Special Report

A look at Americans’ health reveals the astonishing inequalities in our society. American girls are born with a life expectancy that ranks 19th in the world (in another survey they fall to 28th). Male babies rank 31st — in a dead tie with Brunei. Among the 13 wealthiest countries, the United States ranks last or […]

The share of income going to the top one-tenth of 1 percent of American families quadrupled between 1970 and 1998, leaving the 13,000 richest families with almost as much income as the 20 million poorest families. Ordinary Americans seem to be well aware of this growing gap between rich and poor. In a recent opinion […]

In our new multiracial society, minorities need strategically effective coalitions.

Coming together in trade unions and farmers’ associations, fraternal chapters and veterans’ organizations, women’s groups and public-reform crusades, Americans more than a century ago created a raucous democracy in which citizens from all walks of life could be leaders and help to shape community life and public agendas. But U.S. civic life has changed fundamentally […]

When the constitutional convention was held in 1787, one of the participants’ major worries was that a democratic government based on majority rule could pose a threat to minorities. They were especially worried that majority rule could encourage a largely landless electorate to expropriate the property of people like themselves. They thus adopted a system […]

Corporate America’s ideological assault on government regulation has undermined middle America’s understanding of why these rules exist in the first place. It is true that some regulations have lived past their prime, protecting monopolies and stifling innovation. But the free-market ideologues of our era were not content to adjust those regulations to accommodate new economic […]

During the 2000 presidential TV debates, George W. Bush relentlessly repeated the tired Republican mantra that government, especially the federal government, is the enemy of American workers. As president, he’s turned that rhetoric into reality. Actually, Bush is as much a big-government guy as was Lyndon Johnson or FDR. But in his case, Bush has […]

The fights over education — school vouchers, the No Child Left Behind Act, affirmative action, and access to higher education — resonate deeply with people because they are literally fights over the American dream. Americans used to be able to move up economically with a high-school degree and a blue-collar, unionized job, and their kids […]

Retirement security for middle-class Americans is at risk. First, the push to privatize Social Security has diverted attention from solving the program’s financing problems. Second, unchecked reliance on 401(k) plans has made employer-provided pensions less reliable. Third, the president’s “ownership society” initiative has led to policy proposals that undermine pension coverage and splinter the health-care […]

It’s getting harder and harder to be middle class. As a result of the Bush administration’s relentless tax-cutting agenda — designed to limit the ability of government to deliver services — the lives of middle-class Americans are becoming more difficult and less secure, in areas from health care to pensions to public schools. But, in […]