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Congress Can Now Put a Stop to Trump’s Architectural Narcissism
His ballroom and arch are monstrosities more suitable for an authoritarian regime than a republic
 • Gabriel Schoenfeld
Top Reforms for the New Democratic Congress: End Corruption, Restore Democracy
It will need to tackle affordability and fix institutions simultaneously
 • Larry Diamond
Trump’s Authoritarianism Gutted GOP Talent and Revived Democrats’ Civil Rights Commitment
The UnPopulist takes on the GOP’s midterm shellacking
 • Shikha Dalmia, Berny Belvedere, Andy Craig, and Robert Tracinski
Even a Shellacking Tonight Won’t Pull MAGA Out of the Moral Morass
The movement’s leaders have given themselves permission to do anything to defeat the Democratic enemy
 • Damon Linker
The Next Congress Must Punish Trump’s Attempted Election Steal to Avert a Failed Republic
A Democratic wave will be meaningless in the long run unless he is held accountable for using agencies for grossly illegal interference
 • Andy Craig

New in The UnPopulist

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The State Department Is Basing Promotions on an Illegal Trump Loyalty Test: An Executive Watch Roundup
Our early-November selection of the president’s latest and greatest assaults on the rule of law
 • Executive Watch
Christians Grapple With How Their Faith Can Renew Liberal Democracy
The Center for Christianity and Public Life’s recent summit offered a vision of public faith that differs starkly from the distorted MAGA version
 • Berny Belvedere
Technology Will Help Humanity—If Authoritarians and Oligarchs Don’t Capture It
Putin and Musk are using it to destabilize free, liberal societies
 • Shikha Dalmia and Tom G. Palmer
A Democratic Congress Should Make It Its Business to Expose Trump’s Patronage Machine
The corrupt system he has erected will rot the American economy if it isn’t dismantled
 • Robert Tracinski
It’s Open Season for Racism and Bigotry in the Republican Party This Midterm
We have seen nothing like this in living memory
 • Steve Chapman
A Democratic Toolkit for Using a Midterm Win to Check Trump and Force a Reckoning
The next Congress will need to act like the first branch and unabashedly use all its constitutional powers
 • Andy Craig
56:10
Liberals Need to Live Their Creed: A Conversation Between Jonathan Rauch and Alexandre Lefebvre
The author of ‘Liberalism as a Way of Life’ argues that values like freedom, fairness, and reciprocity are deep enough to build a life on
 • Jonathan Rauch
Making the Case for Liberalism Without Apology: A Video Roundup
Our late-October collection of clips
Democrats Need Both Subpoenas and Supply
Trump’s corruption demands accountability, and voters expect a serious plan to bring down costs
 • Gary Winslett
An Enthusiasm Gap Foreshadowed the GOP’s Midterm Troubles This Summer, an ISMA Survey Finds
Trump’s populist coalition and the partisan loyalty of his nonpopulist support have shrunk substantially compared with the other side’s
 • Thomas Shull
Rubio’s Grotesque Defense of Western Civ
In his pseudo-history, Caesar and other European conquerors are the models for the US
 • Cathy Young
Ukrainian Civilians Died Because America Cut Off Intel and Satellite Links
Along with Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, these tactics represent an in-kind contribution to Putin’s war
 • Jason Jay Smart

The UnPopulist Presents:

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Short clips, medium-length vids, and longform video essays from The UnPopulist
Executive Watch
Tracking presidential abuses of power
 • Executive Watch
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The UnPopulist
Defending liberal democracy against authoritarianism in the U.S. and around the world.

Podcasts

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56:10
Liberals Need to Live Their Creed: A Conversation Between Jonathan Rauch and Alexandre Lefebvre
The author of ‘Liberalism as a Way of Life’ argues that values like freedom, fairness, and reciprocity are deep enough to build a life on
 • Jonathan Rauch
54:25
Abolish ICE Before Its Abusive Tactics Spread to Other Law Enforcement: A Conversation With Radley Balko
The agency has gone rogue and cannot be reformed
 • Shikha Dalmia
54:30
Liberals Need to Loosen Up to Play the Social Media Game Against Authoritarians: A Conversation with Renée DiResta
Their need to stay on message makes them less effective communicators
 • Berny Belvedere
35:34
Is Trump's Populist Coalition Shrinking?: Zooming In With Andy Craig and Tom Shull
ISMA's new survey suggests that the president's use of extralegal power is losing its appeal to even his most committed supporters
 • Andy Craig and Thomas Shull
1:09:06
Dismantling the Legacies of Illiberalism Haunting the US: Zooming In With Jamelle Bouie, David French, Danielle Allen
'Is a utopian liberalism possible?' A LibCon2026 podcast
 • Aaron Ross Powell
49:42
Fixing America's Negative Polarization With Proportional Representation: A Conversation With Lee Drutman
Presidentialism plus single-member districts is a bad combination that incentivizes leaders to consolidate power by fueling division.
 • Andy Craig
Recommendations
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Can We Still Govern?
Don Moynihan
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Telos News
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Infinite Scroll
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The Argument
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If you can keep it
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Protect Democracy
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Shikha Dalmia
Trump’s Authoritarianism Gutted GOP Talent and Revived Democrats’ Civil Rights Commitment
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Andy Craig
Trump’s Authoritarianism Gutted GOP Talent and Revived Democrats’ Civil Rights Commitment
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Berny Belvedere
Trump’s Authoritarianism Gutted GOP Talent and Revived Democrats’ Civil Rights Commitment
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Birch Smith
ICE Is a Death Machine
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Landry Ayres
The Revolution Is Dead, God Save King Trump: A Video Roundup
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Book Reviews

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Even Perfect Liberal Governance Could Not Have Stopped Reactionary Populism
A British author gets it. An economics Nobel laureate doesn’t.
 • Jonathan Rauch
The British Radical Who Used the American Revolution to Curb the Crown
Danielle Allen’s valuable history of Charles Lennox shows the two sides weren’t foes but allies for popular sovereignty against tyranny
 • Andy Craig
A Former Right-Winger’s Guide on How to Defeat Her Old Side
Democrats will ignore Sarah Longwell’s communication advice at their peril
 • Paul Crider
Can Elite Rule Be Reconciled with Democracy?
A liberal theorist offers an intriguing if imperfect framework for an age-old question
 • Matt McManus
Liberal Societies Need Grand Stories About Themselves
An interesting new book by a former Economist writer says that would jolt individuals out of their ennui
 • Jonathan Rauch
Does Immigration Lead to ‘Democratic Drain’ and Illiberalism in Native Countries?
A fascinating book by a political scientist says yes—but, in fact, there is strong evidence for the opposite case, too
 • Stan Veuger
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