Video
On April 3rd, panelists discussed if there is, in fact, a better way to elect the President of the United States.
Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University; Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
George Edwards, Distinguished Fellow, University of Oxford; University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies Emeritus, Texas A&M UniversityAlex Keyssar, Matthew W. Stirling, Jr. Professor of History
and Social Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Moderated by Archon Fung, Innovation Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at Harvard Kennedy School; Director, Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance
Podcast
Public interest technologist Bruce Schneier joins Terms of Engagement hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss circumstances under which AI systems could defy doom-and-gloom scenarios and actually enhance democracy and civic engagement.
Podcast
Andrea Hailey, who leads Vote.org, one of the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter engagement platforms, joins hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer on Terms of Engagement to discuss trends, turnout, and trepidation as we head into the pivotal 2026 midterm elections.
Podcast
Oxford University Professor Pepper Culpepper joins Terms of Engagement hosts Archon Fung and Steven Richer to discuss corporate excess, bipartisan popular anger, and his new book “Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How It Could Save Democracy.”
Commentary
Allen Lab Fellow Tyler Fisher examines the untapped potential of city charters as a vehicle for deliberative democracy, arguing that advocates should work to embed tools like citizen assemblies, participatory budgeting, and town meetings directly into the governing architecture of cities, institutionalizing deliberative democracy one municipality at a time.
Commentary
Allen Lab member Charlie Covit reflects on the After Neoliberalism conference and examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and the future of work, arguing that AI forces a democratic reckoning with the meaning of labor itself and that an economy which generates abundance while stripping citizens of purpose and dignity undermines the very foundation of democratic life.
Policy Brief
A new policy brief by Jon Alexander, Non-resident Democracy Fellow at the Ash Center, argues for the development of a Department of Citizen Empowerment (DOCE) at all levels of government around the world.
