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Programs

From expanding voting access to developing new strategies for antiracist change, we tackle the most pressing issues facing democracy.

Flagship Programs

Caution Tape at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.
A photo of a sunrise.
Photo of desert with three big structures in the background
A row of voting booths are set up atop a folding table
Nonviolent Action Lab

Nonviolent Action Lab

Understanding how nonviolent action can achieve democratic aims.

Project on Indigenous Governance and Development

Project on Indigenous Governance and Development

Working to understand and foster the conditions for sustained, self-determined social and economic development among American Indian nations.

All Programs, Projects, and Initiatives

Past Programs

Innovations in Government Program

The Innovations in Government Program was one of the world’s premier academic entities for recognizing and promoting excellence in the public sector and fostering innovative policy solutions to the 21st-century challenges of governing. The Innovations in American Government Awards, which recognized hundreds of public-sector programs for excellence and creativity, was a principal initiative of the Program. An archive of all previous award winners remains available. Work advancing public-sector innovation continues throughout the Ash Center’s other programs and within Harvard Kennedy School. Examples of research and teaching around government innovation can be found in the Kennedy School’s programs, projects, and initiatives on cities and communities; science, technology and data; social innovation and philanthropy; public leadership and management; and much more.

Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project

If you don’t have multiracial democracy, you don’t have democracy. How can we truly achieve antiracist change?

Founded and led by Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammed while at the Harvard Kennedy School, the IARA Project is based today at the School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Ash is delighted to continue collaborating with Professor Muhammad and IARA on projects which are critical to its mission of advancing a multi-ethnic and multiracial democracy.

Past events, papers, and other resources are available here. You can learn more about their current work at iara.spia.princeton.edu.

IARA also housed the “Untying Knots” podcast, co-hosted by Nikhil Raghuveera and Erica Licht, exploring how people and organizations are untying knots of systemic oppression and working towards a more equitable future.

Legislative Negotiation

In an era of increasing polarization, even adversaries can—and must—negotiate. For the health of the country, political opponents need to learn how to negotiate effectively. These skills should not be confined to the business sector or labor unions; they can also provide tremendous benefits in the political arena. The Legislative Negotiation Project, led by Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values Jenny Mansbridge, with support from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Madison Initiative, developed seven written simulations and three case studies to teach the fundamentals of successful negotiation to members of Congress and state legislators across the country. Organizations like the Program on Legislative Negotiation at American University, the Library of Congress, and the National Conference of State Legislatures are working together to deliver these resources to congressional and state legislative audiences.

The materials are available free of charge to educators through the Harvard Kennedy School Case Program and can be accessed here.

Race, Research, and Policy Portal

The Race, Research & Policy Portal (RRAPP) is a free online collection of easy-to-read research summaries. It features the latest articles on diversity, racial equity, and organizational change across sectors. Each summary focuses on antiracist solutions, listing clear takeaways in a short format.

The Race, Research and Policy Portal, a part of the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Portal, was previously housed at the Ash Center and now is based at the School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Access RRAAP.

Transparency for Development (T4D)

The Transparency for Development Project was a novel, decade-long research initiative, housed at the Ash Center and executed in partnership with Results for Development. The Project investigated whether, why, and in what contexts local transparency and accountability interventions improve development outcomes, such as those around health and citizen participation. Specifically, T4D worked with local civil society partners in Tanzania, Indonesia, Ghana, Malawi, and Sierra Leone to implement transparency and accountability interventions along with mixed-methods evaluation, leveraging quantitative (randomized controlled trial) and qualitative (including ethnography, observations, and key informant interviews) data collection.

The project team, led by Principal Investigators Archon Fung, Jean Arkedis, Jessica Creighton, Steve Kosack, Dan Levy, and Courtney Tolmie, authored several papers, all of which are accessible as Ash Center publications as well as through Harvard’s Digital Access to Scholarship Archive. The final project results and implications are published and available here. Sierra Leone to implement transparency and accountability interventions along with mixed-methods evaluation, leveraging quantitative (randomized controlled trial) and qualitative (including ethnography, observations, and key informant interviews) data collection.

Transparency Policy Project

The Transparency Policy Project studied how public disclosure systems can be designed to support important policy goals in society through public engagement. Research shows that well-designed transparency systems can reduce health and safety risks, strengthen governance, encourage public participation, and discourage corruption by motivating organizations—such as banks, hospitals, companies, and governments—to increase their performance and accountability. However, transparency efforts often fail when information is confusing, incomplete, or poorly presented, as seen with issues like unclear nutrition labels or outdated water safety data. These failures can waste resources and even increase risks.

The project also explored a new generation of “participatory transparency” in which the internet enables citizens to share experiences about issues like product defects, medical errors, unsafe workplaces, and ineffective public services, creating collective knowledge that can help improve safety and services for everyone.

The program published the book, “Full Disclosure”, co-authored by the three co-directors of the Transparency Policy Project.