MIT GOV/LAB
Projects
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News May 2025
[Spectrum] The Test of Democracy
In the MIT Spectrum magazine, Lily Tsai—professor of political science and director and founder of the MIT Governance Lab—explores what makes democracies work.
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News November 2024
[Boston Review] What AI Can’t Do for Democracy
Boston Review article quotes from the research study "Generative AI for Pro-Democracy Platforms" by Lily L. Tsai, Alex Pentland, Alia Braley, Nuole Chen, José Ramón Enríquez, and Anka Reuel.
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News October 2024
Tracing Anti-deforestation Enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon
A Q&A with Clemente Sanchez, MIT PhD Candidate in Political Science and MIT GOV/LAB Graduate Fellow, about his field research in Brazil.
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News September 2024
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #13 - The Latest on Generative AI & Democracy
Newsletter highlighting our latest research with partners on generative AI and democracy, research articles, and graduate student wor
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News June 2024
Clarifying the Links between WhatsApp and Political Behavior in India
We catch up with Eyal Hanfling, MIT PhD Candidate in Political Science and MIT GOV/LAB Graduate Fellow, about his field research in India to understand how social media impacts intergroup relations.
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News December 2023
[Podcast] Design Observer "Design As"
Professor Lily Tsai joins the "Design As" podcast with Shari Davis, Oliver Escobar, and Lee Moreau for a discussion on citizenship and design.
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News December 2023
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #12 - AI/ML and the Future of Governance
Newsletter highlighting our latest research with partners on the future of governance and AI/ML tools, governance innovation learning cases, and graduate student work.
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News December 2023
Top 5 Stories of 2023
Our 2023 highlights, handpicked by the MIT GOV/LAB team, including new data sets and methods investigating accountability and trust, plus features on governance innovation and the future of governance.
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News October 2023
Meet Nat Rabb, Our New Technical Associate
MIT GOV/LAB is excited to introduce our new technical associate, Nat Rabb. Read on for a chat about his past research interests and why he’s excited to join the lab.
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News August 2023
Unearthing the Hidden Stories of Budgets and Audit Reports
We catch up with Jerik Cruz, MIT PhD Candidate in Political Science and MIT GOV/LAB Graduate Fellow, about his development of a new large-scale dataset with underused audit reports.
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Resources September 2022
Busara-MIT GOV/LAB Blog Book
A compilation of twelve original lab in the field research designs summaries and bios from the inaugural Busara - MIT Behavioral Science in the Field course.
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News July 2023
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #11 – Governing for our Descendants, New Research Highlights, and Tilting the Field
Newsletter highlighting our latest research with partners on Covid-19, governance innovation learning cases, and more equitable exchange between the Global North and South.
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News March 2023
Can Electric Vehicles Clean Up the Dirty Air in South Asia?
We speak with Anum Mustafa, MIT PhD Candidate in Political Science and MIT GOV/LAB Graduate Fellow, about her research on air pollution in South Asia.
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Resources November 2018
Exploring Civic Leadership Training with Partners in the Philippines
This learning case provides a summary of MIT GOV/LAB's research collaboration with partners in the Philippines.
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Resources October 2018
Navigating Access to Information with Twaweza and MIT GOV/LAB
This learning case provides a summary of MIT GOV/LAB's research collaboration with Twaweza on access to information.
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News December 2022
Top Five Stories of 2022
Our 2022 highlights, handpicked by the MIT GOV/LAB team, including collaborations with partners, a new governance innovation website, student research, engaged scholarship model, and trust mini guide.
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News December 2022
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #10 – End of the Year Highlights: A New Mini Guide on all Things TRUST
Newsletter highlighting our latest research with partners on trust, governance innovation, and engaged scholarship.
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Research December 2018
Examining the Impact of Civic Leadership Training in the Philippines
This brief summarizes our research project supported by Making All Voices Count in the Philippines.
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Research October 2018
Testing Access to Information in Kenya with Mystery Shoppers
This research brief provides a summary of MIT GOV/LAB research results for practitioner and policy audiences.
