Is Rising Inequality Slowly Poisoning Our Democracy?

What the Growing Gap Between the Haves and Have-Nots Is Doing to American Morals, Myths, Social and Economic Policies, and Politics

Back in the 1980s, President Reagan famously took a jab at the policies of Lyndon Johnson with the remark, “In the ’60s we waged a war on poverty, and poverty won.” Since then, poverty has apparently continued its victorious march. According to the Census, 43.3 million people were living in poverty in 2013—down from the year before, but way up from 2007 prerecession numbers.

With the 2016 presidential election cranking up, soon the airwaves will swell with candidates’ ideas for how to remedy the woes of America’s poor. What should …

April 22, 2015

When the American Dream Was Still in Reach

Our Kids

by Robert D. Putnam | April 19, 2015

Is America still a meritocracy? Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam argues that it is not, and that children born to less educated, less wealthy, less connected parents have fewer …

Tired of Europeans Scolding the U.S. For Our Inequality? Talk German Soccer.

The NFL Is a Socialist Paradise Compared to the Soccer Leagues of Europe

by Andrés Martinez | May 5, 2014

Don’t let Europeans self-righteously lecture you about inequality in America—especially not Germans. If you compare the American and German professional “football” leagues each society considers truly important, you quickly arrive …

Will Someone Get These People a Drink?

Despite Tremendous Effort and Investment, Clean Water Remains Elusive For Communities Around the World

by Sarah Rothbard | March 18, 2014

“Why doesn’t everyone in the world have access to clean water?” Occidental College political economist Sanjeev Khagram’s young son asked him this question today when he learned his father was …

Change in Iran; Stagnation for the American Middle Class

Jake Sullivan on Post-Nuclear Tehran and Reid Cramer and Jason DeParle on the Ongoing U.S. Inequality Debate

Hosted by Anne-Marie Slaughter | January 27, 2014

Jake Sullivan, Vice President Joe Biden’s national security adviser and a key engineer of the Iranian interim nuclear deal, talks with Anne-Marie Slaughter about the most overlooked lever for changing …

Will We Ever Conquer Old Age?

We’ve Gotten Good at Postponing, If Not Avoiding, the Grave. But Improving Our Record May Not Require Science.

by Jonathan Silvertown | January 13, 2014

Sooner or later, everyone ponders their mortality. It is the privilege of youth to be oblivious to death but the fate of old age to contemplate oblivion. Where such thoughts …

Democracy’s Diversity Problem

Does Diversity Make Democratic Transition Harder—Or Simply More Worthwhile?

Can Democracy Be an Agent of Both Power and Goodness?

To Promote True Civic Virtue, Our System of Government Needs an Ethical Compass and to Actively Engage Citizens

Must We Choose Between Freedom and Equality?

Our Declaration

To End the Stigma Around America’s Poverty Crisis, Teach It in the Classroom

Instruction on the Nature, Extent, and Causes of Poverty Will Challenge Entrenched Narratives Around It—And Open the Door for Policy Change

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