Governance in the 21st Century

KSG launches exploration of the future of government

The Kennedy School of Government has begun an ambitious, multi-year project to "help bring clarity to thinking about government," Dean Joseph S. Nye Jr. announced this week.

Formally introduced with a weekend series of symposia, the "Visions of Governance for the 21st Century" project will seek to shape, inform, and improve public debate about the role of government.

"Trust in government and other institutions has declined dramatically over the past three decades," said Nye, who chairs the project. "The era of big government is over, but no one has articulated what will take its place. We hope to produce a set of books and works in other media that clarify how we can best adapt governance to the information age."

Nye said some of the issues explored would include questions of where government works and where it fails, the distribution of public power, the interaction of markets and governments, liberty versus community, processes of public choice, and management of the public enterprise.

"This will not be an isolated, academic exercise," Nye added. "The work of a large core of some of the nation's best scholars will be informed by an aggressive effort to reach out to and engage an international range of civic, political, and industry leaders."

Nye said the Visions of Governance for the 21st Century project addresses two forces that led him to return to Harvard from his Pentagon position as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. "I was disturbed by the negative and confused reactions to government in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing," he said. "Secondly, I found in my travels to over 50 countries that loss of confidence in government is evident around the world. Many nations and cultures are worrying about the same questions."

Key to the success of the project will be its focused research agenda and its strong, interdisciplinary core of scholars. A wide range of opinion will be ensured by commissioning a series of paired papers by scholars with opposing views. Those papers will be examined first in substantive workshops, then by discussants from around the world.

Once the project reaches a "critical mass of intellectual activity," researchers will solicit contributions from a much wider range of scholars and practitioners, according to Nye, and will include visiting political and governmental leaders in its deliberations.

Nye said he would also establish Advisory Councils for the project, based in communities around the U.S. and beyond, to "provide a vehicle to test the project's early products and ideas with business executives and local leaders whose opinions are heard less frequently at Harvard." Project research will be cycled into the Kennedy School's teaching curriculum, and the School will establish a dedicated site on the World Wide Web to provide a direct outlet for project activities, conference discussions, and research products.

Working with Nye will be Project Director Philip Zelikow and Assistant Director David King. Among others, core Harvard faculty include Graham Allison, Derek Bok, George Borjas, Mickey Edwards, David Ellwood, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Samuel Huntington, Robert Lawrence, Harvey Mansfield, Ernest May, Richard Neustadt, Roger Porter, Robert Putnam, Michael Sandel, Phil Sharp, Theda Skocpol, and Shirley Williams.