National Affairs

National Affairs is a quarterly publication that features essays focused on domestic policy, political economy, societal issues, culture, and political philosophy. Its goal is to encourage Americans to think clearly about public matters and to enhance their ability to engage in self-governance. Housed at the American Enterprise Institute, the journal includes contributions from a wide range of authors, including academics, journalists, policy specialists, and political professionals, each bringing their unique perspectives. While the journal has a consistent viewpoint, it does not adhere to any specific political party. It is rooted in a confident and proud vision of America, believing that our strengths can help us tackle our weaknesses. Key strengths highlighted include our democratic capitalism, our commitment to liberty and equality under the law, and our ties to Western traditions. Each issue presents engaging yet serious essays covering a variety of domestic topics, from economics and healthcare to education and welfare, as well as current legal debates and persistent societal challenges. The journal pays special attention to the fundamental theoretical questions surrounding American self-governance, aiming to challenge conventional wisdom, clarify complex issues, provide actionable proposals, and highlight influential ideas in politics. In this effort, we draw inspiration from The Public Interest, a journal that significantly contributed to public discourse with its clarity and insight for many years. Our hope is to offer similar support to Americans as they navigate the challenges of a new era and to provide a platform for emerging thinkers and writers eager to impact national discussions.

National

English

Journal

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Global

#515685

United States

#178436

Law and Government/Law and Government

#431

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Articles

Friends at the Party

1 week ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 30, 2025 Durably reducing partisan animosity through multiple scalable treatmentsMatthew Hall et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 13 May 2025Abstract:Recent research has identified several effective strategies for reducing Americans’ animosity toward supporters of opposing political parties. However, whether these strategies can durably reduce partisan animosity in a scalable manner and in everyday life remains unclear.
Market Factors

1 week ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 29, 2025 Price Agnostic DemandSamuel Hartzmark & Abigail SussmanUniversity of Chicago Working Paper, April 2025Abstract:We document that investors lack conviction as to what the market price should be (absent seeing it). This is at odds with standard asset pricing models, which assume that investors are uncertain about the future, but understand what the current market price should be and whether the actual price is different from this.
Who Makes What

1 week ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 28, 2025 The 2025 Trade War: Dynamic Impacts Across U.S. States and the Global Economy Andrés Rodríguez-Clare, Mauricio Ulate & Jose Vasquez NBER Working Paper, May 2025 Abstract: We use a dynamic trade and reallocation model with downward nominal wage rigidities to quantitatively assess the economic consequences of recent U.S. tariff increases on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China, as well as the "reciprocal" tariff changes announced on "Liberation Day" and retaliatory measures by...
National Treasure

1 week ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 27, 2025 Social Security and Trends in Wealth InequalitySylvain Catherine, Max Miller & Natasha SarinJournal of Finance, June 2025, Pages 1497-1531Abstract:Recent influential work finds large increases in inequality in the United States based on measures of wealth concentration that notably exclude the value of social insurance programs. This paper shows that top wealth shares have not changed much over the last three decades when Social Security is properly accounted for.
Strategy and Tactics

1 week ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 26, 2025 On Nuclear Superiority and National SecurityAlexandre DebsJournal of Conflict Resolution, forthcomingAbstract:Does nuclear superiority improve national security? The Theory of the Nuclear Revolution (TNR) argues that it does not, but only after assuming that the nuclear balance is irrelevant militarily. Critics argue that it does, pointing at U.S. efforts to achieve nuclear superiority in the Cold War, when the nuclear stalemate was less stable than previously thought.
Millennial Knowledge

1 week ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

Findings May 24, 2025 Learning like a state: Organizational learning and state capacity in ancient GreeceFederica Carugati & Mark PyzykJournal of Institutional Economics, May 2025Abstract:State capacity is critical for development. Yet, the question of how states learn -- that is, how they acquire and incorporate information to improve performance over time -- has received little attention.
Getting Voters

1 week ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 23, 2025 The Effects of Political Advertising on Facebook and Instagram before the 2020 US ElectionHunt Allcott et al. NBER Working Paper, May 2025Abstract:We study the effects of social media political advertising by randomizing subsets of 36,906 Facebook users and 25,925 Instagram users to have political ads removed from their news feeds for six weeks before the 2020 US presidential election.
Diverse Diversity

2 weeks ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 22, 2025 Context Norms Shape Perceived Motives of Organizational Diversity StatementsKimberly Chaney et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcomingAbstract:Diversity statements have become common practice for organizations; might this norm backfire for norm-adhering organizations? The present research examines if awareness of diversity statement norms across organizations leads to perceptions of an organization’s diversity statement as mere norm adherence.
Simple Regimes

2 weeks ago | nationalaffairs.com | Kevin Lewis

May 21, 2025 Networks of coercion: Military ties and civilian leadership challenges in ChinaTyler Jost & Daniel MattinglyAmerican Journal of Political Science, forthcomingAbstract:Civilian-led coups are one of the most common routes to losing power in autocracies. How do authoritarian leaders secure themselves from civilian leadership challenges? We argue that autocrats differentiate civilian rivals in part by their social ties to the military.
The Forgotten History of the GOP: Is It Time to Bring Back Fusion Voting?

2 weeks ago | nationalaffairs.com | Howe Whitman III |Daniel Wiser |Jennifer Dresden |Steven Teles

May 22, 2025 Whether it's foreign-policy hawks on the right, cultural conservatives on the left, or fiscal conservatives anywhere, the reductive binary of today's electoral options can be deeply frustrating for intraparty minority groups. Considering how various 19th-century movements combined to form the Republican Party offers some paths out of that frustration. Guest Jennifer Dresden joins us to discuss the forgotten history of fusion voting and how it might serve disaffected voters today.