A Democracy, If You Can Keep It

a weekly newsletter

Many Americans—including me—are deeply worried that our democracy is in danger. Even if Donald Trump doesn’t become the next president, tens of millions of people are prepared to vote for a candidate who despises democratic norms; they may find someone else tomorrow. My goal is not to lament and bemoan this state of affairs, but to explain what we can do—in our political, economic and cultural life—to change the underlying conditions that have brought us to this pass.

I have been a journalist, author and scholar—at NYU—for almost half a century. I have written about national politics, foreign affairs, education, race, crime—even (for the NY Times), Donald Trump. The advent of Trump has forced me to think about our collective future. In 2019 I published What Was Liberalism?, a book that traced the rise and decline of an idea that once constituted America’s consensual faith. My biography of Hubert Humphrey, True Believer, which will be published in February, also explores that history. Now, however, my work focuses on what we can and must do to strengthen the foundations of liberal democracy. My next book will focus on the war over the teaching of history and civics, and the effort—often truly noble—to effectively and honestly tell the American story to our students.