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.
Additional Resource
Even with Nicolás Maduro gone, the fight for Venezuela’s future is far from over. Freddy Guevara warns that Maduro’s successors are more interested in regime survival than democratic reform.
Newest
Occasional Paper
In this study, Benjamin Schneer and co-authors examine the influence of family history on U.S. lawmakers’ views on immigration policy, finding that legislators with immigrant ancestry tend to support more permissive immigration laws and speak more positively about immigration. It examines personal background, including family history and identity, and how that plays a significant role in shaping policymaking.
Additional Resource
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
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.
Article
Trust between citizens and the institutions that govern them is essential for effective policy, especially in public health. However, against a backdrop of escalating political polarization and rising levels of misinformation, there has been a stark decline in public confidence in government and health institutions.
Occasional Paper
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
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
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.
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.
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.