Capstones

The capstone projects in the YIP Fellowship represent the culmination of an intensive eight-week program, embodying the essence of inquiry-driven learning. These projects, crafted by fellows at the program's conclusion, are a testament to their intellectual growth and understanding of complex policy issues. Each capstone is a unique reflection of the skills and insights gained, demonstrating a synthesis of research, analysis, and innovative thinking. Serving as both a personal and academic milestone, these capstones highlight the fellows' readiness to engage with real-world challenges, marking a significant step in their journey as emerging policy leaders.

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Capstones may reflect individual viewpoints and do not represent YIP's nonpartisan stance.

All Fellowship Capstones

The Fiction Of Flexibility: How The Gig Economy Is Exploiting Workers

Up to 36% of American workers have participated in gig or independent work, a figure that continues to rise. Many platforms like Uber and DoorDash use claims of “flexibility” to classify workers as independent contractors, denying them minimum wage protections, benefits, and organizing rights, while often engaging in legal violations such as price fixing. This brief examines the unsustainable nature of the gig economy and explores legislative and legal reforms to promote fair opportunity for all Americans.

The Digital Divide in Education

As the global economy becomes increasingly dependent on digital technologies, a fault line has formed between those with digital access and those without, a phenomenon commonly referred to as “the digital divide.” Bridging the divide requires us to dig into the root of the problem: education. This brief explores how the digital divide in education exacerbates preexisting societal disparities and presents specific policy solutions to bridge the divide.

Abolish or Reform? The Future of America’s Department of Education

Capstones Winter 2025

American students face widening achievement gaps and learning losses intensified by the pandemic, raising concerns about the nation’s educational performance in math, reading, and science. At the same time, debates over the role of the federal government, including proposals to reduce or eliminate the Department of Education (ED), have intensified. This brief examines the ED’s responsibilities, evaluates its strengths and weaknesses, and explores policy reforms to improve student outcomes and strengthen the nation’s education system.

Maintaining U.S. Leverage Amid China-India Rapprochement

Capstones Winter 2025

The growing rapprochement between China and India is a recent development with significant geopolitical implications. The United States has long relied on India as a counterweight to China, but recent tariffs and economic tensions have shifted the dynamics of this relationship. This brief will cover what the United States should do to prevent a stronger China-India partnership from undermining U.S. influence in Asia.

From Nixon’s War on Drugs to Trump’s Deportations: How Racialized Criminality and Supreme Court Sanctioned Profiling is Shaping America

Capstones Winter 2025

This policy brief traces how racially coded “law and order” rhetoric evolved into institutionalized racial control within U.S. criminal justice and immigration enforcement, beginning with Nixon’s War on Drugs. It shows how political dog whistles reframed civil rights claims as criminal threats, laying the groundwork for mass incarceration and later extending to immigration through the 2025 Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo ruling, which authorized racially motivated ICE enforcement. The brief argues that Trump-era deportations and family separations are not anomalies but the continuation of a long-standing political strategy that weaponizes race. It concludes that dismantling racialized criminality is a moral and democratic imperative central to restoring constitutional equality.

Identifying Democracy: The Threat of Voter ID Laws

Capstones Summer 2025

During a time of polarization between political parties, voter security is a priority for many Americans who fear corrupt elections. However, some of the actions taken to prevent corruption or mishandling of votes actually contributes to corruption and a less accurate election result.

Mass Criminalization and Immigration

Capstones Summer 2025

This brief examines how immigration policies systematically target immigrant communities through carceral mechanisms, tracing its roots from the War on Drugs to contemporary “crimmigration” practices.

Power: Who Lacks It, Who Has It, & Who Needs It: Decolonizing UN Peacekeeping and Reforming Global Human Rights Governance

Capstones Summer 2025

The United Nations, since its inception, has experienced cases of peacekeeping missions failing to uphold human rights mandates; these failures are structurally rooted in imbalances within the UN system itself.

Healthcare Reform in America's Prisons

Capstones Summer 2025

As mass incarceration continues to rise in the United States, ethical and legal concerns regarding healthcare administration and quality in America’s prisons have become increasingly prevalent. Given that incarcerated individuals have a constitutionally protected right to adequate healthcare, policy makers and government officials have both an ethical and a legal obligation to implement reforms that will enable prisons to provide constitutionally adequate healthcare systems that protect the health and rights of incarcerated persons.

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All Fellowship Capstones

The Fiction Of Flexibility: How The Gig Economy Is Exploiting Workers

The Digital Divide in Education

Abolish or Reform? The Future of America’s Department of Education

Maintaining U.S. Leverage Amid China-India Rapprochement

From Nixon’s War on Drugs to Trump’s Deportations: How Racialized Criminality and Supreme Court Sanctioned Profiling is Shaping America

Identifying Democracy: The Threat of Voter ID Laws

Mass Criminalization and Immigration

Power: Who Lacks It, Who Has It, & Who Needs It: Decolonizing UN Peacekeeping and Reforming Global Human Rights Governance

Healthcare Reform in America's Prisons