Feature
Additional Resource
Resource Page — The Electoral College: What’s to be Done
The Electoral College is viewed as a democratic anachronism in modern-day America, yet it has persisted for over two centuries despite repeated attempts to reform or abolish the institution. To build off of an Ash Center symposium hosted in April 2024, our scholars and researchers continue to seek answers to some of the biggest questions surrounding why the Electoral College has remained impervious to change for so long and what are the prospects for reform. Below, we invite you to explore several resources geared toward resolving these enduring debates.
Opening academic panel
Jamie Raskin on the Future of the Electoral College
Feature
Moving beyond the Electoral College
It’s an accident waiting to happen every four years. I mean, Jefferson himself called it an ink blot on the Constitution. And so, it’s always been recognized that it’s dangerous and dangerously unstable.![]()
Congressman Jamie Raskin
Speaking at the Ash Center Electoral College symposium
Book Talk
Book
Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?
Podcast
Podcast
Democracy Paradox: Alexander Keyssar on Why We Still Have the Electoral College
Related Resources
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – Trump and His Billionaire Allies Make their Move on the Media
Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center director and former TIME editor Nancy Gibbs joins co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss the impacts of billionaire media consolidation and pressure from the Trump administration on the flow of information vital to democracy.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – The Bombs to Ballots Fantasy: Can the Iran War Lead to Democracy?
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Podcast
Terms of Engagement—What If Millennials and Gen Z Leaders Replaced the Gerontocracy?
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Commentary
The Present — and Future — of Alternatives to Police
Allen Lab Affiliate Benjamin A. Barsky examines alternative emergency response programs — arguing for a democratic model of public safety governance in which responses to nonviolent incidents are shared across government and civil society rather than dominated by police.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement—How Does Our Civil Rights History Shape the Future of American Democracy?
Archon Fung and Stephen Richer invite Harvard Kennedy School Professor and civil rights advocate Cornell William Brooks to assess the evolution of America’s historical narrative and what implications history has on our contemporary political context.
Commentary
Allen Lab Fellow Spotlight: Why a People-Centered Approach to American Democracy Matters Now
Allen Lab Policy Fellow Christine Slaughter makes the case that democracy must be understood through people’s lived experiences and agency, not just institutions.