Ash Center’s 10th Anniversary Series Provides Direction for the Next Ten Years
In May, the Ash Center concluded its Challenges to Democracy public dialogue series with presentations by the 2015 Innovations in American Government Award finalists. Local government officials, students, and scholars gathered with the Innovation Award finalists for a nuts and bolts conversation on fostering innovation in government. This model of conversation — one that brings together people and ideas unlikely to otherwise connect, in an environment that encourages candid conversation on important yet difficult issues, with an emphasis on finding a way forward — was a true reflection of the Challenges to Democracy series. This post explores some of the series’ highlights and how it will carry forth in the Ash Center’s upcoming work. Read more about all events in the series including associated multimedia such as podcasts, media coverage, photos, and video recordings.
By Tim Glynn-Burke
The Ash Center launched its Challenges to Democracy public dialogue series in October 2013 with a standing room-only JFK Jr. Forum event featuring a panel discussion moderated by radio host Tom Ashbrook on the threat economic inequality poses to the health of American democracy. Other notable events in the series included a screening and discussion with Errol Morris of his documentary on Donald Rumsfeld, The Unknown Known; another Forum discussion featuring founders of MoveOn.org and the Tea Party Patriots on whether (and how) we as a country might engage in more civil conversations and find common ground between the political left and right; Darryl Pinckney’s personal and insightful discussion with Alex Keyssar on his book Blackballed: The Black Vote and U.S. Democracy; and a post-performance discussion of the American Repertory Theater’s world-premiere production of Eve Ensler’s play O.P.C. (Obsessive Political Correctness), featuring Harvard undergrad Aisha Bhoori alongside Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values Jane Mansbridge.
The thread connecting these and other events in the Challenges to Democracy series was an effort to broaden and deepen public dialogue around what Ash Center founder Roy Ash called the “fragile institution of democracy.”
Listen to the podcast of the Challenges to Democracy launch event — a standing room-only JFK Jr. Forum event featuring a panel discussion moderated by radio host Tom Ashbrook on the threat economic inequality poses to the health of American democracy.
The Ash Center launched the ambitious public dialogue series to commemorate its tenth anniversary in a creative and productive way that would reach beyond traditional academic audiences. Over two years, the center welcomed over 2,600 people to 40 events both on the HKS campus and in communities from Lawrence, Massachusetts, to San Francisco. Through a Challenges to Democracy web presence that included a blog, newsletter, multiple social media platforms, and extensive media coverage, we were able to engage thousands of others in discussion.
Harvard undergrad Aisha Bhoori (left) alongside Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values Jane Mansbridge and American Repertory Theater’s Director of Artistic Programs/Dramaturg Ryan McKittrick, during a post-performance discussion of the A.R.T.’s world-premiere production of Eve Ensler’s play O.P.C. (Obsessive Political Correctness).
Yet beyond the numbers, Ash Center Director Tony Saich always envisioned Challenges to Democracy as a unique series that would not simply name the greatest threats facing democracy today, but would also put forward and give due attention to the promising solutions we need. To that end, of the many challenges that the series explored, three themes will continue to guide the research, teaching, and outreach efforts of the Ash Center.
The Promise and Peril of Digital Technology
Does technology make our society and our major institutions more or less democratic? What are the promise and practicalities of digital media and technology to transform political participation and mobilization? Does technology improve our ability to solve big problems like climate change or obesity? The center hosted a number of technology-related events that explored these and other questions with leaders in both thought and practice.
The Ash Center engaged HKS students, who have expressed a great demand for more technology offerings at the School, in a Cities, Technology and Democracy study group, two student-led hackathons, a panel discussion featuring Harvard students and alumni who are running civic tech startups, and a bipartisan panel taking a critical look at digital technology’s influence on the US political landscape. A highlight of the year was our #Hack4Congress series of hackathons in Cambridge, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, to encourage the development of much-needed tech platforms to improve lawmaking, deliberation, and representation in legislatures.
Winning teams from the three hackathons demonstrated their ideas before members of Congress and senior staffers on Capitol Hill in May. Over the duration of #Hack4Congress, the Center connected to over 40 civic tech-related institutions and companies, plus 23 tech and Congress experts as judges, and 16 current or former members of Congress. In all, 230 ‘hackers’ submitted 33 project ideas.
Watch the May 12 #Hack4Congress Congressional Briefing and Demonstration, in which #Hack4Congress winners from Cambridge, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. events pitched their projects to members of Congress and senior staffers on Capitol Hill.
The insights of these and other technology-focused events in the Challenges to Democracy series are guiding the Ash Center as it increases its investment in exploring technology’s role in improving democratic governance — making it more modern, effective, and efficient as well as more responsive, transparent, and participatory. The center will help students learn crucial technology skills, provide opportunities to develop those skills in applied learning environments, and connect the Kennedy School to technologists working to improve democracy. Current initiatives include an Innovation Field Lab for students and the Data-Smart City Solutions platform for practitioners.
