www.hks.harvard.edu

How India Leapfrogged Financial Inclusion

April 4, 2023, Video: "Over the last two decades, India has built the world’s largest digital biometric identity and real-time payment systems. Its use of digital technology has enabled India to ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Explainer: Understanding the SNAP program—and what cuts to these benefits may mean

Between the government shutdown and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called Food Stamps) is undergoing significant cuts. This 60-year ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Explainer: Why the “casual invocation” of the Insurrection Act by President Trump is so unusual

A little-used federal law is getting quite a bit of attention in the Trump administration. The Insurrection Act, first enacted in 1807, allows the president to deploy the United States military and ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Is The AI Bubble Bursting? Lessons From The Dot-Com Era

August 21, 2025, Opinion: "One should be just as cautious about predicting the imminent burst of an AI bubble as skeptical of the exaggerated hype currently surrounding artificial intelligence. There ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Young voters shifted right in the 2024 election; the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation examined why

One of the most surprising statistics from the 2024 presidential election was the surge of support President Trump received from Gen Z voters. While these voters, born between 1997 and 2012, turned ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

The health insurance subsidies behind the government shutdown

The U.S. government shutdown is in its third week as funding bills have failed to garner the necessary votes from both Republicans and Democrats to reopen the government. At the center of this ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Explainer: Why government shutdowns keep happening in the United States

The U.S. government shut down on October 1 as Republican and Democratic funding bills failed to reach the necessary number of votes in the Senate and efforts to prevent a shutdown failed. Government ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Trust in American media is at an all-time low: Political analysts Jon Favreau and Scott Jennings examine why

Two political commentators recently visited the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics. Jon Favreau—a former speechwriter for Barack Obama and host of the podcast “Pod Save ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Explainer: Understanding the mid-decade redistricting push in Texas

Republicans in Texas have proposed a remapping of congressional districts that has sparked conflict with state Democrats. The move is unusual, coming mid-decade rather than after a census, which ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Examining threats to academic freedom in America and the world

Higher education in the United States is currently under intense scrutiny from the second Trump administration. A new working paper from Pippa Norris, the Paul F. McGuire Lecturer in Comparative ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

What does a tech oligarchy look like?

A recent online event by the Ash Center for Democracy and Governance focused on the increasing global influence of an elite group of wealthy and powerful tech leaders—the tech oligarchy—and the ...
www.hks.harvard.edu

Explainer: Executive orders as a governing tool

American presidents have issued executive orders since George Washington was in office. Article Two of the Constitution gives the president the legal foundation to issue executive orders to provide ...