What do we owe each other as members of a democratic society? Public goods—from clean water to health care to schools—are under siege in the United States, with access too often restricted by class and race. Against this background, Trump’s nearly empty White House symbolizes the crisis we face: our increasing abandonment of the idea of the public. At stake is not only what we owe to each other but who we are.

Contributors: K. Sabeel Rahman leads a forum with Elaine Kamarck, Michael Hardt, Jacob T. Levy, Lauren Jacobs, and Joshua Cohen, plus essays by Bonnie Honig, Bernardo Zacka, Marshall Steinbaum, Tracy Meares, Meghan O’Gieblyn, and Julian C. Chambliss, with poems by Shane McCrae, Craig Santos Perez, and Sally Ball.