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.

This Washington Post “Wonkblog” piece looks at the damage inflicted on real people by Kansas’s mean-spirited and intellectually bankrupt obsession with reducing taxes under Tea Party governor Sam Brownback.

Former U.K Prime Minister Tony Blair shares his views on the current crisis of social democracy.

This insightful New York Times op-ed piece looks at the increasing balkanization of America into a globalist, socially liberal camp and a Christian, “America-first” camp. The implications for building a solidaristic social democracy in America are profound.

Writing on the Social Europe website, Karin Pettersson (political editor-in-chief at Aftonbladet, Scandinavia’s biggest daily newspaper and visiting professor at Harvard) offers a trenchant evaluation of today’s economic imbalances and calls for a greater commitment to core social democratic principles.

A brilliant summary of the defects of unregulated capitalism and a stirring encomium of the Nordic model of social democracy from Iceland’s former foreign affairs minister.

In this smart op-ed piece, centrist New York Times columnist David Brooks discusses the competing narratives vying for America’s soul and for her future. The Social Democrat wholly endorses Brook’s conclusion: that the only sane way forward is a model that “welcomes diversity, meritocracy, immigration and open trade” but also “invests massively in human capital, especiallly the young and those who suffer from the downsides of creative destruction.” In this community,” Brooks adds, “the poor boy and girl are enmeshed in care and cultivation,” and “everything is designed to arouse energy and propel social mobility.” Word!

Economist and former advisor to Vice President Joe Biden Jared Bernstein sees a growing consensus in the Democrat camp around bold social democratic proposals like universal child allowances, a government subsidized jobs program, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit and higher minimum wage.

This insightful New York Times op-ed piece looks at the increasing balkanization of America into a globalist, socially liberal camp and a Christian, “America-first” camp. The implications for building a solidaristic social democracy in America are profound.

No, writes Marian Tupy in the Atlantic, Bernie is not a socialist, but a social democrat. (Wonder what the Bern would have to say about it?)

Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia is part of social democracy’s thin blue line in America, wielding his veto power against the state’s reactionary legislature.