Open Access Resource  

Ash Center Open Access Scholarship Initiative

In celebration of over 20 years as Harvard’s hub for democracy research, the Ash Center launched its Open Access Scholarship Initiative to enhance the accessibility and the democratization of key works by making them downloadable for free.

A close up photo of the spine of a book

For over 20 years, the Ash Center has served as a hub for democracy research, analysis, and discussion at Harvard. We firmly believe democracy relies on the free exchange of ideas — and as an academic research institution, our scholarship should be as accessible as we can make it. To that end, the Ash Center is marking its two decades by making several important works on democracy and self-government authored by our scholars available to download free of charge as part of our new Open Access Scholarship Initiative.

Explore more of our Open Access scholarship

Empowering Affected Interests — Democratic Inclusion in a Globalized World
Book cover of

Book

Empowering Affected Interests — Democratic Inclusion in a Globalized World

Empowering Affected Interests explores the radical implications of the All-Affected Principle in a globalized world, bringing together leading theorists to examine how democracy might be reimagined to address cross-border interdependence on issues like immigration, climate change, and labor markets.

Democracy in Hard Places
Cover photo of the book

Book

Democracy in Hard Places

In Democracy in Hard Places, Scott Mainwaring and Tarek Masoud bring together a distinguished cast of contributors to illustrate how democracies around the world continue to survive even in an age of democratic decline.

Full Disclosure: The Perils and Promise of Transparency

Book

Full Disclosure: The Perils and Promise of Transparency

Full Disclosure explores how transparency policies, like corporate disclosures and nutritional labels, can empower citizens and improve governance, but often fall short due to incomplete or irrelevant information, offering insights into making them more effective.