Practicing Democracy Project

The Practicing Democracy Project (PDP) is directed by Marshall Ganz, who holds the Rita E. Hauser Senior Lectureship in Leadership, Organizing and Civil Society. Prof. Ganz has a long and storied history in the field of community organizing, beginning with leaving his Harvard undergraduate studies in 1964 to participate in the Mississippi Summer Project, followed by 14 years working alongside Cesar Chavez in the United Farm Workers movement, another 10 years of union and electoral organizing, then returning to the academy to developing ways to integrate the research, teaching, and practice of developing leadership, organizing community with that leadership, and building power from the resources of that community – the practice of democratic craft. His frameworks for leadership, community organizing, and public narrative have been adopted by practitioners and educators around the world. His influence extends even more broadly, especially after the groundbreaking role he played in helping to design the organizing strategy for the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama.

Given the pressure faced by democratic societies today, the regeneration of democratic practice is urgent. Uniquely situated at the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the Harvard Kennedy School—and in concert with collaborators including the Leading Change Network, Ahel, WiLD, and others—the Practicing Democracy Project leverages our position at a major research university and educational gathering place for leaders from around the world to engage with students, scholars and practitioners to advance democratic practice globally.

For more information about the Practicing Democracy Project, please download our Executive Summary.