AS WE go to press, war is raging in Gaza, Trump’s electoral chances are soaring even as he is being tried in New York and Georgia, and Biden is scrambling to boost his approval rating and deflect criticism of the administration’s nearly uncritical support for Israel. With looming elections around the globe, the months ahead will present critical tests to the fate of democracy.
In the United States, much depends on the prospects of the Democratic Party. Our forum in this issue explores the party’s shifting base and priorities—and what they mean for efforts to build a democracy that ser ves all Americans.
Until recently, political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson argue, the Democrats have followed the rightward trend of center-left parties throughout much of the West—abandoning redistribution while growing support among the affluent and highly educated. But that trend is over. Since Biden took office, Democrats have embraced the boldest economic agenda in more than half a century, breaking with the politics of Barack Obama even while relying on a more economically diverse base. Though the party’s most ambitious plans narrowly failed in Congress, the stage is set, Hacker and Pierson think, for significant progressive gains.