US Politics - Quillette

The Case for a Merit-Based Immigration System

The current system is not only economically counterproductive but incentivises people to become illegal immigrants.

Jay Sophalkalyan

23 Aug 2024 · 10 min read

Pat Buchanan campaigns for president during the 1996 presidential primaries.

Populists Before Trump

John Ganz’s lively new book provides a valuable account of the intellectual origins of Trumpism.

Leon Hadar

20 Aug 2024 · 9 min read

America’s Last Great Political Novel

In anticipation of the Democrats’ Convention in Chicago, a look back at Joe Klein’s splendid 1996 novel ‘Primary Colors’—a fascinating snapshot of Democratic Party politics at the end of the 20th century.

Kevin Mims

6 Aug 2024 · 22 min read

Donald Trump and the Perils of Myth-Making

In the wake of the shooting, we should neither demonise nor sanctify Trump, but assess him by normal political standards.

Jason Garshfield

17 Jul 2024 · 7 min read

Donald Trump raises his fist, US flag in background; soldiers on a rooftop (collage).

Courage and Cowardice in Pennsylvania

In trying to assassinate Donald Trump, Thomas Matthew Crooks inadvertently provided Trump with an opportunity to display the very qualities that have made him a cult icon.

Claire Lehmann

15 Jul 2024 · 7 min read

A police car graffitied with "ACAB" (all cops are bastards) is set alight during the George Floyd riots.

Stop Decriminalising Crime

When a gap opens between what the law punishes and what society believes should be punished, people lose respect for the law and are more likely to violate it.

Paul H. Robinson / Jeffrey Seaman

24 Jun 2024 · 11 min read

A black and white portrait of Henry Wallace with a background of colourful Soviet-era stamps.

Misadventures of a Stalinist Stooge

Benn Steil’s engrossing new biography of Henry A. Wallace is a timely cautionary tale and a masterpiece of 20th-century American history.

Ronald Radosh

25 Apr 2024 · 23 min read

Actor Nick Offerman as the President of the US during a public address. A still from the film.

American Carnage

Alex Garland’s spectacular new film ‘Civil War’ is a warning of what can happen to democracies when civil society collapses.

Allan Stratton

18 Apr 2024 · 7 min read

Images of Trump, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Aquinas.

Funhouse-Mirror Fusionism

Like the traditionalists and libertarians, integralists and vitalists find themselves advancing analogous causes: one stands for a moral order and cohesive community, and the other for the exceptional individual.

Cincinnatus Smith

28 Mar 2024 · 14 min read

Broken Covenant

Will Democrats abandon Biden over Israel?

Brian Stewart

28 Feb 2024 · 7 min read

The Optimistic Space Between Black and White

Reflecting on "The Case for Black Optimism" by Coleman Hughes

Megan Gafford

3 Feb 2024 · 6 min read

No, There’s No ‘Epidemic’ of Anti-Transgender Violence

Human Rights Campaign’s own data suggest trans Americans suffer a homicide risk that’s actually less than the U.S. average.

Brad Polumbo

29 Jan 2024 · 8 min read

The Return of the Creationists

How can we expect political sense or reason from people who cannot distinguish empirical reality from ancient myth?

Lawrence M. Krauss

14 Nov 2023 · 4 min read

The Perils of Affective Polarization

Our increasing desire to isolate ourselves from supporters of the opposite party can have dire consequences.

Julian Adorney

10 Nov 2023 · 9 min read

America Has Serious Problems. It’s Time to Stop Blaming Them on ‘Trumpism’

It is always tempting to portray one’s political opponents as consumed by some inveterate flaw or social contaminant that marks them as fallen creatures.

Quillette

9 Nov 2020 · 10 min read