HKS Student Helps Honolulu Secure Grant in Transit-Oriented Development By Kate Hoagland
With its picturesque island beaches, festive and colorful luaus, and a summery climate year round, many view Hawaii as the ultimate tropical paradise. “There is no question that Hawaii is a beautiful place,” said Jim Secreto, HKS MPP 2011. “But the experience that tourists have while visiting Hawaii masks the very real, day-to-day struggles of the people that live there.”
A new book from Ash Center Lecturer in Ethics Kenneth Winston examines Prospects for the Professions in China. Co-edited with William P. Alford and William C. Kirby, the book is the first attempt at a comprehensive view of the subject. The book is the result of a conference convened at Harvard Law School in 2005, and includes papers on the fields of medicine, law, architecture, engineering, journalism, accounting, business management, the clergy, and public service written by experts on China and professional ethics.... Read more about Ash Center: Prospects for the Professions in China
On a Saturday in May 2010, scholars from around the world gathered in Shanghai to discuss a new strand of political theory called deliberative politics, also known as deliberative democracy. The conference on “The Cultural Sources of Deliberative Politics in East Asia” was held at Fudan University where it was organized by Melissa Williams of the University of Toronto and was sponsored by the Shibusawa Foundation of Japan. Presenters included Ash Center Professor Archon Fung and Wiener Center Professor Jane Mansbridge... Read more about Ash Center: Shanghai Conference on Deliberative Politics
This summer, Ash Center Fellows in Innovation rolled up their sleeves and got to work, supporting unique education, government, and service initiatives in cities around the country.
Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant Alejandra Vallejos Morales, HKS MPA 2011, explored data transparency in government this summer, offering research support to Washington, D.C.’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer.... Read more about What Did You Do This Summer?
Improving Child Well-Being Forum Convenes City Policymakers to Find Solutions
By Kate Hoagland – Communiqué: Fall 2010, Volume 7
One in six children is now raised in poverty – a rate that the Annie E. Casey Foundation reports has increased by over one million since 2000, an 18 percent rise. Experts estimate that over 40 percent of children in the United States are now born into single-parent households. Before the age of eight, those children will witness their mothers in at least three separate relationships and their fathers in five.
New Ash Center Report Assesses Indonesia's Prospects for Success
By Kate Hoagland – Communiqué Fall 2010, Volume 7
Over the last ten years, Indonesia has transformed from an authoritarian state into the world’s first majority-Muslim, multi-party democracy. The country’s successes and challenges as a new democracy are the subject of the Ash Center’s Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia report, “From Reformasi to Institutional Transformation: A Strategic Assessment of Indonesia’s Prospects for Growth, Equity, and Democratic Governance.”
Share Ideas for Driving Urban Innovation and Networked Governance
By Kate Hoagland – Communiqué: Fall 2010, Volume 7
On August 5-7, 2010, the Ash Center, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Professor Anthony Williams hosted the fourth meeting of the Urban Policy Advisory Group (UPAG). Senior mayoral advisors representing 27 of the group’s member cities participated in a thoughtful and candid dialogue centered around the transformative capabilities of networked governance in three distinct areas: leveraging higher education institutions in community development; the role of philanthropy in economic development; and labor partnerships for increased public sector productivity.... Read more about Communiqué: Senior Mayoral Policy Advisors Convene from America’s Largest Cities
Explores Social, Political, and Economic Implications of China's Globalization
By Kate Hoagland – Communiqué: Fall 2010, Volume 7
Held October 6-8, 2010, the fourth annual China Goes Global conference brought together academics, business leaders, and public officials from around the world as part of the Center’s efforts to advance analytical research and the overall state of knowledge about China’s growing role in the world economy. During this year’s conference, over 100 academics convened to present original research on a host of issues including:
Social, political, and economic influences of China’s globalization
China Case Study Program Explores Emergency Management and Economic Development in China
By Kate Hoagland – Communiqué: Spring 2010, Volume 6
The Ash Center recently launched the China Case Study Program to address pertinent policy areas in China and Taiwan. Taught both at Harvard Kennedy School and at the Center’s partner academic institutions in China, cases are designed to educate scholars, policymakers, and the next generation of public sector leaders on best practices in emergency management, environmental regulation, health care system reform, and infrastructure development.
By Jessica Engelman – Communiqué: Spring 2010, Volume 6
As the Ash Center’s Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship, Archon Fung spends his time thinking about the impacts of civic participation, public deliberation, and transparency upon public and private governance. Now, he is turning research into action by actively promoting citizen participation with his new website, Participedia. Developed with Mark Warren of the University of British Columbia, Participedia’s goal is nothing less than strengthening democracy with its user-generated library of examples and methods of participatory governance, public deliberation, and collaborative public action.... Read more about Communiqué: Professor Archon Fung Launches Participedia
Center’s Vietnam Program Explores Country’s Socioeconomic Factors to Ensure Success
By Kate Hoagland – Communiqué: Spring 2010, Volume 6
At a Vietnamese floating market in Can Tho, farmers and fishermen stand in wooden boats stacked high with bright green watermelons, light yellow bananas, 25 pound-bags of white rice, and fresh shrimp. It is five a.m., and vendors shout out deals above the noises of rumbling diesel engines and clucking chickens. Small children play along the banks of the Mekong River Delta, while an older man walks the family water buffalo.... Read more about Communiqué: Vietnam: Avoiding the ‘Middle Income Trap’
Center Faculty Explores Democratic Practices in Former Authoritarian Regime
“Indonesia is one of the world’s most improbable democracies,” said Tarek Masoud, assistant professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and faculty affiliate of the Ash Institute. “It’s poor, ethnically diverse, geographically dispersed, and majority Muslim. Each one of these things on its own is thought to make democracy less likely; the fact that you have them all in a single country that has nevertheless managed to get and keep democracy is nothing short of remarkable.”... Read more about Communiqué, Volume 5: An Investigation of Indonesia’s Improbable Democracy
Since 2002, Anthony Saich, director of the Ash Center, has conducted detailed surveys of Chinese satisfaction with different levels of government. As he details below, his research reveals stark differences in government approval ratings based on government level as well as respondents’ region and income level.
Cambridge, Mass. – The fourth annual China Goes Global conference will be held at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University October 6-8, 2010. Hosted by the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, this event will convene scholars, business executives, and students from around the world to present original research on the political, economic, cultural, and social dimensions of the China’s globalization.... Read more about China Goes Global Conference Convenes at Harvard
Recommends Key Areas to Enhance Political, Social, and Economic Progress
Cambridge, Mass. – Formerly an authoritarian state, Indonesia has made impressive gains over the last 10 years as the world’s first majority Muslim, multi-party democracy. The country’s successes and challenges as a new democracy are the subject of the new report titled “From Reformasi to Institutional Transformation: A Strategic Assessment of Indonesia’s Prospects for Growth, Equity, and Democratic Governance.”... Read more about New Ash Center Report Lauds Successes, Proposes Reforms for Indonesia
An annual survey of some 4,000 citizens drawn from across China reveals that general satisfaction with government has improved... 
