OPINION COMMENTARY:

The 2024 election will be consequential, and fortunately, it's easier and more important than ever to become involved. Rex VanMiddlesworth presents a number of ways to do so, from working the polls to joining campaigns.

Homelessness in the US persists due to a worsening housing shortage, rising housing costs, increased immigration levels, and the expiration of eviction protections. Jeff Olivet, head of Biden’s US Interagency Council on Homelessness, sees homelessness as a policy choice and highlights its solvability when collective action is taken.

Democracy is under threat in the United States and around the world. Pippa Norris identifies the causes of democratic backsliding worldwide and proposes actionable ways to address these challenges and revitalize democratic governance.

There is significant concern about threats to democracy and the potential for an increasing move toward authoritarianism around the world. Archon Fung, Director of Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, is optimistic about the future of democracy and believes there is much individual citizens can do to assure that democracy remains healthy and vital.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The decision has had a devastating impact on women's health in the U.S. Cecile Richards, a national leader for women’s rights and social and economic justice and former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund for 12 years, reflects on the decision, its impact, and an urgent path forward.

Mark Medish, co-founder of Keep Our Republic, discusses strategies to protect our democratic electoral operating system — including through "hyper-localized community dialogue."

OPINION COMMENTARY:

Fierce political polarization is threatening democracy in the world and acting as a barrier to crafting effective solutions to critical social challenges. Alice Lombardo Maher, MD, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, has succeeded in bridging the divide by bringing together people on opposite sides of the political spectrum and modeling the skills that are core to effective dialogue.

Author, immigration reform advocate, and pro bono lawyer, Linda Dakin-Grimm, discusses how her faith influences her work and one of her many successful asylum cases reuniting a family from Guatemala separated at the U.S. border.

There is currently an intense political divide in the United States regarding the integration of environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors into the investment decisions of public and private pension funds. The key issues are whether ESG factors are appropriate considerations in furthering optimal financial performance and whether it is appropriate for plan fiduciaries to consider potential collateral social or environmental benefits in making their investment decisions. David Cifrino discusses the history, fiduciary law, financial performance and regulation associated with ESG investing.

More and more, the provision of healthcare is crossing state lines. Allison Whelan argues that a fractured state-by-state approach to healthcare regulation exacerbates disparities among various populations. As a partial solution, she discusses whether Congress should amend the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to pre-empt state pharmaceutical bans and restrictions.

Over the last decade, local leaders have passed myriad ordinances — from increasing minimum wages to gun safety regulations — only to have conservative state legislators nullify them. David Toscano, provides ideas for controlling state preemption without letting states become a patchwork of local laws.

The current challenges to voting rights, indeed to our democracy, are almost unprecedented in our lifetime. It is imperative for President Biden and Congress to focus on passing election reforms now since the new state laws and new redistricting actions evidence the need for fair guidance and legal limits. The author, Robert Berg, discusses the status of U.S. voting rights, what is being done to address these challenges and provides some suggestions on what we can do.

California voters hold a high degree of power in the state’s recall process. Combined with the state’s other direct democracy tools (the initiative statute, the initiative constitutional amendment, and the referendum) the state electorate has power that approaches that of a state government branch.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION SERIES:

A conversation with John B. King, former Secretary of Education and President and CEO of The Education Trust, on the Biden/Harris administration's first 100 days in the education domain.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION SERIES:

A conversation with David Gergen, Professor of Public Service and co-founding Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and former White House adviser to Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION SERIES:

A conversation with Kimberly Teehee, Director of Government Relations for Cherokee Nation and Senior Vice President of Government Relations for Cherokee Nation Businesses.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION SERIES:

The Biden administration has moved rapidly in its first 100 days to renew our government’s efforts to stem climate change. The Department of Energy and Department of Interior will both play outsized roles among the federal agencies in helping to implement Biden’s climate agenda.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION SERIES:

A conversation with Shavon Arline-Bradley, Founding Principal of R.E.A.C.H. Beyond Solutions LLC, a public health, policy/advocacy, faith and executive leadership firm and Co-Founder of The Health Equity Cypher Group, a collaborative of nationally recognized health equity experts designed to expand the work of health, equity and diversity & inclusion in all sectors.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION SERIES:

America infrastructure received a score of ’C-’. It is no secret that our nation’s many infrastructure networks, from the electric grid to transit systems to drinking water pipes and port facilities, have been underfunded and gradually deteriorating for decades. Emily Feenstra, from the American Society of Civil Engineers, discusses how this needs to change.

Think about the atypical person who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016. Then consider a different flavor of atypical: the person who voted for Trump in 2016 and flipped to Joe Biden in 2020. In partnership with the Schlesinger Group, the author’ firm, Engagious, has spent the last two years conducting monthly focus groups with these swing voters.