Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation

06/12/2026

A recent article in The New Yorker explores a new book by Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, "Radical Duke: How One Aristocrat—and the American Revolution—Transformed Britain."

America’s fight for independence is often considered a battle fought and won at home. A new book argues that it was propelled by a transnational élite an ocean away.

06/10/2026

Join the Perry World House on June 16, 10:00–11:00 am ET for “Mobilizing for Protest in India: Lessons from the Anti-CAA and Farmers’ Movements,” part of the Lessons from Global Democratic Resistance series, in collaboration with the Ash Center.

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Two major protest movements emerged in India between 2019 and 2021.  The first came in response to the Indian parliament’s passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019.  The other followed the approval of three agricultural reform laws in September 2020.   This conversat...

06/10/2026

A recent BBC article highlights Danielle Allen's 2016 research project to catalogue every copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, leading to the identification of a rare 18th century copy in the West Sussex Records Office.

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How did an original parchment copy of the American Declaration of Independence end up in Chichester?

06/08/2026

"A 'majority rule' system ... would preserve elements of elections that Americans are used to, but make election results more representative of public opinion," share Eric Maskin and co-author Robbie Robinette in a recent op-ed for The New York Times.

Americans should think big about shaking up how we vote.

06/08/2026

Join the Kellogg Institute, June 11, 3:00–4:00 pm ET, for “Democratic Resilience in Brazil: Institutions, Leadership, and Responses to Attempts of Rupture,” part of the Lessons from Global Democratic Resistance series, in collaboration with the Ash Center.

The Kellogg Institute for International Studies, part of the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, is an interdisciplinary community of scholars that promotes research, provides educational opportunities, and builds linkages related to its core research theme of global democr...

06/08/2026

"Public AI represents a non-monetary mechanism for governments to shape the development of AI, complementary to direct regulation of private actors, one with a far greater chance of influencing corporate behavior towards the public interest."

While we do not outright oppose the taking of AI company stock, or of a US a sovereign wealth fund, there are better ways to achieve the senator’s goals

06/04/2026

A new article co-authored by Taeku Lee, Bae Family Professor of Government at Harvard University and Ash Center affiliate, examines how corporate scandals can act as catalysts for public support of meaningful regulatory reform.

In the Metaverse, Politicians Can Hear You Scream: Corporate Scandals, Big Tech Regulation, and the Microfoundations of Focusing Events

06/04/2026

A new paper co-authored by Ariel Procaccia, Harvard University Professor and Ash Center affiliate, explores how AI can support collective decision-making through text embedding methods that better capture people’s underlying preferences and values.

06/03/2026

In a recent conversation with CNN's Boris Sanchez, Samantha Power discusses the global response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Former USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, joins CNN’s Boris Sanchez to discuss the global response to the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

06/03/2026

In a recent research article, Taeku Lee, Bae Family Professor of Government and Ash Center affiliate, and co-authors examine attitudes towards immigrants in host countries, exploring characteristics of potential immigrants that influence public opinion.

Meta-reanalysis of 100 conjoint experiments reveals patterns of similarity and variation in public immigration preferences worldwide.