Some of the 2020 Democratic candidates don’t have their priorities straight.
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 inMoney, Politics, and Power
Three Reasons the Democrats Have a Leadership Problem
New norms, a weak bench, and the difficulty of leading a party with a split identity
Posted inEnergy and the Environment
The Robocall Deluge Is a Case of Government Failure
Why those calls on your phone are more than a nuisance
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
2020 and the Democrats’ Theory of Change
The Democrats can and must think big, but they have to frame their ideas around the realities of a coalition party that includes suburban moderates.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Here’s How the Democratic Presidential Nomination Will Go
A much-too-early scenario
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
This Baby Is Overdue
America, can universal child care finally get your attention?
Posted inEconomic Policy
Democrats Have Broken the Taboo about Raising Taxes, and That’s a Good Thing
But the eventual political choices will be complicated.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
The Pleasant Illusions of the Medicare-for-All Debate
We’re in a phase of a familiar cycle.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
5 Reasons Why MAGA Conservatism Has Never Made Any Sense
Even on its own terms, MAGA doesn’t add up.
Posted inCivil Rights in America
Race and Class Are Old Bases of Political Divisions. Gender is Different.
Electoral politics didn’t used to divide women and men.