
Ash Center’s Tova Wang joined the CommNS and representatives from various professional sports organizations and their foundations to discuss the way athletes and teams are engaging in communities, causes, and giving processes.
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.
Off Balance: How US Courts Privilege Conservative Policy Outcomes
In this paper, Maya Sen and her co-authors examine enduring features of the American federal judiciary that systematically favor conservative political and policy outcomes. By situating the United States within a comparative context, the authors argue that these structural aspects of the judiciary contribute to a consistent ideological bias toward conservatism in legal decisions.
Asking about Complex Policies
In this article, according to new research from Maya Sen and her co-authors, as political survey questions become more complex, people are more likely to choose the first options on a list, especially if they have less knowledge and the question is long—making it better for researchers to keep questions short rather than trying to simplify the wording.
Democratically elected leaders around the world are increasingly transforming into autocrats by systematically undermining the institutions that enabled their rise to power.
Many Republican candidates ran on a ‘Tough on Crime’ platform, but new research from the Ash Center’s Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, using 30 years of data, suggests elected officials have little impact on city crime rates.
Open Access Resource
A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power-Sharing Liberalism
This paper aims to provide a roadmap for governing AI. In contrast to the reigning paradigms, we argue that AI governance should be not merely a reactive, punitive, status-quo-defending enterprise, but rather the expression of an expansive, proactive vision for technology—to advance human flourishing.