The Power of Grassroots Organizing on Pro-Voter Reform
In this policy brief, Tova Wang and Melina Geser-Stark argue that while grassroots advocacy has been pivotal in advancing voting rights, it remains overshadowed by the perception that voter reform is the domain of political elites — a view this paper challenges by examining how grassroots efforts mirror modern social movements and drive the push for a more inclusive democracy.
The recent passage of major state-based voting rights legislation demonstrates the critical role grassroots organizations play in protecting and advancing U.S. democracy. In 2023, grassroots organizers, working in coalition, were instrumental in securing significant election reform and voter inclusion legislation in New Mexico and Minnesota. By documenting these landmark efforts, this paper offers a fresh perspective on how grassroots organizing can drive meaningful change in the voting rights arena.
In academic literature, news reporting, and the public consciousness, contemporary voting reform is traditionally viewed through a top-down lens, with “elite” actors—such as policy advocates, lawyers, and legislators—seen as the key drivers of change. In contrast, the role of grassroots activism in shaping contemporary voting rights reform is often overlooked. As a result, the work of organizers in legislative efforts is less understood than that of those who traditionally hold political power. However, under-resourced state-based grassroots organizations are often central to moving election reform policy. They educate constituents about policies, build networks of passionate communities, and mobilize their bases to impact policy decisions.
This paper challenges the traditional top-down approach to voting rights reform by examining how grassroots efforts often exhibit many of the features of social movements as they have been understood in scholarship and in the public mind. Historically, when we think of voting rights movements, we most often think of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s or the suffragists at the turn of the 20th century. Here, we look at how modern voting reform efforts also display key attributes of social movements.
When former Vice President Mike Pence visited Harvard’s Institute of Politics for a discussion on “The Future of Conservatism and American Democracy,” he was introduced not just by a moderator, but by a longtime friend and admirer — Ash Center Senior Fellow Stephen Richer. A former Republican officeholder, Richer has often cited Pence as a personal role model for integrity and constitutional fidelity. Their friendship added a layer of warmth and sincerity to an evening that balanced deep ideological reflection with a spirit of civility and mutual respect.
This week on Term of Engagement, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer explore and debate the boundaries of free speech, threats to it, and the impact on our democracy.
Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact
Last week’s leak of the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” drew intense reactions across academia. Critics call it government overreach threatening free expression, while supporters see a chance for reform and renewed trust between universities and policymakers. Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, director of the Democratic Knowledge Project and the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, weighs in.
When former Vice President Mike Pence visited Harvard’s Institute of Politics for a discussion on “The Future of Conservatism and American Democracy,” he was introduced not just by a moderator, but by a longtime friend and admirer — Ash Center Senior Fellow Stephen Richer. A former Republican officeholder, Richer has often cited Pence as a personal role model for integrity and constitutional fidelity. Their friendship added a layer of warmth and sincerity to an evening that balanced deep ideological reflection with a spirit of civility and mutual respect.
Setting the 2025-26 Agenda for the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Amid rising illiberalism, Danielle Allen urges a new agenda to renew democracy by reorienting institutions, policymaking, and civil society around the intentional sharing of power.
