Video
Organizers and practitioners around the globe have long utilized “public narratives” as a way of connecting their work to leadership by learning to tell a story of self, a story of us, and a story of now. In this panel discussion, Ash Center Democracy Fellow Dr. Emilia Aiello examined how public narratives can contribute to community building and power building even under constrained conditions. Dr. Aiello was joined by leaders and practitioners of the Qom Ma’al Muallem (Stand Up with the Teachers) Campaign, which has been organizing for female workers rights in Jordan. The campaign was originally supported by the International Labor Organization (ILO), and coached by Ahel, a community-based organization that has aided organizing efforts that promote freedom, justice, and human rights for over ten years in countries across the Middle East, such as Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon.
Panelists include:
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.
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.
Commentary
Allen Lab Fellow Hillary Lehr convened a Voter Experience Summit at Harvard’s Ash Center in March, bringing together 25 cross-sector experts to rigorously map the voter journey. This essay explores how that collaborative process could lay the groundwork for new interventions to understand and improve the experience of voting for all.