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Vol. 19 No. 1January 2008
Columns
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Pronouncing Our Own Doom
It's strange that the incarceration rate is not as big an issue in the U.S. now as it was in Dostoevsky's Russia, not to mention Dickens' England. When will the United States wake up to the problem of our growing prison population? -
Reparations Anxiety
Brown University announced that it will give a $10 million endowment to local public schools to atone for its involvement in the slave trade. But reparations alone will not address the ongoing segregation of the American education system. -
The Long and the Short
Covering the unfolding presidential race while also looking ahead to the challenges that will face the Democrats if they win the White House. -
Cool Warriors
The strength of postwar liberalism was not its tough stance against Communism but its deep, nuanced vision of American leadership. Thankfully, that vision is also held by today's Democratic leaders.
Culture
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Michael's Poor Almanac
How Michael Barone made The Almanac of American Politics irrelevant. -
Dying Did Not Become Her
David Rieff's memoir of the terminal illness of his mother, Susan Sontag, shows the consolations of philosophy deserting her and the denial of truth sustaining her as death approached.
Departments
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UpFront
Vegas as the new Athens; Mike Huckabee on bass; Larry Craig in Bali; T.A. Frank on what's out and what's in for 2008; and The Question. -
Correspondence
Features
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Financing the Common Good
After three decades of government starvation of necessary resources, the next president needs to champion progressive taxation with the proceeds invested in social outlays that make for a more productive economy. -
Good Jobs in a Global Economy
The next president can change our trade and labor policies to rebuild the American middle class. -
Leaving "No Child Left Behind" Behind
Our No. 1 education program is incoherent, unworkable, and doomed. But the next president still can have a huge impact on improving American schooling. -
Healing Our Self-Inflicted Wounds
How the next president can restore the rule of law to U.S. foreign policy -- and rebuild American credibility and power. -
The Democrats' Strategic Challenge
If the Democrats win the election, can the next president and Congress make significant progress toward realizing liberal aspirations? Here's how -- a road map for the start of a new America. -
Color, Values, America
Our next president must restore the United States as a nation of laws and of rights, rooted deeply in values. This effort must appeal to all Americans and transcend race -- but cannot ignore race. -
What to Really Do About Immigration
Half a million Mexicans will cross the border annually for the next 15 years. Here's a plan to enable them to stay home. -
What Ever Happened to Moderate Republicans?
With the hard right dominating their party, two groups have formed to recenter the Republicans. But even in their old habitats -- Wall Street and the media -- they're struggling to be noticed. -
A Conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin
Great presidents build support for transformative change. What can the next president do to revive a sense of common purpose? -
This Will Mean the World to Us
Despite decades of delay, the next administration could still move us toward a solution before devastating climate change becomes irreversible. -
Why 2009 Is the Year for Universal Health Care
It's not 1994 all over again. The next president can get the reforms that Harry Truman and Bill Clinton couldn't.
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Vol. 18 No. 11December 2007
Columns
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This Is Murder?
A 30-year-old mother with a history of dug abuse is charged with first and second degree murder after her child is stillborn.Is prosecuting her really the solution? -
Look Back in Awe
Even baby boom liberals who spent their youth in rebellion against the tranquilized 1950s have become homesick for its virtues. -
Hold that Tax
Social Security does not face an urgent crisis, and its problems do not need to be addressed now by a tax increase. -
Paying For It
The consequence of fiscal austerity and unwillingness to raise taxes on the rich is that America doesn't have the means to lift the bottom half. So what are leading Democrats prescribing? More of the same.
Culture
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The Great Enabler
In his unguarded, unmediated moments, Alan Greenspan the economist has begun repudiating Alan Greenspan the (anti) regulator. Will anyone notice? -
Faith-Based History
Hugh Heclo's history of Christianity in America overlooks the factional, temporal, and profane concerns of the nation's churches. -
Personal Finance Gets Political
Self-help finance guru Suze Orman has had an epiphany: Lending institutions could use some regulation.
