The Democracy and Capitalism Project is motivated by a sense of strain, if not crisis, between democracy and capitalism. The recent growth in economic inequality, industrial concentration, alienated voters and workers, dislocations from global trade, and episodic financial crises have coincided with increased attacks on civil rights, the suppression of suffrage, and assaults on liberal civil society across the globe. While critics dating back to Karl Marx have questioned whether democracy and capitalism can co-exist, such critiques have gained special currency in recent years from both the right and the left.

What do democracy and capitalism require of each other?

Through an emphasis on pedagogy, research, and policy, the Democracy and Capitalism Project examines the intersection of free markets, free peoples, and free societies. Are they good for each other? What does each require of the other? What must be done to improve the functioning of democratic capitalism? How well is democratic capitalism working for us, and what should we do to buttress it, if anything at all? How well might reforms promote the full potential of democratic rule, the dynamism of capitalism, and mutual reinforcement between them?

The Democracy and Capitalism Project aims to engage both academia and the public on this vital topic while fostering a conversation between the two.