Social Policy
What should government’s role be in strengthening the social fabric of a society? How do politics affect social policymaking?
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To Be Effectively Digital, We Need to Be More Human
I sat at the dining table on Christmas Eve, ready to meet my aunt at her favorite steak restaurant. When she arrived, she seemed frustrated and exclaimed, “Marvin, I don’t understand what is happening. I need to make a medical appointment and pay my bills. I can’t seem to do that now.” It was not […]Explore all Articles
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Making a Case for the Right to Preschool
04.23.24
High-quality early childhood education has life-long academic, developmental, and social impacts, but access to early childhood education differs substantially for children from different backgrounds. This disparity poses a complex issue: do children have a right to publicly funded preschool?

Early Childhood Education Potential Is Still Highly Untapped
04.23.24
Awareness about the importance of the early years is increasingly known worldwide, but effective system-level implementation is lacking. In order to ensure access to quality early childhood education for the most vulnerable children, effective structures, evidence, and political buy-in are essential.

Interview with Former Prime Minister of Jordan Omar Razzaz: Jordan’s Future
04.14.24
On March 27, 2024, HKS Student Policy Review Senior Editor Ala’a Kolkaila spoke with Omar Razzaz, former Prime Minister of Jordan, about a range of topics affecting Jordan and the region.

The Volunteer Sector’s Looming Crisis
04.7.24
Governments need to get creative and make it easier for people to volunteer, as volunteer-driven organizations play vital roles in building great communities.

Statistical Invisibility and the Plight of India’s Sanitation Workers: A Policy Perspective
03.3.24
Amidst the vast societal machinery that sustains India, sanitation workers operate as the unrecognized cogs essential to the public health system, yet they remain largely invisible within policy frameworks and legislative agendas.

Interview with David Beasley, Former Executive Director of the World Food Programme
02.20.24
On February 6, 2024, HKS Student Policy Review Senior Editor Ala’a Kolkaila spoke with David Beasley, the former Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). The conversation focused mainly on food security and Beasley’s time at the WFP.

Do I Really Have To Eat This? The Follies of Food Loss
02.9.24
As a child, there was one golden rule: Don’t waste food. Aid organizations that address hunger and food security would do better to focus on creating access to food than pandering to people’s emotions about throwing it away.

Ghana’s Vice President charts a new course for Africa’s growth on its own terms
04.16.23
Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, addressed the African Development Conference organized by Harvard Kennedy School’s Africa Caucus and Harvard Law Students Association in Cambridge,Massachusetts, emphasizing the importance of Africa charting its own course towards a more prosperous and inclusive future. The conference’s theme, “Reimagining Africa’s growth on our terms,” was described as timely and […]

Businesses Benefit by Hiring People with Criminal Records
04.6.23
In 2019, Zach Moore was a new software engineer at a San Francisco-based tech company. He showed up to work early, walked around the neighborhood, and cleared his head. Incarcerated at age 15, Zach learned how to quiet his mind while spending 22 years in prison. For decades, he worked on himself and helped others […]

A Cure Against Conversion Therapy in Singapore?
03.27.23
Lawyer and activist Daryl Yang discusses how a consumer protection approach to conversion therapy might offer a balanced alternative to legislative change that permits individual choice whilst protecting against misleading claims.

A Primer on Singapore’s Forthcoming Constitutional Amendment to “Protect” Marriage
09.15.22
While the government has announced that it will repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code, it has also sought to protect the definition of marriage from constitutional challenge. Lawyer and activist Daryl Yang explains what the resulting constitutional amendment may look like, as well as what it means to the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore.

Senator Cory Booker’s Baby Bonds Proposal is a Good Idea, but it Doesn’t Go Far Enough
05.28.21
In 2005, Pope John Paul II died, Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League, and the Dow Jones had not yet broken 11,000. It was also the year in which then Prime Minister Gordon Brown started a radical experiment to provide every child born in the U.K. with a long-term tax-free savings account or “baby bonds.” […]