Contributing editor Yuval Levin published a new book last week: The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism. It couldn’t have come out at a better time.
The Fractured Republic is partly a history of postwar America and partly a work of political philosophy. Levin’s concern is the polarization that has come to dominate our political discourse, to the point where our politics now bears a closer resemblance to that of modern Europe than it does to that of even the America of 20 years ago.
American politics today, Levin observes, is largely the politics of baby boomer nostalgia. Liberals long for the good old days of their ’60s radicalism. Conservatives long for the good old days of the ’80s, when the Cold War was being won. And everyone is nostalgic for the ’50s, when the economy was growing by leaps, social cohesion was relatively strong, and the American dream was real and attainable by large majorities.
Because of this nostalgia, he says, our two political parties are both stuck looking backwards. To the extent that they glance forward, it’s only to try to graft the face of the future onto the frame of the past. And this, Levin argues, is a big part of why American politics has been caught in quicksand for a generation. It’s why everyone, both left and right, is so frustrated. It’s why everyone, both Democrat and Republican, thinks the country is on the wrong track.
The Fractured Republic is half diagnosis and half prescription. And both halves are essential reading, especially as we contemplate what the current election means for our body politic.
