Ideological Reasons Why Democrats Have Neglected Local Politics

For progressives, the goal is ultimately about working toward a society built on one unified vision of policy and culture, rather than a diverse array of policies and cultures. “If you’re confident that you can get the right answer to something, like health care policy, or welfare, or any number of very difficult social problems, it’s hard not to say that right answer should be equally available to everyone,” says law professor Ernest Young, meaning that progressives believe their “right answers” should be legislated through federal policy.

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When One Party Has the Governor’s Mansion and the Other Has the Statehouse

Sanford School professor Pope “Mac” McCorkle says that if North Carolina Republicans “keep on sending people a message they are right-wingers,” newly elected Democratic governor Roy Cooper will have an advantage in the “outside game” of appealing to voters who think the state has veered too far from its moderate political tradition.

Read More in The New York Times

NC Republicans Take Unprecedented Steps to Curb Dem Gov.’s Power

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed an unprecedented law passed by a last-minute session of the Republican legislature Friday that would radically curb the power of the incoming Democratic governor, despite widespread protests and a vow to challenge the measure in court. “There’s no precedent in the last 100 years,” says Michael Gillespie, a professor of political science, who compares the current political climate to the legislative tensions surrounding Jim Crow laws. “The goal is to do whatever they can to sustain their dominance in the state legislature.”

Read More in TIME

Now, America, You Know How Chileans Felt

“The United States cannot in good faith decry what has been done to its decent citizens until it is ready to face what it did so often to the equally decent citizens of other nations. And it must firmly resolve never to engage in such imperious activities again,” writes Ariel Dorfman, professor emeritus of literature, on reports that Russia interfered in the U.S. election. “If ever there was a time for America to look at itself in the mirror, if ever there was a time of reckoning and accountability, it is now.”

Read More in The New York Times

Why Health Care Leaders are Worried About Their Industry

“However the Trump administration and the Republican U.S. Congress replace or revamp the Affordable Care Act, it is unlikely to halt America’s ongoing move from the rightfully maligned fee-for-service payment system to one that pays for ‘value'” — the quality of outcomes relative to the price, write Dr. Kevin Schulman and a colleague from Johns Hopkins.

Read More in Harvard Business Review

The Working Class When Millionaires, Billionaires are in Charge

“This is not to say that business people are bad, or rich people are bad, but it’s important to recognize that everyone’s perspective and policy and government is shaped by the kind of life you’ve lived,” says Sanford School professor Nick Carnes. “If you’ve been rich for a long time, it’s easy to forget about the perspectives of those who don’t have so much.”

 

Read More in The Washington Post