Departments
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UpFront: The Unified Field Theory of George Soros
Proof that all of America's ills can be laid at the feet of a certain liberal Jewish banker, debating the benefits of global warming, and just who are these Iowa caucus-goers? -
Caught on Tape
Revelations that the CIA destroyed tapes of interrogations are further evidence of the degree to which this administration has fostered a culture of self-justifying raw power. It's time for us to call for leadership that promotes professionalism. -
Correspondence
Special Report
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No Parent Left Behind
Often, the most effective efforts to intervene in the lives of disadvantaged children start early -- or even before they are born. -
Continuing the Investment
Improvement can't stop at kindergarten. Top-notch "early education" must extend to 3rd grade -- and beyond. -
Child-Care Pay, Child-Care Quality
Decent early childhood education requires well-trained and compensated educators. -
"Kids First" Politics, Round Two
Progressives now have a chance to push a political agenda favoring investment in children. What can the second wave of children's politics learn from the first? -
From One Generation to the Next
Poor health at birth is one key channel through which economic status is passed from parent to child. Smart policies can lift kids beyond the poverty of parents. -
Pre-K Politics in the States
Pennsylvania and Illinois have made early childhood education a priority. Can other states -- and Washington -- learn from their example? -
A Movement Transformed
States have boldly advanced the cause of preschool in the last few years. Now, let's use growing support for pre-K to mobilize a national investment in early childhood. -
Nature, Nurture, and Destiny
The Bell Curve revisited: What science teaches us about heredity and environment. -
Changing the Climate on Early Childhood
The science of early childhood development is as persuasive as the science of global climate change. Today, both challenges urgently call for a transformative politics. -
All Our Children: An Introduction
Social outlay for early childhood education is the best investment we can make in America's future.
Features
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The Supreme Court's Wrong Turn -- And How to Fix It
After posing as moderates, Justices Roberts and Alito have moved the Court radically to the right. -
Left Behind?
Ossining, New York, was at the forefront of school integration. But as American law and public opinion turn against race-based programs, can the town continue to use racial targeting to close the achievement gap? -
Issuu Version Of Freshman
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How Hillary's Done It--So Far
Thanks to her sure-footedness, her rivals' mistakes, and diminishing Democratic divisions, Hillary Clinton has built a commanding lead. But we haven't heard from Iowa yet. -
Repealing the 20th Century
When most Americans think about the Supreme Court's effect, they think about such cultural hot-buttons as abortion, or due process for terrorists.
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Vol. 18 No. 10November 2007
Columns
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The Moral Equivalent of Optimism
It's a propitious moment to revisit failed 1970s' attempts to combine the aspiration for a better future with a sense of shared commitment and engagement in building that future, and this time, to get it right. -
The Iran Wedge
Between the GOP's wave of congressional retirements and its lackluster presidential candidates, the party's prospects are looking dim. But they have one cheerful possibility on the horizon: war with Iran. -
When We Get Behind the Wheel
Here's some advice on how to proceed once we've got the keys to the congressional car. -
Eyes Wide Open
Edwards has become the nation's most important spokesman for poor and middle-class America.
Culture
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Why They Win
Two new books say Republicans owe their victories to market-mania. Both books oversimplify. -
Shift Happens
Why is American's health-care system collapsing? Three books, three good answers. -
The Revolt of the Comic Books
America's superheroes take on preemptive war, torture, warrantless spying, and George W. himself. -
Faith in the Center?
John DiIulio's fascinating book takes religious moderation too far. -
Standard Error
A biography of Al Shanker traces his fight for school reform. But testing created accountability at the expense of education. Linda Perlstein's story of one school shows us just how truly terrible this is.
Departments
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Haunted by the Hippie
Despite the fact that Hillary Clinton is the most conservative Democrat running for president, the right makes her out to be a radical. Perhaps this is because the right still fears the social change hippies represented. -
UpFront: Pinless Cures
Telling non-flag-wearers where they can stick it, suitable third-party conservative candidates, the Supreme Court justice nobody knows, and The Question. -
Correspondence
Online Extras
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What's the Air Force For?
