Democracy and Institutions

The Democratic Party primary is effectively over. Now that Joe Biden has secured the nomination on the first ballot of the party’s convention, Democrats are pivoting towards a strategy to defeat President Donald J. Trump in the face of a global health pandemic and a crisis of confidence in the American justice system. Citizens and […]

The current COVID-19 pandemic has placed a stranglehold on the world economy, and China has been no exception. Significantly, these effects have rippled across many countries that have benefitted from China’s lending spree over the past two decades, and whose economies have now taken a plunge. Many, if not all, are now in desperate need […]

All fifty states in the U.S and over thirty countries around the world have participated in the protests initiated by the murder of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis. As coverage of the protests continued through the first week, the conversation unsurprisingly moved away from the police’s disproportionate […]

Former Minister Mauricio Cardenas responded to the questions formulated by LAPJ Editor-in-Chief Cesar Pabon on 25 January 2020. What follows is a lightly edited transcript. LAPJ: What are your views on the current state of the emerging protests that have spread across most Latin American countries? The protests exhibit a combination of both shared and […]

In 2008, freshman Senator Barack Obama defied the odds to win the Democratic nomination for president against former first lady and two-term Senator Hillary Clinton. When the time came for Obama to select his vice presidential candidate, it was speculated he would choose Clinton. Choosing a former competitor who came runner up in the primary […]

COVID-19 exposes injustice in the workforce. Frances Perkins offers a model to fix it. We are only beginning to understand the economic repercussions of COVID-19. In less than two months, more than 30 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits, eliminating all of the jobs gained since the 2007-2009 Great Recession. The pandemic has brought unprecedented […]

American democracy is increasingly more like a Homeowners Association (HOA) than the participatory and empowering system to which we should aspire. Property owners control decision making over the community by virtue of their wealth, excluding those unable to access property and pushing aside those with insufficient resources to participate. What’s more, the whims of long-passed […]

Facing the ashes of an economic model based on sectarianism and cronyism, Lebanon currently endures a perfect storm of overlapping financial, economic, and political crises. Since its inauguration on January 31, 2020, the technocratic government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, aided by international advisors, elaborated an “economic rescue plan” to explore options for recovery. Leaked […]

Renowned sociologist Dana R. Fisher studies political movements for a living. She has analyzed and surveyed protesters in every major modern U.S. movement, including the 2017 Women’s March, and the 2017 March for Science. In her latest book, American Resistance: From the Women’s March to the Blue Wave, Dr. Fisher explores the 2016 election cycle […]

Before all the changes regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Super Tuesday reset the Democratic Primary. Fifteen states hold their primaries on this date, and the results always set the tone of the race moving forward. Listening to this episode now will have a different flavor because of all the disruptions coronavirus has caused in our everyday […]

China’s entanglement in the domestic politics of other countries has resulted in rising anti-Chinese sentiments, especially during times when countries hold elections. Given its timeliness, politicians have used people’s frustration with China’s exploitation of their nation as a talking point to gain electoral support. Anti-Chinese sentiments can be attributed to several factors that include investment, […]

Two of our Kennedy School Review Podcast Team members describe their experiences observing and supporting the Iowa Caucus, discussing what the process was like, what went wrong, and what the role of technology should be in facilitating a more inclusive, participatory model of democracy. Listen Here!