Give Political Power to Ordinary People
To fight elite capture of the state, it’s time to consider sortition, or the assignment of political power through lotteries.
Spring 2025
- Subscribe
- Magazine
- Online
- Blog
- Podcasts
- Events
- Store
- Logout
- About Us
- Donate
- Contact
- Advertise
- Newsletter
Beyond the Backlash
How the 2016 election revealed the possibilities for new political identities.
Water Democracy
Farmers in New Mexico have banded together to protect scarce water resources from developments that could end their way of life. Their collective activity is a model for grassroots politics in the age of climate change.
How Liberalism Failed
After decades of relative stability, Western elites forgot how precious and precarious liberal democracy really is.
Balancing Act
If two recent analyses of populism agree on one thing, it’s that democracy and capitalism have fallen out of balance. Less clear is how—or whether—the truce between them should be restored.
Humble the Supremes
It is time for Congress to rein in the exaggerated powers of the most undemocratic branch of the U.S. government: the Supreme Court.
How Missouri Beat “Right to Work”
With last week’s referendum, the “Show-Me” state showed that the right’s assault on organized labor does not stand the test of democracy.
How to Fight Voter Suppression in 2018
The Republican right has developed a playbook for suppressing the votes of the young, the poor, and people of color. Here are some of the most common tactics, and how to fight back.
Brazil’s New Right
Since Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, Brazil has been in political turmoil. With ex-president Lula’s recent surrender, a new right threatens to become the decisive force in the 2018 elections.
The Culture of Democracy 
Toward Democracy: The Struggle for Self-Rule in European and American Thought by James T. Kloppenberg Oxford University Press, 2016, 912 pp. A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley by Jane Kamensky W.W. Norton, 2017, 544 pp. We …
Putting Liberal Democracy First
Those of us who consider ourselves “left liberals” have expressed particular alarm about the symbolic and practical dangers posed by leaders such as Donald Trump and his supporters. To name but a few: mass rallies denouncing “the liberal media”; inciting …
From Imagination to Power
Pragmatic thinking and strategic action are not in conflict with the radical spirit of 1968; they are the only way to fulfill it.
Age of Emancipation
One of France’s most influential contemporary thinkers, Marcel Gauchet manages to craft a compelling historical account of half a millennium, exploring how we arrived at today’s crisis—and how we might get out.
Anti-Semitism vs. Democracy in Poland
The passage this month of Poland’s notorious “Holocaust Bill” should be a warning to those who ignore the link between anti-Semitism and growing authoritarianism.
How to Build a Majority
In a moment when the left remains small and weak, ideological purity is almost certain to be self-defeating. We need every ally we can find.
