 |
|
JANUARY 29, 2026 |
|
Harvard Kennedy School | | | |
|
 |
|
Students protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on July 11, 2024. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman / AFP/Getty Images) | | |
|
|
Democracy & Governance |
|
Gen Zers are mobilizing against corruption globally |
|
|
Research finds that protests with extensive youth participation are more than twice as likely to succeed as those with limited youth participation. Around the world, Gen Z movements are mobilizing around socioeconomic issues, inequality, corruption, and nepotism. In recent years, many Gen Z protests have taken place in countries with weak economies, high unemployment, and large youth populations. Such protests have rallied against corruption, taking on political elites who thrive amidst widespread suffering and poverty in Nepal, Serbia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and beyond. Professor Erica Chenoweth and research fellow Matthew Cebul examine trends in Gen Z mobilization in a new paper. “Ultimately, Gen Z may be experiencing a global political awakening,” they write. Read more about global Gen Z protest trends.
Learn more about Democracy & Governance at HKS » | | |
|
Public Finance |
|
Understanding presidential pressure on the Federal Reserve |
|
|
Professor Douglas Elmendorf explained the issues at stake in the Department of Justice’s investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in a new Q&A. Elmendorf observed that the Trump administration is breaking a decades-long trend of presidents not weighing in on monetary policy. This shift, he said, comes from “a view that everything that happens in the execution of the government’s affairs should happen under the control of the president directly,” an approach legal scholars call unitary executive theory. Speaking to the role the United States' central bank plays in worldwide economic conditions, Elmendorf said, “It matters for all the central banks that our central bank is free to do the best it can do.”
Learn more about Public Finance at HKS » | | |
|
Democracy & Governance |
|
Perspectives on the protests in Iran |
|
|
Earlier this month, experts on international affairs discussed the protests in Iran in a webinar hosted by the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Holly Dagres, an Iran scholar, remarked on the courage of the country’s young protesters, who she describes as “ordinary Iranians just asking for freedom.” Diplomat and foreign policy scholar Phil Gordon discussed options for the United States’ government. Panelist Mike Singh said that “decisive action lies in the hands of the Iranian people, not in the hands of the United States or any other country.” And HKS visiting scholar Lina Khatib discussed regional dynamics. Read more reflections on Iran from the panelists.
Learn more about Democracy & Governance at HKS » | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
