Renewing American Democracy
September 2026
Above the Fray? Rethinking the Supreme Court Independence
What the Supreme Court ever what we thought it was?
November 2004
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, AMERICAN HERO
How did Benjamin Frankin evolve from British loyalist to American colonist?
October 2023
Beyond Belief
The effort to destroy facts and make American ungovernable didn’t come out of nowhere. It is the culmination of seventy years of strategic denialism
May 2017
Exceptional America
Stanford Law professor Mugambi Jouet discusses his new book Exceptional America which tackles why Americans are far more divided than other Westerners over basic issues.
April 2015
The Health of Democracy: Voter Suppression and Disenfranchisement
How can citizens respond when the ideals of democracy come into conflict with the policies of government?
April 2015
The Health of Democracy: A Polarized People
The American people have become polarized over the past 50 years. Michael Dimock, President of the Pew Research Center, discusses the implications for the health of our democracy with Ted Landsmark, president emeritus of the Boston Architectural College.
March 2015
The Health of Democracy: Economic Inequality
Historian Colin Gordon explores the growth of economic inequality and its implications for a healthy democracy. Michael Widmer, former president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, examines how tax policy can support or lessen economic inequality.
March 2015
The Health of Democracy: Privatizing Education
How do contemporary efforts to privatize public education square with the civic role that education has played in American democracy?
February 2015
The Health of Democracy: Social Immobility and Civic Participation
Economist Randy Albelda examines the rise in U.S. social immobility and the role that contemporary labor conditions have played in limiting Americans’ expectations to do better than their parents’ generation.
January 2015
The Health of Democracy: The Role of the Media
Alex Jones, director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, and Charles Sennott, founder of Global Post and The GroundTruth Project, assess how today’s press—print and electronic—is carrying out its mission.
September 2014
Uncertain Justice: The Supreme Court and the Constitution
On the day the United States celebrates its 227th Constitution Day., Laurence Tribe, eminent Constitutional Law scholar at Harvard Law School, discusses his new book, Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution.
September 2012
The Spirit of Compromise
Harvard University’s Dennis Thompson discusses the sources of partisan intransigence and legislative gridlock in American political life.
September 2011
The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism
Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol discusses the Tea Party. What are the sources of this group’s influence?
November 2010
Renewing Democracy: Deadly Spin
In 2009, Wendell Potter testified before Congress, giving powerful specifics of industry practices to “dump the sick” to increase shareholder value.
October 2010
Renewing Democracy: Change Congress
Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig argues that American democracy is broken and that only a concerted effort to change the way Congress operates can restore our system of government.
September 2010
Soul of a Citizen
Author Paul Loeb discusses his idea of citizenship. It’s more than political engagement, he argues, in his underground bestseller Soul of a Citizen.