Closing Civic Space

Voting Rights
John Shattuck and Mathias Risse. 11/6/2020. Voting Rights. Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities in the United States. 2020002nd ed. Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Read the ReportAbstract

After more than a century of expanding the voting rights of previously disenfranchised groups, the American electoral system today is confronted by political and legal maneuvers to curtail the hard-won rights of these same groups, ostensibly in the name of combating fraud and regulating voting, but actually to change the outcome of elections. 

"Political campaigns to suppress or dilute votes corrode democracy, frustrate the popular will, and stimulate polarization."

Attacks on the integrity of the electoral system are not new. Throughout the 19th and much of the 20th century dominant political forces suppressed voting by African Americans and other minorities, women, immigrants, and young people. Manipulation of voting in the 20th century included racist suppression of African American votes, first by Democrats and later by Republicans. These practices are blatant examples of the vulnerability of the electoral process to partisan manipulation and the necessity of reform to safeguard voting rights, especially among these vulnerable groups.

In his timely addition to the Reimagining Rights and Responsibilites in the U.S. paper series, authors John Shattuck, Mathias Risse, and team outline the expansion of the vote through history, the disproportionate impact of voter suppression, and propose a set of policy recommendations accordingly.

Read the full report. 

See all the issues of the Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities paper series here

 

 

Carr Center Annual Report: 2019-2020
Carr Center Human Rights for Policy. 11/2/2020. Carr Center Annual Report: 2019-2020. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School. See the ReportAbstract

The Carr Center is pleased to launch its 2019-2020 Annual Report. Take a look at our work, and learn how to get involved. 

This past academic year, we’ve seen significant economic anxiety, political uncertainty, and public health failures besiege communities and societies around the world. We’ve also witnessed acts of solidarity and kinship—the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the United States, the rise of social movements holding authoritarian leaders to account, and communities offering mutual aid to vulnerable people impacted by the pandemic.

We hope that you remain engaged with our work in the coming months. After all, human rights are not just about institutions, laws, and policies. They are about people coming together, hoping to make the world and their communities a better place—more just, more equitable, and more peaceful. 

Read the Annual Report

 

 

2020 Oct 08

Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities in the U.S.

Registration Closed 10:00am to 11:30am

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Virtual Event (Registration Required)

Please join the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy for the release of our report on Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities in the United States. We'll discuss the historical context in which this project was framed, recent developments around rollbacks and movements for expansion of rights, and policy recommendations for building a more robust commitment to rights and responsibilities around six broad areas, including equal protection and due process.  We'll also discuss results from our public opinion poll and townhalls across the United States, conducted with support from the...

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2020 Jul 30

The Pompeo Commission on Unalienable Rights: A Selective Vision of Human Rights

Registration Closed 4:00pm to 5:00pm

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Virtual Event (Registration Required)

The establishment of the Commission on Unalienable Rights (“Pompeo Commission”) in 2019 prompted concern among human rights advocates and academics that the Commission could redirect U.S. human rights policy in ways that would be self-defeating and would create serious damage to international cooperation for the protection of human rights.

The Commission released a draft report last week accompanied by a ...

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2020 Jul 15

Civic Engagement and Human Rights: Reviving U.S. Democracy

Registration Closed 2:00pm to 3:00pm

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Virtual Event (Registration Required)

Join us for a conversation with Danielle Allen, Director of Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and John Shattuck, Senior Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, as they discuss their common purpose of reviving American Democracy in the 21st Century. 

Professor Allen has recently worked with The American Academy to release Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century. A report which lays out a case for renewed civic faith. It offers a set of recommendations for building a fresh collective commitment to...

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Attacks on the Press Track a Democratic Backslide
Sushma Raman. 6/29/2020. “Attacks on the Press Track a Democratic Backslide.” Foreign Policy . See full text. Abstract
According to Sushma Raman, freedom of press is eroding around the world - including in democratic countries.

The recent conviction of the journalist Maria Ressa in the Philippines for “cyber libel” has brought into sharp relief the global deterioration of press freedom. Across the world, fundamental freedoms of association, expression, and assembly are under threat. A recent report from Civicus found that twice as many people live under repression today as a year ago. Although much of that is due to diminishing freedoms in countries whose governments have long been known for their heavy hands, an increasing number of attacks on the media have come in places where press freedom was once enshrined.

Read the full article.

2020 Jun 11

Police Brutality in the United States: A Conversation with Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions

Registration Closed 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Virtual Event (Registration Required)

The killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as countless black people has sparked protests around the country. Join the Carr Center for a conversation with Agnes Callamard, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Callamard and other UN experts have called on the U.S. government "to take decisive action to address systemic racism and racial bias in the criminal justice system by launching independent investigations and ensuring accountability in all cases of excessive use of force by police." 

Read the ...

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The Floyd Protests Are the Broadest in U.S. History — and Are Spreading to White, Small-Town America
Lara Putnam, Erica Chenoweth, and Jeremy Pressman. 6/6/2020. “The Floyd Protests Are the Broadest in U.S. History — and Are Spreading to White, Small-Town America.” Washington Post. See full version.Abstract
Erica Chenoweth discusses the Floyd protests and its impact on law, social policies, and the 2020 elections.

Across the country, people are protesting the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and demanding action against police violence and systemic racism. National media focuses on the big demonstrations and protest policing in major cities, but they have not picked up on a different phenomenon that may have major long-term consequences for politics. Protests over racism and #BlackLivesMatter are spreading across the country — including in small towns with deeply conservative politics.

2020 Jun 17

India’s COVID Democracy Crisis: Lockdown of Labour and Liberties

Registration Closed 12:00pm to 1:15pm

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Virtual Webinar (Registration Required)

In response to the public health crisis of COVID, India has imposed one of the most stringent and ill prepared lockdowns in the world, leading to a humanitarian disaster. Over 700 people have died unrelated to the virus but due to distress directly caused by the lockdown, such as hunger. Even as the state has flexed its executive muscle, activating police forces to enforce the lockdown with...

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2020 Jun 12

People Power in the Face of Authoritarianism in Nicaragua

Registration Closed 12:00pm to 1:15pm

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Virtual Event (Registration Required)

A conversation with Nicaraguan human rights defenders about the trials, triumphs and future challenges of people power in Nicaragua in a context of democratic decay, decreasing civic space and authoritarianism since the return of Daniel Ortega to power in 2007.

Panelists

  • Amaya Coppens Zamora | Activist, Medical Student, Political Prisoner
  • Mateo Jarquín Chamorro | Assistant Professor, Chapman University 
  • Mónica López Baltodano | Activist,...
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2020 Jun 05

Migrants in Hungary and the Role of Grassroots Groups

Registration Closed 12:00pm to 1:15pm

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Virtual Event (Registration Required)

Introducing activism through the lens of a solidarity group in Hungary.

Panelists:

  • Aiski Ryokas | Activist
  • Aliz Pocsuvalszki | Activist
  • Mussa Kilam | Activist 
  • Amy Rodgers | Activist 
  • Camille Tournebize | Activist 
  • Aniko Bakonyi (co-moderator) | Topol Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy...
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2020 Jun 03

The Struggle for Black Lives: Historical Legacies to Future Possibilities

Registration Closed 11:00am to 12:00pm

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Virtual Event (Registration Required)

The tragic killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville have sparked protests across the country. Join the Carr Center for a conversation with two leading scholars on the history of racist policing in the United States, the killing of black people by police and vigilantes, the role of social and civil rights movements in advocating for change, and ways in which we can envision a just future.  

Panelists:

  • Keisha N. Blain | W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow, Harvard University; President, African American...
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