Realizing the Democratic Potential of Cities
Cities and metropolitan regions are often places where people with different backgrounds come together to achieve a just and fair society. However, all too often cities reveal our inability to use the democratic process to affirm and bridge differences for the common good. The Challenges to Democracy series included a number of events exploring cities as political systems — taking the temperature of the health of local democracy.
(from right) King Williams, Director of The Atlanta Way, Andrew J. Padilla, Director of El Barrio Tours: Gentrification USA, Karilyn Crockett, Director of Economic Policy & Research, City of Boston, and Assistant Professor of Public Policy Quinton Mayne discuss “The Politics of Displacement in the American City.”
A book talk with the Ash Center’s Steve Goldsmith and coauthor Susan Crawford examined their new title The Responsive City: Engaging Communities through Data-Smart Governance. Quinton Mayne moderated a panel discussion and screening of new documentary films about urban politics and life featuring King Williams, director of The Atlanta Way, and Andrew Padilla, director of El Barrio Tours: Gentrification USA.
The center also cohosted a JFK Jr. Forum event on promising solutions for how to build more democratic police forces that are seen as effective and legitimate by their communities, featuring Professor Phillip Goff, UCLA; Mayor Annise D. Parker, City of Houston; and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, who also chairs President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
Watch a panel discussion on promising solutions for how to build more democratic police forces that are seen as effective and legitimate by their communities, featuring Professor Phillip Goff, UCLA; Mayor Annise D. Parker, City of Houston; and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, chair President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
These and related events reveal one of the major distinctions of the Ash Center’s work: the extent to which “sense of place” is encouraged in research, training, and conferences relating to local governance. In US cities and beyond, Ash scholars are investing significant time and effort to understand dynamics at the local and regional level. They are identifying, analyzing, and disseminating best practices, then working hard to find ways in which such practices can be expanded to the national level. Much of the center’s work in this capacity relates to sustainable and equitable development.
Examples of such work span from political reconciliation in Myanmar to Mekong River Delta water governance, and from US municipal governance innovation competitions to Chinese electric grid reform and renewable energy promotion.
Participation and Engagement
A number of challenges from the series focused on participation and engagement in the political process: the future of social movements, the 50-year anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, and the integration of immigrants into a community’s civic and political life. The Challenges to Democracy series included a number of events exploring questions such as whether new restrictions on voting rights spell the end of longstanding efforts to expand the right to vote. And how far should we extend civil and political rights to immigrants, whether they are here with or without authorization, and what responsibilities should we expect in return?
Archon Fung joins panelists during a community conversation on how Lawrence has striven to welcome generations of immigrants into the economic, civic and political life of its community.
Notable events included a book talk with Hahrie Han of Wellesley University on her new book How Organizations Develop Activists: Civic Associations and Leadership in the 21st Century, and two JFK Jr. Forum events featuring nationally recognized political and civil rights leaders — one on what has and has not changed over the 50 years since the passing of the Voting Rights Act and another on the timely and complicated question of policing in the 21st century and the role it plays in the health of local democracy.The center partnered with local community groups and the Office of the Mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, to host a town hall-type discussion on immigrant integration that attracted 250 community members.
A key feature of the series was a special Innovations in American Government Award designed specifically to recognize government-led innovations that demonstrate enhanced public engagement and participation in the governance of towns, cities, states, and the nation. The winner, Participatory Budgeting in New York City from the New York City Council’s office, will receive a $100,000 grant to support dissemination activities.
Listen to the podcast of a discussion on the subject of Hahrie Han’s book How Organizations Develop Activists: Civic Associations and Leadership in the 21st Century, featuring Han as well as Sarah Hodgdon of the Sierra Club and Jane Mansbridge, Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values.
As these events suggest, the Ash Center is home to multiple research and programmatic efforts related to political participation in its many forms, from understanding political parties in Latin America and the Arab Spring in the Middle East to helping to strengthen social movements and local civic engagement. The center will deepen its involvement with Participedia, an online open-source clearinghouse for new forms of participatory politics and governance around the world. The Transparency for Development project is a five-year, multi-country study led by Professor and Acting Dean Archon Fung on the impact of community-led transparency and accountability initiatives on health outcomes.
With October’s #Tech4Democracy Showcase and Challenge, the center is also deepening its local ties among students, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and citizens using their creativity and knowledge of digital technology to engage their communities and elected officials.
Watch a video on the October #Tech4Democracy Showcase and Challenge.
The Challenges to Democracy series has been a rewarding effort to broaden and deepen dialogue on the health of American democracy among a number of new audiences. We look forward to continuing these conversations on some the most salient and complex issues facing governance in the United States and beyond. We hope you will join to us!
Tim Glynn-Burke is the Ash Center’s Associate Director for Democratic Governance and Student Programs.
Originally published at www.challengestodemocracy.us.
