Additional Resource  

Getting to Eighty Percent: A Symposium Advancing Voter Participation

At the core of the work of the Ash Center and the Kennedy School is the effort to understand how citizens and institutions come together to make democracy work, and rarely before has the importance of this effort been more evident. Underlying the deceptively simple idea of making democracy work are a number of large themes: protecting the fundamental norms of democracy and democratic processes from challenges both in the United States and internationally; encouraging innovation in governance and public accountability; preventing the massive inequalities of our economic system from permeating our democracy and threatening its existence.

Indeed, one essential element of “making democracy work” in the United States is to have as close to full and inclusive participation of the people who comprise our democracy as we possibly can. The name of our May 3rd symposium, “Getting to 80
percent,” was chosen with intent; while a goal of 80 percent participation is achievable, it will require a real stretch—not tinkering around the edges of the current system, but instead pursuing a major set of innovative ideas and practices.

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In a warning to lawmakers, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sharply criticizing the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) handling of federal data. Describing DOGE’s security protocols as dangerously inadequate, Schneier warned that the agency’s practices have put sensitive government and citizen information at risk of exploitation by foreign adversaries and criminal networks.

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The official start of Summer is almost here, and Stephen Richer, Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy and former elected Maricopa County Recorder, shares his summer reading list with a range of books focused on his work of democracy and elections, as well as his personal favorites.

 

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Stephen Richer’s Summer Reading List
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Feature

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The official start of Summer is almost here, and Stephen Richer, Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy and former elected Maricopa County Recorder, shares his summer reading list with a range of books focused on his work of democracy and elections, as well as his personal favorites.