The Atlantic Democracy Reader
For 161 years, magazine contributors have written about the gravest dangers and darkest hours for America’s political institutions.
Support for coverage of governance and democracy has been provided by the Madison Initiative of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
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Radio Atlantic: Is Democracy Dying?
Jeffrey Rosen and Anne Applebaum—scholars of America’s past and Europe’s present—discuss our precarious moment in history and what could come next.
UN Secretary-General: American Power Is in Decline, the World Is ‘in Pieces’
António Guterres confronts the “reemergence of irrationality” in global politics.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Call to Save America
A year into the Civil War, The Atlantic’s co-founder entreated President Lincoln and the Republican-majority Congress to bring slavery to an immediate and permanent end.
Where America’s Civic Reawakening Is Happening
Political enthusiasms are running high around the country.
A House Still Divided
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln warned that America could not remain “half slave and half free.” Today, the country remains divided by racism—and the threat is as existential as it was before the Civil War.
The Threat of Tribalism
The Constitution once united a diverse country under a banner of ideas. But partisanship has turned Americans against one another—and against the principles enshrined in our founding document.
Americans Aren’t Practicing Democracy Anymore
As participation in civic life has dwindled, so has public faith in the country’s system of government.
America’s Slide Toward Autocracy
Democracy has taken a beating under President Trump. Will the midterms make a difference?
Against the Ideal of a ‘Melting Pot’
As anti-immigration sentiments intensified in the U.S. during World War I, Randolph S. Bourne argued for embracing cultural diversity rather than demanding assimilation.
America’s Courts Can’t Ignore the World
The laws of other countries have a bearing on America’s own, writes Stephen Breyer—and the highest court in the land needs to take heed.
America Is Living James Madison’s Nightmare
The Founders designed a government that would resist mob rule. They didn’t anticipate how strong the mob could become.
A Warning From Europe: The Worst Is Yet to Come
Polarization. Conspiracy theories. Attacks on the free press. An obsession with loyalty. Recent events in the United States follow a pattern Europeans know all too well.
Why Technology Favors Tyranny
Artificial intelligence could erase many practical advantages of democracy, and erode the ideals of liberty and equality. It will further concentrate power among a small elite if we don’t take steps to stop it.
Dealing With an Out-of-Control President, in 1973
In the midst of the Watergate scandal, Arthur Schlesinger Jr. considered how Richard Nixon had abused the powers of the presidency—and how constitutional order could be restored.