A roundtable discussion of Robert Farley's proposal to abolish the Air Force.
Features
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The Sisyphus from Searchlight
The question of Harry Reid's effectiveness has been a parlor game in Washington since he took over as minority leader. But has Reid been judged too harshly for Democrats' failure to end the war? -
Who's to Blame for the Brave New Economy?
Are we all complicit in the erosion of economic stability in American life? Or are corporate and financial elites the culprits? Our resident Roberts -- each of whom has authored a new book on the political economy -- argue the responsibility question. -
Tomorrow, the World
Flush with cash and ancient hatreds, American evangelicals are incubating a Christian right in secular Europe. -
Abolish the Air Force
What it does on its own -- strategic bombing -- isn't suited to modern warfare. What it does well -- its tactical support missions -- could be better managed by the Army and Navy. It's time to break up the Air Force. PLUS: Farley discusses his case for abolishing the Air Force with several bloggers. -
Prince William's Folly
In the Virginia suburbs of Washington, one county has declared war against its undocumented immigrants. With exceedingly limited political clout, the immigrants are still finding ways to fight back. -
Bush's Neo-Imperialist War
Our Iraqi occupation not only rejects American foreign policy since Wilson, it's a throwback to the great power imperialism that led to World War I. -
In Iraq Forever
Despite the Bush administration's party line, construction of permanent U.S. bases along with long-term plans for troop presence continue apace.
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Vol. 18 No. 9October 2007
Columns
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Moral Hazard Is for Suckers
People tend to be less cautious when they know they'll be bailed out. But even when they're careful, people cannot always assess risks accurately. -
Iraq Trap 2
Democrats should not promise an impossible victory, only an honorable end to the Iraq War as expediently as possible. -
New Politics Gets Newer
Political reform has a deep history within the progressive tradition, and the last election and recent debates suggest that reform in the larger sense may have its moment. -
No Country for Mothers
The U.S. average life expectancy is greater than ever -- for everyone but pregnant women.
Culture
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First Ladies in Two Modes
Democratic candidates have partners who can be more liberal than they. Republican candidates, ideally, are still married to June Cleaver. -
The Imperial Fallacy
Is the United States an empire, a hegemon, or what? And whatever happened to the idea of the U.S. as an exemplary liberal democracy? -
Arts and Minds
The State Department wants to fund artists to create works for overseas museums -- so long as the art promotes U.S. foreign policy.
Departments
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Correspondence
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Up Front: E Pluribus Ulcer
This month: Who's Gore endorsing?, Fred Thompson: Dumb as hell, Ted Nugent gets all dressed up, and Bush's 'The Fantastic Freedom Institute.'
Features
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Leo the Linchpin
Steelworker President Leo Gerard looks like an old-time union leader, but he's put together a labor-environmentalist alliance that bridges some growing Democratic fissures. -
Immigration Issues: After Failure
With immigration reform dead, Democrats court Hispanics and Republicans go (more) nativist. -
Medifraud Amok
Heard about the company that resold the drugs that came back in the mail? That's apparently just a normal day in the life of our under-regulated drug industry. -
The Fence to Nowhere
More than ever, we need to craft an accord on migrant workers. -
Immigration Issues: City on a Hill
Issuing ID cards to immigrants and citizens alike, liberal New Haven charts a course for cities that want to treat immigrants like people. -
Schools as Scapegoats
Our increasing inequality and our competitiveness problems are huge -- but they can't be laid at the door of our education system. -
The Hillarycare Mythology
Did Hillary doom health reform in 1993? Here's the real story, from the Prospect co-editor who was a White House senior health policy advisor at the time. -
God's Precinct Walkers
When students at conservative Christian Patrick Henry College entered the real world of Republican campaigns in a swing state, they found that God's plan did not always include victory. -
The Bubble Economy
The sub-prime mess, the huge risks taken by hedge funds, and the conflicts of interest that led to Enron are all the consequences of serial bouts of financial deregulation. Will we reverse field in time to prevent another 1929?
