Politics & Government Publications
New Round of COVID-19 Survey Shows Continued High Support for Policies, Increasing Partisan Divides
May 22, 2020, 3:03 pmThe second round of the multi-university project to survey public opinion on COVID-19 response measures in all 50 states was released today. It shows continued high rates of support for state government responses to the crisis, as well as for…
New survey shows U.S. public is ‘firmly opposed’ to reopening the economy immediately
April 30, 2020, 8:22 amDavid Lazer (Northeastern), Matthew Baum (Harvard Kennedy School), Katherine Ognyanova (Rutgers University), John Della Volpe (Harvard Kennedy School)
A new national survey conducted by researchers from Harvard Kennedy School, Northeastern University, and Rutgers University shows broad support for COVID-19 response measures, and trust in expertise during the pandemic.
The Right Way to Regulate Digital Platforms
September 18, 2019, 4:16 pmGene Kimmelman, Senior Fellow, Digital Platforms and Democracy Project
This Policy Paper is part of the Digital Platforms & Democracy Project’s efforts to explain and disseminate ideas about regulation of major technology and digital platform companies. Click here to read more of their research and commentary. The views expressed…
Big Tech and Democracy: The Critical Role of Congress
April 23, 2019, 11:24 amIn March 2019, two projects at Harvard Kennedy School—the Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project at the Belfer Center and the Platform Accountability Project at the Shorenstein Center—hosted a workshop for Congressional staff to identify and discuss policy approaches to the dilemmas of big tech platforms.
Assessing Campaign Quality: Was the 2016 Presidential Campaign a Travesty?
April 18, 2019, 3:00 pmBy Roderick P. Hart, Fall 2018 Shorenstein Fellow and Shivers Chair in Communication and Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin This essay is forthcoming as part of a special symposium on Campaign 2016 to be published in the…
Platform Accountability: An Interim Measure
April 15, 2019, 10:02 amPhilip Verveer, Shorenstein Center Research Fellow
Download the PDF of this paper here. Introduction The major digital platform companies present a large, complicated array of benefits and problems for the country and the world. The companies increasingly have the attention of both average citizens and senior-most…
Can Cities Save the Census? A Local Framework for Our Nation’s First Digital Count
April 1, 2019, 9:41 amWith trust in federal government and institutions at historic lows, local governments, including cities and counties, must play a critical role in the 2020 Census. If we don’t get the census right, there is so much we are at risk of getting wrong – the implications of which will last for years.
Estimating the Effect of Asking About Citizenship on the U.S. Census
March 21, 2019, 1:21 pmThe 2020 U.S. Census will, for the first time since 1950, ask about residents’ citizenship status. The effect of doing so on census completion across different racial/ethnic groups is, however, unknown. Leveraging a survey experiment, we are the first to assess the causal effect of this question change.
Platform Accountability and Contemporary Competition Law: Practical Considerations
November 20, 2018, 4:03 pmBy Philip Verveer, Visiting Fellow, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy
Introduction “As you know, many people think it is a very antitrust situation, the three of them. But I just, I won’t comment on that.” President Donald Trump with respect to Google, Facebook, and Amazon, interview with Bloomberg News, August 30,…
The Root of the Matter: Data and Duty
November 1, 2018, 5:28 pmBy Tom Wheeler, Senior Research Fellow, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School. 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 2013-2017
Rules for the New Digital Economy Should Look to Old Common Law Traditions There are 39 million books in the Library of Congress. This impressive analog measurement pales in comparison, however, with the realities of the digital world. Every day…