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Research October 2018
Testing Access to Information in Tanzania with Mystery Shoppers
This research brief provides a summary of MIT GOV/LAB research results for practitioner and policy audiences.
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News October 2022
[Code for Japan Summit] Why Good Ideas Fail
A graphic illustration and video of Luke Jordan, MIT GOV/LAB 2021 practitioner-in-residence, presenting at the 2022 Code for Japan Summit on "Don't Build It. A Guide for Practitioners in Civic Tech".
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News September 2022
A Partnership to Teach: Training the Next Generation of Behavioral Scientists with Busara and MIT GOV/LAB
MIT GOV/LAB and Busara's work training the next generation of behavioral scientists.
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News August 2022
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #9 – Building Trust, Governance Innovation, and New Practitioners-in-Residence
Newsletter highlighting our work from the past year on governance innovation and engaged scholarship, as well as research we’ve published and funded.
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News April 2022
[MIT Political Science] Frequency Builds Familiarity
Urban street networks that encourage encounters among strangers link to lower ethnic tensions and anti-immigrant hostility
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News December 2021
Top Five Stories of 2021
Our team’s favorite highlights of 2021, including guides on civic tech and mobility data, trust in the Covid-19 response, governance innovation, and more.
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News December 2021
[MIT Technology Review] Popularity through punishment
MIT Technology Review features a new book by MIT GOV/LAB Founder and Director Lily L. Tsai on how authoritarian regimes use retributive justice to gain support.
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News October 2021
Report on Anti-Racism Action Plan
An update and lessons learned reflecting on our action plan and commitment to anti-racism and Black lives.
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News July 2021
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #8 — New Release: Using Cellphone Tower Data During Crises; Governance Innovation Bootcamp
Newsletter featuring a technical guide on mobility data, a bootcamp on governance innovation for civil servants in Sierra Leone, and more.
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News April 2021
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #7 — Don't Build It: A Civic Tech Guide
Newsletter featuring practitioner-in-residence Luke Jordan’s civic tech guide, an update on our anti-racism action plan, research on the pandemic, and more.
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News March 2021
What We’re Reading — Deepening Our Understanding of Systemic Racism
Books, films and blogs related to our commitment to anti-racism and Black lives.
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News February 2021
A Conversation with Luke Jordan, MIT GOV/LAB’s Practitioner-in-Residence
Jordan talks about his guide for designing civic technology and his research into ways artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to advance democracy in the developing world.
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News December 2020
Top Five Stories of 2020
Our 2020 highlights, handpicked by the MIT GOV/LAB team, including how to receive friendly criticism, remote teaching on WhatsApp, applying research from Ebola to Covid-19, and more.
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News October 2020
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #6: Engaged Scholarship Tools
Newsletter featuring our latest research collaborations on engaged scholarship, information and accountability, behavioral science, civic technology, and more.
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News September 2020
[Psychology Today] How Building Trust Can Save Lives
Psychology Today article features study on Ebola epidemic by Lily Tsai, Benjamin Morse, and Robert Blair.
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News September 2020
Action Plan to Support Anti-Racism and Black Lives — A Start
In June 2020, MIT GOV/LAB set forth a commitment to anti-racism and Black lives. Below is our action plan to start moving from words into action. See our 2021 report on this plan.
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News June 2020
[EGAP] Partnership Lessons 10: Liberia Community Policing with Parley Liberia
Project update from Evidence in Governance and Politics on our community policing project in Liberia, part of EGAP's Metaketa IV.
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News August 2020
Trust in Pandemic Technology
MIT GOV/LAB Faculty Director Lily Tsai gave a lightning talk as part of the Responsible Data Summit discussing Covid-19 technologies on August 6th.
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News June 2020
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #5
Newsletter featuring our latest research collaborations on engaged scholarship, information and accountability, behavioral science, civic technology, and more.
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News June 2020
#ShutDownAcademia Strike - June 10th
MIT GOV/LAB is taking part in the strike to #ShutDownAcademia, #ShutDownSTEM, and #Strike4BlackLives.
