Institute of Politics Inspires Students for Lives in Public Service

Inspiring students to a life of public service has been the mission of Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP) since its inception in 1966 as a living legacy honoring the memory of President John F. Kennedy. And today the Institute continues its longstanding tradition with a broad array of programs intended to spark interest in and enhance knowledge about politics and public affairs.

The prestigious John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum hosts guest lecturers and panelists from around the world. The IOP’s Fellows program allows political practitioners to spend a semester on campus interacting with students, faculty and other members of the Harvard community. The Institute sponsors a voter registration program and several other community service initiatives. It hosts conferences for new mayors and newly elected members of Congress. The IOP also conducts biannual youth voter surveys and other research programs to enhance understanding of young people and politics.

“Our fall poll of young people showed nearly six-in-ten 18-24 year-olds are personally interested in engaging in some form of public service to help the country, with 47% indicating engagement could include working for the federal, state or local government,” said IOP Director Bill Purcell. “The Institute’s mission has never been more relevant to our students and our world.”

IOP programming includes a biennial program for newly elected members of Congress, featuring workshops and discussion sessions led by Harvard faculty on the issues that congressional lawmakers will face. The fall 2008 conference featured a bipartisan group of forty newly elected members from states across the country, and included several Harvard Kennedy School alumni.

Every four years the Institute hosts its “Campaign for President” series, a Harvard tradition since 1972, bringing together presidential campaign managers, political journalists, and analysts – in the weeks between Election Day and the presidential inauguration – to examine the electoral process and review campaign decision-making. A highlight of the December 2008 conference was a riveting John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum discussion moderated by IOP Senior Advisory Committee member and managing editor of PBS’ “Washington Week” Gwen Ifill. The event, focusing on campaign strategies and tactics employed during the recent presidential election, featured McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis, chief pollster Bill McInturff and Obama for America chief strategist David Axelrod and campaign manager David Plouffe, and was taped for broadcast on C-SPAN.