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Vol. 18 No. 8September 2007
Columns
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Windfall or Wipeout?
If Democrats win in '08, they might inherit a messy economic situation. The question is, will they still have the nerve to think big? -
All Trivial! All the Time!
From John Edwards' $400 haircuts to Hillary Clinton's cleavage to Barack Obama's swimming trunks, the line between political journalism and the gossip pages appears to have broken down. -
What Worker Rights Can Do
It's in the interest of those who favor free trade to see that worker rights are a fixture in trade agreements. -
Every Fight Tells a Story
Democrats are trying to keep political conflicts small and manageable, while Republicans keep trying to make them bigger.
Culture
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Which Kind of Economics?
Economist Bryan Caplan confuses reality with ideology, to unfortunate effect; economist Richard Freeman calls for open-source unions, which might just point the way to a revival of the labor movement. -
Ready to Rumble
Political reporter Matt Bai dissects today's Democratic Party, and urges it to move beyond the Clintonism of the '90s -- something that the current crop of presidential candidates (John Edwards excepted) doesn't seem all that inclined to do. -
Road Pictures for Our Time
Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom is that rare Western artist who can depict the streets of Tehran and Karachi. It's movie stars that trip him up.
Departments
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Unrequited Love: Musings on Girls Gone Mild
Author Wendy Shalit wrongly blames lenient baby-boomer parents and third- wave feminists for the hyper- sexual culture that surrounds young women. -
Up Front
The ultimate WSJ headline, T.A. Frank parodies a letter from Alberto Gonzales, and we ask, "Whom would you like to see impeached?" -
Correspondence
Special Report
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Deforestation and Poor Amazonians
Brazil's forest dwellers, often its best stewards, are trying hard to make a living from the standing forest. -
Better Governance
Expanding the network of protected areas and better environmental-law enforcement can help to curb deforestation. -
Deforestation and Global Markets
An Amazonian dilemma: Brazil has become a global producer, and China a global consumer. -
Tomorrow's Amazonia
As farming, ranching, and logging shrink the globe's great rainforest, the planet heats up. A Prospect special report on the assaults on, and the efforts to protect, the Amazon. -
The Role of the Public Sector
Concerted governmental policies to protect the forest have been few and far between. -
The Search for Solutions
From indigenous people to carbon traders, concerned groups have stepped up the fight to save the Amazon. -
Till the Cows Come Home
Once economically marginal, cattle ranching in the Amazon now yields big bucks. -
Whither Amazonia?
A new generation of forest-friendly political leaders has emerged in parts of the Amazon. -
The Fractured Landscape
A road here and a cattle ranch there imperil more than the immediate vicinity. -
Climate Change and the Forest
Warming breeds drought, drought breeds fires, fires release carbon, carbon breeds warming. -
The Economics of Storing Carbon
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The Shielded Guianas
The global economy discovers the most obscure corner of the rainforest. -
Biodiversity in Jeopardy
There are more life forms in Amazonia than anyplace else. But by the end of this century, there may be many fewer.
Features
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Young, Black, and Post-Civil Rights
There's a new generation of African American political leaders, and they aren't confining their careers to black districts -- they're calling for race-blind, not race-based, policies. -
The Myth of the Balanced Court
In 1980, John Paul Stevens stood at the center of the Supreme Court. Today, he is its most left-wing member -- and he hasn't changed. -
First Gonzales, then Bush
Impeachment should be a serious option -- with an intermediary step. -
Share the Credit
Why extending income tax credits to payroll tax payers should be the next big idea in American politics -- politically unassailable, progressive economics on a grand scale. -
This Year's Charade
Mitt Romney may be campaigning as the compassionate conservative, but, as George W. Bush has shown, winning the right wing's backing guarantees a right-wing president. -
The Trouble with Impeachment
Bush and Cheney merit impeachment and conviction -- that doesn't make it a good idea.
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