The Social Democracy Project

  • March 7—This AP article look at problems in the UK's single-payer healthcare system reminds us that for social democracy to really work, it must be implemented efficiently.

  • March 5—Though TSD would never question but that the United States is a working democracy, there are several respects in which our democracy could be improved. One of these is the primary system, which gives outsized influence to voters living in early primary states. This AP articles looks at the issue on the even of Super Tuesday.

  • March 6—

  • Biden's Manufacturing Initiative Aids Poorest Counties

    February 13—A recent study from MIT and the Brookings Institution finds that the nation's poorest counties, generally Republican strongholds, have benefited disproportionately from President Biden's efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing. The study credits measures associated with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act with the ongoing surge in manufacturing capacity, though voters in red districts benefiting from the Biden programs remain loyal to Donal Trump.

    Story at Reuters
  • The Electoral Map for 2024

    February 12—A CNN analysis finds Biden struggling to recreate his winning 2020 coalition.

    Story at CNN
  • Obamacare Enrollments Set New Record

    January 21, 2024—21.3 million Americans have signed up for Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) health plans in this year's open enrollment season, including 5 million first-time enrollees, signaling the growing importance of this key plank in American social democracy.

    Story at Reuters
  • November 5—This Governing article looks at primary challenges to far-left candidates from more centrist Democrats in local elections around the country. Chatham University political scientist Jennie Sweet-Cushman is quoted as saying, "There's this shift for voters in [Allegheny County, PA] where the [Demcratic] party has moved so left in many ways that they're starting to entertain more moderate Republicans." For more on the county executive race in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), seen by some as a bellwether for the nation, see this Washington Post link: "How a Pittsburgh county election foreshadows the 2024 presidential race".

  • October 31—In a state Donald Trump carried in 2020 with 62 percent of the vote, Democratic Kentucky governor Andy Beshear is up in the polls in this fall's contest with the state's Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron. Informed observers credit good governance and a focus on state and local issues for Beshear's success—thus far—in swimming against the red tide.

  • Key to any discussion of living wages and the social safety net (embracing such programs as the Earned Income Tax Credit, minimum wage laws, social security or child care subsidies) is a knowledge of how much money a person or family needs to maintain an acceptable standard of living. The Economic Policy Institute has issued an updated version of their wonderful tool for gaining insight into this critical question. The Cost-of-Living calculator will tell you how much income is needed to support anywhere from a single person to a family of 6, in any city or county in the country. Two major take-aways will occur to anyone who spends some time with the calculator: (1) the cost of living varies tremendously between different areas (mainly rural vs urban) and (2) in urban areas, current minimum wage laws and the EITC fall far short of providing a basic living for workers at the low end of the wage spectrum.

  • It may seem axiomatic that so-called "right to work" laws (union leaders like to call them "right to work for less" laws) would be bad for both workers and for the party that chiefly champions workers' concerns—Democrats. After all, the driving force behind these laws is the disempowerment of non-management labor. Now we have proof, in a study conducted by Boston and Columbia universities and the Brookings Institute, that when states pass "right to work" (for less) laws, Democratic voting share diminishes, as do the number of elected officials hailing from working-class backgrounds. Unions are a foundation of any working social democracy: those of us who want a fairer, saner, and more compassionate society must stand unequivocably for the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

  • In this thoughtful op-ed piece in the Chicago Tribune, former education secretary Arne Duncan (2009-2015) argues that the challenges of all Americans who are economically, socially and politically marginalized, whether they live in inner-city neighborhoods or in the nation's rural hinterland, share a common interest in a strong social democratic program built on educational opportunity, decent jobs at living wages, affordable housing and universal healthcare.

  • This inspiring Quartz piece by Rebecca Schuman, whose memoir Schadenfreude, A Love Story made a big splash early this year, looks at how social democracy has created a culture of enjoying life, rather than striving to out-earn the proverbial Joneses, in the Federal Republic of Germany.

  • August 25, 2017—Joan Williams, author of White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluenessless in America, argues in this Guardian opinion piece that the path to Democrat success lies through a compromise between the party's urban elites and white working-class voters who are struggling in the new economy.

  • Eduardo Porter, in this New York Times "Economic Scene" piece, offers critical insights into how Democrats can take back the nation. He argues for a focus on policies, like apprenticeships for high schools grads, living wages tied to regional cost-of-living indexes, and aid to small business formation, that will open doors of opportunity and rebuild a thriving middle class.

  • In this refreshing piece of journalism from The Nation, author-journalist Ann Jones looks at the prospects for establishing single-payer healthcare, and other social democracy intitiatives, at the state level. The article takes an especial look at the candidature of Ben Jealous for Maryland governor.