The poll-trackers say Mitt Romney was doomed in any case, but some Republicans have blamed Hurricane Sandy. As parts of Queens, N.Y., and the Jersey Shore burned or were washed out to sea, Mr ...

The modern welfare state has reached a historic reckoning. As a political institution, it hasn't adapted to change. Politics and economics are at loggerheads.

The fundamental issue of political economy in the Western world has been the same for at least the past 200 years: drawing the right lines between government authority and individual initiative.

As the 20th century progressed, modern welfare states found that they had reached a point where squeezing more blood out of their taxpayers depressed growth rates and reduced tax revenues.

Modern democracy is a racket; a racket where the marks and confidence tricksters are one and the same: The People. The People, of course don’t do the dirty deeds themselves; they hire third ...

But the welfare state today is attributed to 19th century Germany, according to Howard. “Germany is usually credited with being the first modern welfare state,” he said. “The country’s government ...

Among various unwanted truths that grown-ups of the Western world have to contend with these days, here’s one that doesn’t get nearly the traction it deserves: The days of the modern welfare ...

Here the size and depth of the modern welfare state began to take shape during a most fractious time in American history. It was the mid-1960s, and social unrest was the order of the day.

While conservative politicians and pundits have been denouncing the welfare state for three-quarters of a century, conservative theorists have spent much of that time trying to devise a ...

The first televised presidential debate, in 1960, began with both candidates sitting before approaching their respective podiums. Nixon was memorably not telegenic: sweaty and uncomfortable. On ...

Sweden, Japan, and the United States. By Sven Steinmo, professor of political science. Cambridge University Press “The Evolution of Modern States” is a significant contribution to the literatures on ...

Increasingly, the welfare state is us. These numbers should scare us for two reasons. ... As Margaret Thatcher reputedly said about the problem facing modern welfare states, ...