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News June 2020
Our Commitment to Anti-Racism and Black Lives
Read and sign our commitment to support Black students, colleagues, and partners in the United States and around the world.
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News May 2020
Africa Takes on Covid-19 — MIT Hackathon
MIT GOV/LAB Director Lily Tsai served as a judge for the MIT Covid-19 Challenge addressing the pandemic in Africa, May 1-3.
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News April 2020
[Science Magazine] Crushing Covid-19 with Behavioral Science
MIT GOV/LAB Faculty Director Lily Tsai's current research on Covid-19 in West Africa featured in Science Magazine.
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News March 2020
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #4
Newsletter featuring our latest research collaborations on engaged scholarship, information and accountability, behavioral science, civic technology, and more.
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News March 2020
[Forbes] Applying Lessons from Ebola on Trust and Open Communication to Covid-19
Forbes article features study on Ebola epidemic by Prof Lily Tsai and colleagues Benjamin Morse and Robert Blair.
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News December 2019
Top Five Stories of 2019
A recap of some of our favorite posts from 2019, including new field research, new partnerships, and a guide for difficult conversations between academic researchers and practitioners.
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News November 2019
[From Poverty to Power] How to Have Difficult Conversations
Duncan Green, strategic adviser for Oxfam Great Britain, plugged MIT GOV/LAB's guide for academic-practitioner research collaborations.
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News November 2019
#PBD19: Fourth Political Behavior of Development Conference at MIT
The fourth annual PBD conference featured judicial, urban, bureaucrat, and misinformation panels, along with workshops on dispute resolution and party worker recruitment. Graduate student research was highlighted at a poster session.
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News November 2019
Announcing the Recipients of MIT GOV/LAB's Inaugural Request for Research Proposals
We are pleased to announce the four recipients including lead principal investigators Natalia Bueno; Tanushree Goyal; Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner; and Gwyneth McClendon, O’Brien Kaaba, and Elizabeth Sperber.
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News July 2019
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #3
Newsletter sharing updates on our strategic planning process, new research publications, partner collaborations, and more.
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News July 2019
APSA Happy Hour: EGAP & MIT GOV/LAB
EGAP and MIT GOV/LAB are hosting a happy hour for practitioners and academics on August 29th in Washington, DC. RSVP below.
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News July 2019
2019 MIT GOV/LAB Seed Fund Grantees
This summer MIT GOV/LAB is supporting five MIT Political Science graduate students to conduct original research in Senegal, Argentina, Indonesia, Ireland, and Vietnam.
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News July 2019
MIT GOV/LAB and Busara to Launch Behavioral Science in the Field Course in Kenya
In January 2020, we will pilot a new course with Busara that trains MIT and East African graduate students on lab in the field experiments.
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News June 2019
Voice and Punishment: New World Bank Studies on Tax Morale
Faculty Director Lily Tsai is co-author on a World Bank study on tax morale including an online survey experiment in 50 countries.
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News June 2019
Request for Proposals: Building Evidence on Citizen Engagement and Government Accountability
To build a stronger evidence base, MIT GOV/LAB is piloting an open call for research proposals on topics related to citizen engagement and government accountability in a diversity of contexts. August 31 deadline.
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News April 2019
3ie & World Bank Conference on Citizen Engagement and Government Accountability
GOV/LAB Faculty Director Lily Tsai presented at 3ie's Evidence Week Conference on April 8th in Washington, DC.
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News April 2019
Call for Abstracts: MIT GOV/LAB 4th Political Behavior of Development Conference
We are hosting the fourth annual Political Behavior of Development Conference (#PBD19) in Cambridge, MA on Friday, November 15, 2019 with a poster session the evening of November 14th.
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News March 2019
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #2
Newsletter sharing updates on new team members, research results, partner collaborations, and more.
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News February 2019
Workshopping African Political Economy in Abu Dhabi
Two MIT GOV/LAB researchers present works in progress on Kenya and Tanzania at WGAPE (pronounced “wah-gah-pay”).
