Education is our Future, and Mayors Are Leading Education Reform Efforts Mayors experience first hand the impact that education has on our communities. They understand that their city's success is dependent on the quality and success of their schools ...

Arts, Culture and Sports May Seem Silly to Some, But They Define Cities and Make Them Special We will explore how a city's arts, culture and sports environment impacts quality of life and a community's perception of itself. There is no doubt tha ...

Cities Are the Engines of Our Economy Over 85% of our GDP is generated in cities. Nearly 95% of new jobs over the next decade will be created in cities. It's been said that we no longer have a National Economy, but a collection of Metropolitan Econom ...

All Politics is Local. Or, is it? Local news coverage of city governments has been diminished or eliminated. Internet blogs, national cable news, and syndicated talk radio all focus their political discussion on Washington. The end of Earmarks and Sequest ...

WEEK EIGHT: 10 November 2015 “Independent Institutions / How to sustain a democracy” A new democracy may stand or fall based on the capacity, strength and independence of the state institutions which support it. South Africa’s constitution devotes an enti ...

“Negotiating a New Constitution” Guest Speaker: Tendai Biti – Former Secretary-General of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-Tsvangirai), and Member of Parliament for Harare East. Mr. Biti served in Zimbabwe’s unity government as the Minister ...

"How to be a Woman in Power" Come hear Lindiwe Mazibuko, former leader of the Official Opposition Party in South Africa's Parliament, discuss her experience of being a woman in South African government. She will be addressing the importance ...

WEEK FIVE: 20 October 2015, “A Vibrant Civil Society” Civil society is one of the sectors of a modern democracy which offers alternative leadership and accountability measures to those located in the party-political system of government. Vibrant and indep ...

WEEK FOUR: 13 October: “A Peaceful Change of Government” Sign-up for Lindiwe Mazibuko's October 13th study group lottery featuring President Joyce Banda here. During a democratic transition, a constitutional framework and free and fair elections are ...

WEEK THREE: 6 October: “A Free Media” Guest Speaker: Songezo Zibi – Editor-in-Chief of Business Day newspaper, South Africa. Room: Faculty Dining Room, HKS ***All study groups are off-the-record and not for media coverage*** WEEK THREE: 6 October: “A Free ...