By mobilizing at the grassroots, Democrats successfully outflanked the GOP by crafting resistance into a coherent agenda Soon after the election of Donald Trump, a wave of protest bubbled up against the new president and his policies. Beginning with the “Women’s March” on January 21st, 2017, followed by protests on behalf of gun control and against the threat of climate change, and led by new groups like Indivisible …
As the country falls under populist rule is it a change — or an old story? This essay was originally posted on November 20 2018. A New York Times article by Andrew Higgins paints a troubling picture of Latvia falling under populist rule. Higgins’ concern is based on the results of the recent elections that makes possible a coalition between what he calls a “pro-Russian” and anti-establishment parties. Although his …
Why we need consensus on the democratic left to defend liberal institutions This symposium contains essays by Michael Walzer, Sheri Berman, Leo Casey, and Jeffrey C. Isaac that reflect on the principles and possibilities of social democracy and liberal democracy in our current political times. The pieces constitute extensions of the authors’ presentations in the “Crisis of Democracy” panel that took place at the American Political Science Association …
We have lost the sense of the possible that social democracy injected into postwar liberal democracy This symposium contains essays by Michael Walzer, Sheri Berman, Leo Casey, and Jeffrey C. Isaac that reflect on the principles and possibilities of social democracy and liberal democracy in our current political times. The pieces constitute extensions of the authors’ presentations in the “Crisis of Democracy” panel that took place at the …
We need to both defend liberal democratic norms and institutions and address their fault lines This symposium contains essays by Michael Walzer, Sheri Berman, Leo Casey, and Jeffrey C. Isaac that reflect on the principles and possibilities of social democracy and liberal democracy in our current political times. The pieces constitute extensions of the authors’ presentations in the “Crisis of Democracy” panel that took place at the American …
A capitalism transformed by a strong version of social democracy should be our political goal This symposium contains essays by Michael Walzer, Sheri Berman, Leo Casey, and Jeffrey C. Isaac that reflect on the principles and possibilities of social democracy and liberal democracy in our current political times. The pieces constitute extensions of the authors’ presentations in the “Crisis of Democracy” panel that took place at the American …
Attacks on Gender Studies and the conquest of democracy Today is the anniversary of a special revolution in Germany: 100 years of women’s suffrage. On November 12, 1918, the German Council of People’s Representatives publicly announced that it would henceforth carry out all “elections under the same, secret, direct, universal suffrage on the basis of the proportional electoral system for all males and females who are at least …
7 notes on the ideal of a free, intelligent and consequential public life How in the world can a centrist be radical? 1. From a critical point of view, “the center” is the ground of the wishy washy: too attached to the ways things are to commit to the radical change of the left, not sufficiently informed by the wisdom of customs and traditional values to fully embrace …
What would an open democracy based on different forms of non-electoral yet democratic representation look like? The following essay was presented as part of the day-long conference “Democracy in Trouble?” at the University of Pennsylvania’s Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. As the post-Cold War democratic order is straining under the dual threat of authoritarian and exclusionary movements on the national level and transnational oligarchic networks, the …
But let’s look for better alternatives The following essay were presented as part of the day-long conference “Democracy in Trouble?” at the University of Pennsylvania’s Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. As the post-Cold War democratic order is straining under the dual threat of authoritarian and exclusionary movements on the national level and transnational oligarchic networks, the goal of the conference was to take account of the …
