Half a century later, the battles of the 1960s–and the effects of one great wrong turn by liberals of that time–are still with us.
Paul Starr
Paul Starr is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, and professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and the Bancroft Prize in American history, he is the author of eight books, including American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now (Yale University Press, October 2025).
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Three Roads from the Supreme Court
None of the options for health-care reform is ideal, but the most likely path forward would be through action in the states.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Mitt Romney, Hero of Finance
Romney’s backers say he did the tough work needed to restructure the economy. Actually, he seized opportunities that the tax, securities, and bankruptcy laws should never have given him.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Fanatics of the Center
Moderation has its zealots, so convinced of their righteousness that they ignore the likely impact of their actions.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Case for a Clinton-Biden Switch
Putting the current secretary of state on the presidential ticket could be Obama’s best shot at re-election.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Obama’s Fate — and Ours
We’re about to find out if the president is a Jimmy Carter or a Harry Truman. The scary part is it may not make a difference in the 2012 election.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
The Medicare Bind
Democrats should defend Medicare. But if they want to accomplish much else, they will have to change it.
Posted inArticle
The Ultimate Republican Threat
The Constitution did not omit limits on taxes and borrowing because of an oversight.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Manichean World of Tim Wu
For the past dozen years, several distinguished thinkers about law and technology have warned that a golden age of Internet freedom may be about to close. The most influential alarm-ringer has been Lawrence Lessig, who argued in his 1999 book, Code, that under corporate and governmental pressures, the Net could be flipped to serve top-down […]
Posted inColumns
The Demise of the Moderate Republican
As the GOP presidential field shapes up, it’s become clear that any moderate restraints on the party are now gone.