Policy Brief
Imagine an American democracy remade by its citizens in the very image of its promise, a society where the election system is designed to allow citizens to perform their most basic civic duty with ease. Imagine that all could vote without obstruction or suppression. Imagine Americans who now solemnly accept their responsibilities to sit on juries and to defend our country in a time of war taking their obligations to the work of self-government just as seriously. Imagine elections in which 80 percent or more of our people cast their ballots—broad participation in our great democratic undertaking by citizens of every race, heritage and class, by those with strongly-held ideological beliefs, and those with more moderate or less settled views. And imagine how all of this could instill confidence in our capacity for common action.
This report is offered with these aspirations in mind and is rooted in the history of American movements to expand voting rights. Our purpose is to propose universal civic duty voting as an indispensable and transformative step toward full electoral participation. Our nation’s current crisis of governance has focused unprecedented public attention on intolerable inequities and demands that Americans think boldly and consider reforms that until now seemed beyond our reach.
Podcast
On this week’s episode of the Terms of Engagement podcast, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer welcome Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, CEO of RepresentUs, to discuss what accountability could look like in the next two years.
Podcast
On this week of the Terms of Engagement podcast we have a special Post-Election Day Discussion with co-hosts Professor Archon Fung and Stephen Richer.
Liz B. Delia, Ph.D., an Ash Sports, Democracy and Civic Health contributor, explains that as bigger crowds and brighter spotlights are on women’s sports, longtime supporters may find that success also changes their sense of belonging.
Commentary
This overview maps the technology policy themes from the 2026 US midterm elections, drawing on local ballot measures and proposals from newly elected officials.
Q+A
Ahead of Veterans Day, the Ash Center spoke with the leadership team at Vet the Vote about how their nonpartisan coalition empowers veterans and military families to continue serving their country as trusted poll workers.
Commentary
Allen Lab Policy Fellow Hillary Lehr provides a late-October 2026 snapshot of the multiple ways that AI and the midterms are intersecting, including campaign use cases, policy issues, and voters’ use of LLMs.
