Politics

Births of a Nation

Surveying Trumpism with Cedric Robinson.

How People Vote

New theories of voting behavior explain bad outcomes, but are they convincing?

The GOP’s Anti-Democratic Fetish Runs Deep

Here’s the real reason the GOP made peace with Trump.

Funding the Resistance

Taking a stand against Trump has material consequences for government workers. Here’s how we can help.

On Becoming the Enemy

A family of Jewish refugees remembers Berlin before the war.

The Bartleby Strategy

Our democracy may depend on government workers, and indeed all of us, saying “I would prefer not to.”

The Myth of the Muslim Country

Calling the nations subjected to the ban Muslim is sloppy, misguided, and dangerous.

What Totalitarianism Looks Like

Five signs of a totalitarian regime.

Hamilton’s Choice

Hamilton presents us with the Choice of Hercules retold as a choice between two kinds of political life.

#Milosexual and the Aesthetics of Fascism

Milo Yiannopoulos was the paradoxical poster boy for the alt-right—until he wasn’t.

The President’s House Is Empty

Opting out, as Trump has done with the White House, is a neoliberal habit. But who bears the cost?

Reagan Used MLK Day to Undermine Racial Justice

The holiday was legislated as part of a strategy to defang King of his most radical qualities while co-opting him into the ideology of colorblindness.

When W. E. B. Du Bois Was “Un-American”

At the height of the McCarthy era, he was punished for trying to keep alive a free and open debate about U.S. military, economic, and foreign policy.

Five Looming Geopolitical Crises of the Trump Administration

A reckless foreign policy could bring ruin at home and abroad.

Back of the Yards

Lessons from a community organizer on building political power.

Leftists and Liberals in the Political Heartland

The Clinton-Sanders conflict reveals the contentious history of the Democratic Party—and holds the key to its future.

Feeling Paranoid

Phyllis Schlafly, Trump, and the Terror of Difference

Lost Utopias

Alternatives to Zionism, from the Uganda Scheme to Birobidzhan, present a complex history of the search for a Jewish home.

The Will of the People

The Electoral College once served an urgent political purpose. The time has now come to abolish it.

Garrison America and the Threat of Global War

The crisis of liberal capitalism has arrived, bringing us to the brink of total global war.

The New Politics of Hope

Where Trump whipped up faith in authoritarianism, Sanders revived hope in collective action. Sustaining that vision of social progress is the central task of the left today.

A Special Message from BR Co-Editor Joshua Cohen

You can depend on Boston Review to provide open debate, guided by reason and supported by evidence.

After Trump

A pluralistic democracy is built on debate, disagreement, and wakeful action. This forum begins the conversation.

Voter Discrimination Starts Well Before Election Day

Voter ID laws burden minorities, but discrimination starts well before they reach the voting booth.

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