History of the Next Social Contract
The American social contract—the implicit division of obligations among individuals, families, employers, communities, and government—has long needed an update. Policies, programs, and assumptions designed for the single-earner families and industrial workplaces of the postwar era are consistently failing to provide security and opportunities for families today. New America took up the mission of designing a new social contract in 2007 and was the first organization to frame its vision in these terms. The initiative that followed generated vital ideas that continue to shape debate and policymaking.
Capstone Publications
Beyond the Low-Wage Social Contract, Michael Lind and Joshua Freedman, September 10, 2013
The Next Social Contract: An American Agenda for Reform, Michael Lind, June 10, 2013
Renewing the American Social Contract, Michael Lind, Joshua Freedman, and Greg Anrig, April 29, 2013
Policy Proposals
Expanded Social Security, Joshua Freedman, Steven Hill, Michael Lind and Robert Hiltonsmith, April 3, 2013
Paid Family Leave, Lauren Damme, March 31, 2011
The Dignity Voucher Program, Michael Lind and Lauren Damme, July 15, 2010
Total Tax Credit, Michael Lind, Spring 2008
First Principles
Kludgeocracy: The American Way of Policy, Steven M. Teles, December 10, 2012
No Discount: Comparing the Public Option to the Coupon Welfare State, Mike Konczal, December 3, 2012
US/Europe: Shaping a new model of economic development, Sherle R. Schwenninger, June 1, 2010
A Family-Based Social Contract, David Gray and Phillip Longman, November 25, 2008
Yeoman’s Return, Phillip Longman, January 31, 2008
The American Social Contract: From Drift to Mastery, Mark Schmitt, November 1, 2007
A Citizen-Based Social Contract, