Are the Democrats doomed?

The problem for the Democratic party is that its core philosophy and mechanisms are increasingly ill-suited to our times.

In an essay for National Affairs titled “The Politics of Loss,” Jay Cost recounts how the entire edifice of post–World War II politics is starting to crumble under the weight of debt and impending austerity. “The days when lawmakers could give to some Americans without shortchanging others are over; the politics of deciding who loses what, and when and how, is upon us,” Cost writes. He’s undoubtedly right when he adds, “Neither party yet fully understands the implications of this shift, which means both parties risk being caught unprepared when the economic slowdown forces profound changes in American politics.”

But there’s a key difference between the parties. The Democrats tend to be more traditionally coalitional: If everyone sticks together, everyone gets paid. In the age of austerity, however, zero-sum politics become more of the norm. When one constituency’s victory is another’s loss, the payoff for solidarity diminishes.