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News September 2018
Deep Dive: Shaping Learning Questions in a Funder Collaborative
How can a funder collaborative engage with evidence to improve grantmaking practice? The first step is to ask the right learning questions.
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News September 2018
Tracking Political Interactions in the Philippines
Political science doctoral candidate Nina McMurry navigates the archipelago, investigating the integration of indigenous communities into the nation's political institutions.
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News July 2018
Pilot Re-entry Project on Mental Health and Co-occurring Substance Use in Middlesex
PRESS RELEASE: MIT GOV/LAB will serve as a research collaborator to evaluate a pilot re-entry project focusing on mental health and co-occurring substance use disorders with the Middlesex Sheriff's Office.
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News October 2018
New Research Scientist Joins the Team
Kelly Zhang, Stanford PhD in Political Science, joins MIT GOV/LAB as a research scientist focusing on civic technology.
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News December 2018
EGAP and MIT GOV/LAB Host Conference on Academic/Practitioner Partnerships
We will be co-presenting with Twaweza on how academics and practitioners can best #partner4evidence.
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News December 2018
Taxation without Representation? Do International Norms Matter?
Diving into the shallow end – two evidence briefs explore learning questions with relatively scarce evidence
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News December 2018
Top Five Stories of 2018
A recap of some of our favorite stories from 2018, featuring musings on trust, evidence use, and the responsibility of political scientists to create a more inclusive and accountable discipline.
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News April 2018
Professor Lily Tsai Receives MIT Committed to Caring Award
MIT GOV/LAB Faculty Director Lily Tsai named 2017-2018 Committed to Caring Award recipient by graduate students for great mentorship.
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News May 2018
Fostering Learning and Effectiveness through Collaboration: A New Collaborative on Transparency, Accountability, and Participation
MIT GOV/LAB is excited to join the Learning Collaborative as a resource organization working with practitioners on transparency, participation, and accountability.
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News June 2018
Call for Abstracts: MIT GOV/LAB 3rd Annual Political Behavior of Development Conference
We are hosting the third annual Political Behavior of Development Conference (#PBD18) in Cambridge, MA on Friday, November 9, 2018 with a poster session the evening of November 8th.
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News June 2018
MIT GOV/LAB Digest #1
We launched our first digest to share updates on new research, partner collaborations, and events.
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News August 2018
Siena Harlin Joins GOV/LAB
We are excited to welcome our newest Research Support Associate! Read below how Siena’s childhood in Mexico and interest in anthropology led her to political science research at MIT.
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News January 2018
Top Five Stories of 2017
A recap of our favorite stories from 2017 covering lessons from the field, corruption in politics, data science and health care, and mystery shopping as told by our top-notch research team.
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News March 2018
Welcoming New Additions to the GOV/LAB Team
We are excited to announce that three MIT Political Science PhD students are joining MIT GOV/LAB this semester; and we have a new Wellesley intern.
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News March 2017
Spring Intern Supporting GOV/LAB
GOV/LAB welcomes a new intern Tiffany Chung, from Wellesley College. Read her bio below.
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News April 2017
Welcoming New Research Associate, Dante Delaney (MIT '16)
We are excited to welcome our latest team member, Dante Delaney (MIT '16). Read more below about Dante’s path from The Bahamas to MIT to GOV/LAB below.
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News June 2017
Summer Interns with GOV/LAB
GOV/LAB welcomes four summer interns, Kennedy, Siena, Ming, and Nick. Read their bios below.
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News May 2015
GOV/LAB: Holding Governments Accountable
MIT Spectrum Deep Dive: Lily Tsai recently launched GOV/LAB, which gives grad students hands-on experience in political research.
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News September 2016
#MITBetterWorld: Empowered Citizens, Accountable Governments
GOV/LAB was featured in the #MITBetterWorld campaign.
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News January 2017
Welcome to New GOV/LAB Interns
GOV/LAB welcomes two new interns, Lisa Fan and Soobean Jo, from Wellesley College. Read their bios below.