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Democracy

Global Justice

The Fate of Indian Farmers Matters for the Entire Planet

India is a frontline battleground for a global war around agricultural knowledge. It is vital that we make sure that the Modi administration doesn’t choke this conversation.

Raj Patel

Law & Justice

The Menthol Cigarette Ban Shows There Is No Democracy Without Petitions

The menthol cigarette citizen’s petition recalls the lost political tradition of petition democracy, when not only could the complaints of any citizen get a hearing, but that hearing would occur publicly—in Congress.

Daniel Carpenter

Science & Nature

Science Doesn't Work That Way

Its authority derives not from unbiased experts but from the institutions and norms that structure their work.

Gregory E. Kaebnick

Philosophy & Religion, Politics

Polarization or Propaganda?

Two rival theories paint very different pictures of the sources of our democratic dysfunction. The debate won’t be settled by accusations of political convenience.

C. Thi Nguyen

Science & Nature

AI’s Future Doesn’t Have to Be Dystopian

The direction of AI development is not preordained. It can be altered to increase human productivity, create jobs and shared prosperity, and protect and bolster democratic freedoms—if we modify our approach.

Daron Acemoglu

Philosophy & Religion, Politics

Why Democracy Needs Privacy

The more someone knows about us, the more they can influence us. We can wield democratic power only if our privacy is protected.

Carissa Véliz

Global Justice

Spectacle and Social Murder in Pandemic India

Narendra Modi’s government has used lockdown to force further neoliberalization and continue its assault on pro-democracy activists.

Alf Gunvald Nilsen

Philosophy & Religion

The Value of Truth

At a time of anxiety about fake news and conspiracy theories, philosophy can help illuminate how we come to believe what we think we know.

Michael Patrick Lynch

Law & Justice

How Law Made Neoliberalism

If we are to emerge from this era of crisis, we need legal thinking that operates on fundamentally different presumptions.

Jedediah Britton-Purdy, Amy Kapczynski, David Singh Grewal

Politics

From Revolution to Reformism

Leaders of the left abandoned the language of transformation in the 1980s—at a cost. Can it be regained?

Adam Przeworski

Politics, Race

The Fight Ahead

The Republican Party has become a white nationalist party. If old fashioned politics can’t change that, we must consider alternatives.

Bernard E. Harcourt

Politics

Biden Must Put Democracy First

Unless we bolster its foundations, our enfeebled democracy won’t be able to solve any of the daunting problems Biden has singled out as priorities.

Archon Fung

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