LOST IN POWERS

Harvard.

In bygone eras, it was the preeminent launchpad or proving ground for future heads of state, or (and in many cases, and) a holding pen for the ill-tempered progeny of various royals, former officeholders, and the generationally wealthy. The campus in Cambridge was the crimson-tipped Vatican for self-advancement, only slightly larger than the Holy See by square footage and just as orthodox in its beliefs.

It was a place of pride. Of prudence. And even on occasion, of illumination.

But in an age when Harvard dropouts famously wield more social influence and street cred than their counterparts who claw their way to heavily inked degrees, many wonder: Why bother going to Harvard at all? It’s only the acceptance letter that really matters. That’s the holy grail.

Or is it?

To be flip is to be unfair, but these generalizations aren’t meritless—or without consequence. It’s been asked: How can we fight for liberal democratic values when 62% of Americans no longer believe in democracy? Not just in our government, but in our entire system of self-determination? If you are a leader of or at the Kennedy School of Government, these are the questions that keep you up at night: How can we, ought we, must we attempt to attract the next generation of thought leaders and elected heads of state, when the average level of trust between people (even in high social cohesion countries in the OECD) hovers at just above 6%? If inter-personal trust is on the decline, how can we possibly trust our own government?

Operating directly in, at, and out of the Kennedy School, The Cayce Pollard Group managed to partner with faculty, tap experts elsewhere in academia, and solicit wisdom from non-academics in art and tech. And we (think that we) devised at least one plausible answer. A new starting point: A new institute, in its own right.

Thought up and drawn up at the Shorenstein Center, we endeavored to solve just two pieces of the puzzle. First: how tomorrow’s elected officials might glean the right lessons from tools and tradecraft honed in Silicon Valley, and bring them to bear on matters of urgent public policy. And second: how to leverage the imprimatur of HKS to unclog or widen the pipeline to thought leaders and decision-makers in whose hands the fate of the world rests.

See what you think. And by all means, critique.