Why candidates spend billions on ads and experts of marginal value.
Books
Book reviews and essays from the Washington Monthly on the new books shaping debates over politics, policy, history, and American democracy.
Posted inBooks, Education, Higher Education, Magazine, March/April/May 2016
Racial Diversity Without Racial Preferences
The growing case for class-based affirmative action in college admissions.
Posted inBooks, Magazine, March/April/May 2016, Politics
How Big a Success Is the Democratic Revolution in Burma?
And how much credit should the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton get for making it happen?
Posted inBooks, January/February 2016, Magazine, Politics
Declining to Be Spun
Why the seemingly fearsome tools of political propaganda backfire with voters.
Posted inBooks, Economy, January/February 2016, Magazine
Fear and Loathing in Athens
The corruption and incompetence of Greece is real. So is the crushing indifference of its European overlords.
Posted inBooks, Health Care, January/February 2016, Magazine
Time to Put Big Soda on a Diet
Excess sugar intake is killing Americans. But a few giant, consolidated beverage companies keep squashing reform efforts.
Posted inBooks, January/February 2016, Magazine, Politics
The Real Reagan
The Gipper’s actual record diverges significantly from the posthumous conservative mythology about him.
Posted inBooks, Government, January/February 2016, Magazine, Politics
The Freedom Caucus Is (Sort of) Right
The House leadership’s top-down management style isn’t working. Is it time to try more democracy?
Posted inBooks, January/February 2016, Magazine
Immigrant Song
How America gets assimilation (mostly) right.
Posted inBooks, January/February 2016, Magazine, Politics
How to Corral the Donor Class
When it comes to money in politics, the real problem is not corruption, but inequality.
