Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson
50 μ£¥³¤ ¬μμ¬
be enhanced. After all, a public sector that
lacks the funding and expertise to deliver
on ambitious policies is a public sector
that continually vindicates the arguments
o those trying to cripple it.
Reform will still face Ãerce opposi-
tion at every turn. But i democracy is
protected, the forces o reaction cannot
win forever. Social tolerance continues
to increase, especially among young
Americans, and Trump’s presidency has
only accelerated this trend. Moreover,
the United States is growing less white
and less rural with every passing year.
The 2018 midterm elections showed
that Trump has galvanized young and
nonwhite voters and spurred his oppo-
nents to organize to defend democratic
values. The ³£¡ has turned to a polar-
izing and countermajoritarian strategy
precisely because it knows that it is
in a race against time: every election
cycle, as the party’s older, white voting
base shrinks as a share o the elector-
ate, Republicans’ revanchism appeals to
fewer and fewer Americans. The party’s
rhetoric conjures up a mythical past be-
cause the ³£¡ as currently constituted
cannot survive in a democratic future.
Eective governance is elusive not
because the problems Americans face
are insuperable but because asym-
metric polarization has collided with
aging political institutions that are
poorly equipped to handle a radicalized
Republican Party. Reforming these
institutions won’t be easy, nor will Re-
publicans naturally move back toward
the center. But there are powerful
forces pushing for change, and there
are ample opportunities for improv-
ing American society just waiting to
be seized—i Americans can get their
government working again.∂broad political coalitions. To take just one
example, moving the United States’
inecient health-care system closer to the
best-performing foreign models would
reduce pressure on both public and
private budgets while softening inequality
and making millions o Americans
healthier and better o. Climate change
presents not only an existential threat but
also an inspiring opportunity to create
well-paid jobs rebuilding the United
States’ crumbling infrastructure and to
jump-start a technological revolution in
green energy. What’s more, ³£¡ policies
such as the 2017 tax cuts hand out so
much cash to so few people that reversing
them would be an easy way to oer broad
gains. In short, the problem is not a
shortage o good policy ideas; it is a
system that cannot turn them into reality.
Another reason for optimism comes
from the growing number o politicians
and policymakers who recognize that the
immediate priority is updating the United
States’ antiquated electoral and political
institutions. After winning the 2018
elections, House Democrats put a package
o such reforms—given the honorary
designation o H.R. 1—at the top o their
legislative agenda. The reforms proposed
are mostly sensible Ãrst steps to increase
voter turnout, limit gerrymandering, and
curb the role o money in politics. But
more important than the speciÃcs is the
fact that political reform now occupies the
leading edge o progressive thinking.
The common theme o these proposals is
that in a democracy, popular majorities
should decide elections and the winners
o those elections should be able to
govern. Opportunities for minorities to
obstruct normal lawmaking should be
limited, and the government’s ability to
carry out important public policies should