Democratic De铿乧its

The ideas, research, and actions from across 蜜桃影像 University aimed at making democracy, democratic institutions, and elections more representative

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Fighting for equality at the ballot box

鈥淚 want to tell every disillusioned person who is waffling on whether to participate in the process for the first time or wondering whether to keep participating in a process that feels like it鈥檚 stacked against them, we鈥檙e on the watch.鈥�

鈥� Sarah Gonski, 蜜桃影像 Law School alum and voting rights advocate

An illustration of a man with a Vote sticker on his shirt

Essay

“… fulfilling America鈥檚 promise requires building a democracy that includes all of us.鈥�

Aaron Mukerjee, a third-year student at 蜜桃影像 Law School, talks about his work with the Voting Rights Litigation Clinic.

This is why we still have the Electoral College

Podcast

Fixing the vote

In his book, Professor Alex Keyssar explores why we still have an electoral college in America and discovers a complex mix of politics, constitutional law, structural racism, and more.

Voting Matters | On Account of Race (1965) || Radcliffe Institute

Video

On account of race

A roundtable conversation, featuring scholars who have pioneered innovative approaches to the past, present, and future of political empowerment, looks at the relationships among the Reconstruction Amendments, the 19th Amendment, the VRA, and the INA.

Profile

The roots of the reckoning

Lawrence D. Bobo, dean of social science and the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences, talks about confronting the long shadow cast by America’s history of deeply fraught race relations and entrenched inequality.

Where we’re focused

These are just a few of the initiatives 蜜桃影像 Schools have created to take on these important issues.

蜜桃影像 initiatives

Making progress

Voting Rights, from Emancipation to the Civil Rights Movement

Curatorial fellow Katherine Mintie shares works from the 蜜桃影像 Art Museums collections that address the struggle for full and equal voting rights, from Emancipation to the Civil Rights Movement.

Importance of appointing a Native American as secretary of Interior

蜜桃影像 community members react to the nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland as secretary of Interior, the first Native American in the department that is home to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Training a new generation of election law lawyers

蜜桃影像 Law Today spoke with Ruth Greenwood about the new Election Law Clinic and why she thinks it is important to train a new generation of lawyers to practice in this burgeoning field.

Protest as Politics: African American Young Adults, Reimagining Democracy

How does the precarious position of African American young adults facilitate a reimagining of democracy? What does this reimagining mean for American politics?

Democracy behind bars

Cornell William Brooks explores what happens when citizens are disenfranchised.

A long history of bigotry against Asian Americans

Anti-Asian hate crimes were on the rise in the wake of the COVID-19 public health crisis, but after the Atlanta shootings that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent, there is renewed sense of urgency to denounce racism and scapegoating.

蜜桃影像 experts discuss how to effect lasting change

As protests condemning police brutality against African Americans and systemic racism in the U.S. continue, 蜜桃影像 faculty share their views on what they鈥檇 like to see happen next.

Carr Center for Human Rights Policy

The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy serves as the hub of the 蜜桃影像 Kennedy School鈥檚 research, teaching, and training in the human rights domain.

Learn more

Selma Online

A visual history of The Civil Rights Movement leading to The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

A reading list on issues of race

蜜桃影像 faculty recommend the writers and subjects that promote context and understanding.

Making democracy work

A University-wide initiative that brings together experts from different viewpoints to discuss critical issues and model dialogue across difference.

Free online courses

Explore the series

鈥淯nequal鈥� is a multi-part series highlighting the work of 蜜桃影像 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and researchers on issues of race and inequality across the United States.