In his celebrated 1802 poem, “My Heart Leaps Up,” poet William Wordsworth wrote the famous line: “The Child is father of the Man.” The poem, also known as “The Rainbow,” reads: “My heart leaps up when I behold/ A rainbow in the sky/ So was it when my life began/ So is it now I am a man/ So be it when I shall grow old/ Or let me die!/ The Child is father of the Man.” Then, he concludes, “And I wish my days to be/ Bound each to each by natural

ViewpointsJune 28, 2023

Elections are always high-stakes affairs in countries experiencing democratic backsliding. This was true of Turkey’s recent presidential election -- described as “free but unfair.” Likewise, when Poles go to the polls this fall, democracy itself will be on the line. Since coming to power in 2015, Poland’s populist Law and Justice (PiS) party has politicized the judiciary, harassed civil society, and worked tirelessly to drive independent media out of business. It has capi

ViewpointsJune 27, 2023

“All politics is local,” proclaims an old American saying. That might partly explain why democratic politics is going so badly -- especially, but not only, in the United States. For local government to work properly, there must be local journalism to hold politicians and policymakers to account. But local journalism has been collapsing in many parts of the world. This makes it more difficult for citizens to connect to civic life, both locally and, eventually, nationally. Local proble

ViewpointsJune 27, 2023

At a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing, leaders from the US Army, Navy, and Air Force all dutifully reported that they expected to miss their annual recruiting goal this year by thousands. This is just the latest sign that the military recruiting crisis -- the worst since the institution of the all-volunteer force in 1973 -- is not abating. Despite significant efforts by the military services, such as offering hefty enlistment bonuses of up to $50,000 and the ability to choose your

ViewpointsJune 26, 2023

India’s democracy is in danger. There is no sound moral, political or economic case for President Joe Biden and other democratic leaders to pretend this isn’t happening. Yet the red carpets keep being rolled out. This week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be welcomed for a lavish state dinner at the White House on Thursday aimed at fostering a “free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific” region. On India’s current trajectory toward repression, this w

ViewpointsJune 23, 2023

As Donald Trump’s star rises again even with multiple criminal indictments looming, many observers fear that anti-establishment populism in America is no longer just a flirtation, but a feature of our democratic system. More generally, it has become common to think that democracies anywhere -- with their open public spheres, majoritarian institutions and propensity for frustrating incrementalism -- have fueled the rise of populist leaders and demagogues. Examples of the success of “s

ViewpointsJune 22, 2023

It has now been over two years since G-7 leaders announced a groundbreaking agreement to divvy up taxation of multinational corporations’ profits. That breakthrough followed years of fraught negotiations under the aegis of the OECD/G-20 Inclusive Framework, which then adopted the same agreement later that year. By establishing a 15 percent global minimum tax rate that companies would have to pay wherever they operate, the agreement aimed both to deter profit-shifting through tax havens an

ViewpointsJune 22, 2023

This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of the truce of the Korean War. Technically, the Korean War has not ended yet, and therefore the Korean people have been living in a state of suspension for the past 70 years. In the eyes of the electronic generation, it is as if the screen were stuck on “pause,” and could resume anytime when someone presses the “play” button again. Strangely, however, many Korean people seem to be oblivious of their precarious situation. Such

ViewpointsJune 21, 2023

Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s majority opinion for the Supreme Court in Haaland v. Brackeen is conservative in the good, old-fashioned sense of the word. In upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act, the court reaffirmed precedent and declined an invitation to revolutionize the law with a reactionary constitutional holding. Along the way, Barrett demonstrated a style of doctrinal confidence and aphoristic clarity reminiscent of her old boss, Justice Antonin Scalia. The opinion marks a step in

ViewpointsJune 21, 2023

It’s still very early days, but if you're wondering how the 2024 presidential campaign might be different from the last matchup between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, one place to start is electric vehicles. Battery-powered cars are one of the biggest economic vulnerabilities that Republicans have in the battleground states such as Georgia, Michigan and Arizona that could wind up deciding the winner. The growth of electric vehicles is unique in that it touches an area of the US economy

ViewpointsJune 20, 2023

A fiscal “doom loop.” A transit “death spiral.” The “office apocalypse.” Since the traumatic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, these pessimistic terms have been applied repeatedly to the state of our cities. Analysis of Census data from my Brookings Institution colleague William Frey found that from 2020 to 2021, during the peak of the pandemic, major metropolitan areas including New York and Los Angeles lost a significant number of residents. A net 175,0

ViewpointsJune 20, 2023

Lack of investment for sustainable development in the world’s poorest, most vulnerable countries is one of the most pressing global issues today, especially now that many of these countries are in debt distress, or will be soon. The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and ongoing climate-driven disasters are preventing many developing economies from achieving liftoff and exacerbating the global economy’s structural asymmetries. This is the decade when

ViewpointsJune 19, 2023