T o their credit, the Republican leaders in Congress have had a highly strategic view of the uses of policy in consolidating political power. Newt Gingrich and his colleagues set themselves a clear agenda and they have stuck to it, conscious that their first priority, more important than any single piece of legislation, has been […]
Politics
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Smoldering Electorate
Three books about American politics help illuminate the deep frustration of voters — and suggest how much of a change Democrats must undertake to reach them.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Of Our Time: A Pile of Vetoes
M idway through this first year of Republican legislative hegemony, President Clinton has seemingly risen, once again, from the political dead. One cannot yet say the same for the Democratic Party or the cause of liberalism. The Republicans are still very much in charge, with an agenda more stridently radical and more dominant than anything […]
Posted inHousing and Transportation
Liberty, Community, and the National Idea
Is a renewed emphasis on the value of community the answer to our political woes? Not if it’s defined in purely local terms.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Back from the Dead: Neoprogressivism in the ’90s
The conservative revolution turned out to be less than a mandate. Can the various factions that call themselves progressive get behind a common vision?
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Who Won the Cold War?
Is it high time for liberals to apologize to the anticommunist right, which correctly gauged the red menace from the start? Sorry, the credit belongs to a brave band of liberal cold warriors beginning with George Kennan.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Who Deserted the Democrats in 1994?
Analysts have pronounced 1994 an ideological election because the economy was growing overall. But look who was swinging Republican.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Goldwater’s Glitter
Conservatives hail Barry Goldwater as a forerunner; liberals appreciate his belated moderation. But Goldwater wasn’t the paragon a new biography makes him out to be.
Posted inCivil Rights in America
Fight Smoke with Fire
Why taking on Big Tobacco in the name of children’s health is a winning issue for Democrats.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Of Our Time: Fearful Symmetry
T he 1994 election, more than any in recent memory, “nationalized” politics. That is, the Republicans ran on a coherent ideology and program; Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America became the manifesto. Even though the actual swing in the popular vote was small, it was consistent across the country–enough to give Republicans control of both houses […]
