Three widely discussed works are helping to heat up the debate about race again. But the limits of a politics of racial conscience should be all too apparent.
Features
Why Save the Banks? The Ambivalent Liberal’s Guide to Reform
Liberals may find it difficult to muster sympathy for bankers, but there are compelling reasons to strengthen banking. Reforms should help restore the banks’ profitability, while coupling new powers with stronger supervision to curb abuses.
Constitutional Mischief: What’s Wrong with Term Limitations
How to fill legislatures with the old, the rich, and the bought.
The Private Use of Public Life
Last December, a public interest group called the Center for Public Integrity published a unique analysis of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), titled “America’s Frontline Trade Officials.”* The center used a wide variety of government documents, newsletters, press clips, directories, and other sources to piece together the career paths of mid-level and […]
The Middle Class and National Health Reform
With the recent flurry of proposals for universal health insurance, including a new plan submitted on June 5 by Majority Leader George Mitchell on behalf of the Senate Democratic leadership, a struggle that began three-quarters of a century ago in the United States entered another phase. Four times — in the Progressive Era, during the […]
Why America Will Adopt Comprehensive Health Care Reform
As costs rise and incremental reforms fail, the chances increase for a comprehensive, single-payer system of national health insurance.
The Reconstruction of Rights
Too many Americans today think of rights solely as limiting their obligations to others and responsibilities as citizens. But rights, rightly understood, flourish only when democracy flourishes, too.
Collateral Gains
Even before the jubilation in Kuwait City died down — indeed, even before the Gulf War ended in a decisive allied victory — many who warned that the war would go badly were warning that the war’s aftermath would go badly. That is a safe prediction. No one has ever won a nickel betting on […]
Racism and Race-Conscious Remedies
An exchange on whether American social and economic policy should emphasize special programs for blacks and other racial minorities or a more universal approach aimed equally at disadvantaged whites.
Racism and Race-Conscious Remedies
An exchange on whether American social and economic policy should emphasize special programs for blacks and other racial minorities or a more universal approach aimed equally at disadvantaged whites.

