The Atlantic Democracy Reader
For 161 years, magazine contributors have written about the gravest dangers and darkest hours for America’s political institutions.
Is Democracy Dying?
Investigating a perilous moment
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This work was commissioned, produced, and edited by The Atlantic's editorial staff. Support for this work was provided in part by the organizations listed here.
Support for coverage of governance and democracy has been provided by the Madison Initiative of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
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.