Explore all Articles

filter by–Region

filter by–Country

search by–Keyword

Blasian Voices On Affirmative Action

02.2.20

This piece was published in the 29th print volume of the Asian American Policy Review. It is also harmful and unproductive to pit one marginalized group against another, particularly given the context of anti-Blackness that often pervades Asian American communities. Introduction There is a complete absence of the voices of Black and Asian individuals on the […]

Gender, Race and Identity

For Queer Asian American Youth Who Are Resilient & Tenacious

02.2.20

This piece was published in the 29th print volume of the Asian American Policy Review. Since queerness is still a taboo topic in the Asian American community, the marginalization and invisibility of both queer and Asian American identities in schools and in their community call for a third space where queer Asian American youth can be […]

The Brown Asian American Movement: Advocating for South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Filipino American Communities

02.2.20

This piece was published in the 29th print volume of the Asian American Policy Review. Across all of these subgroups, individuals from these three subgroups describe a common narrative that “Asian” usually refers to East Asians – resulting in feelings of marginalization and invisibility within the Asian American umbrella. While the Civil Rights Movement of the […]

Gender, Race and Identity

Gender Justice and Transgender Rights in the Pilipinx Community

02.2.20

This piece was published in the 29th print volume of the Asian American Policy Review. “Although we shared many of the community’s challenges, we have also noted that grassroots and community based community-based organizations have been spearheading immense efforts to create more gender-inclusive education and communities, both within the state and internationally.” Key Terms LGBTQQIA+: The letters […]

Gender, Race and Identity

The “Year of Return” and the unintended consequences for Ghanaians

01.29.20

Ghana’s “Year of Return”, by its very nature, was bound to gain a considerable amount of positive press in the United States. The campaign encouraged descendants of the African diaspora to visit and invest in Ghana. For African Americans who struggle to locate their ancestral roots, the “Year of Return” provided a fresh opportunity to […]

Development and Economic Growth

Referendums Are Dangerous for Democracy

01.28.20

On 23 June 2016, 33.6 million people and I stepped into polling booths to answer a yes-or-no question that would define the United Kingdom for generations.[1] According to the “Vote Leave” campaign, this was our opportunity to “take back control” and release the country from the unrelenting grip of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.[2] God forbid, […]

The legacy of microfinance: does it live up to its hype?

01.24.20

The origin story of microfinance began with Muhammad Yunus, a Professor of Economics who returned from the US to teach in his native Bangladesh. Amid high poverty rates, he found himself questioning how economic theory could address the immediate needs of the poor around him. He started experimenting with lending small sums of money to […]

Not So Plum: The Shortcomings of the Plum Book and Tracking Political Appointments

01.23.20

Introduction “Personnel is policy” was a popular motto in the Reagan administration. Today, the phrase continues to ring true as political appointments remain vacant and appointees are hired to run agencies that they once wanted to dismantle.[1],[2] Presidents have immense power to influence the policy-making process through their personnel choices. Most of the federal government’s […]

Democracy and Governance

Why a Traditional Austerity Plan Would Exacerbate Lebanon’s Woes – upcoming preview of JMEPP’s spring edition, Arab Uprisings: The Second Wave

01.22.20

“Why a Traditional Austerity Plan Would Exacerbate Lebanon’s Woes” is a piece from and first preview of JMEPP’s Spring 2020 Edition, Arab Uprisings: The Second Wave, written by our Managing Editor for Political Economy and Security, Mounir Mahmalat.   ABSTRACT Following the eruption of mass protests in autumn 2019, Lebanon’s economy sled into a deep financial and economic […]

Past the Pilot Stage: Policy Makers Must Consider Impacts of Police Body-Worn Cameras beyond Accountability

01.21.20

In September 2013, attorney Scott Greenwood of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said of police use of body-worn cameras, “You don’t want to give officers a list and say, ‘Only record the following 10 types of situations.’ You want officers to record all the situations, so when a situation does go south, there’s an […]

The Invisible Work of Girls: Inside the Life of Female Child Labor in Ghana

01.21.20

  *The names of the subjects in this article have been changed to protect their identity. A heavy stench of sewage permeates the air where 11-year-old Amina roams in search of change. With tattered sandals and stained clothing nearly sliding off her frail frame, she entertains herself by kicking dust on a busy, trash-filled street […]

Groundbreaking D.C. Statehood Congressional Hearing

01.21.20

For the first time in 25 years, the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing on D.C. statehood.[1] Though over 700,000 people live in our nation’s capital, D.C. is represented by just one non-voting delegate in the House and no one in the Senate.[2][3] On September 19, 2019, months after the Democratic Party gained control […]

Call for Submissions


Join the HKS Student Policy Review—

to research, write, and learn about policy in a new way. We offer Harvard students an opportunity to engage with the most important policy issues of our time, across a whole range of topics and regions.