Can the Democrats Win?

For decades, center-left parties in the West have been moving right on economic issues. They have also become less oriented to the working class, growing their support among the affluent and highly educatedwhat economist Thomas Piketty has dubbed the Brahmin Left.Until recently, the U.S. Democratic Party has been no exceptionleading to accusations, from both left and right, that it engages in culture wars at the expense of economics. In this issue, political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson say that trend is over: the Democrats have decisively broken with the politics of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.What explains the Democrats U-turn on economics, despite their growing reliance on affluent suburban voters? Can it workas both an economic project and a way of building power? And what does this transformation mean for the future of the partyand a nation facing down democratic crisisHacker and Pierson lead a forum with responses from Jared Abbott, Larry Bartels, Bryce Covert, Ted Fertik & Tim Sahay, Heather Gautney, Lily Geismer, Representative Ro Khanna, and Dorian Warren & Thomas Ogorzalek.Elsewhere in the issue, Barnett R. Rubin examines the relationship between Zionism and colonialismand what it means (and doesnt mean) for a political solution in Israel and Palestine. We talk with Palestinian-American poet Fady Joudah and feature two poems he wrote after October 7. Plus essays on Walter Rodneys radical legacy, geopolitics amid war in Gaza, and more.Full list of contributors: Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson lead a forum with Jared Abbott, Larry M. Bartels, Bryce Covert, Ted Fertik & Tim Sahay, Heather Gautney, Lily Geismer, Ro Khanna, and Dorian Warren & Thomas Ogorzalekplus work by Noaman G. Ali & Shozab Raza, Abena Ampofoa Asare, Rachel Ida Buff, Helena Cobban, Fady Joudah, and Barnett R. Rubin.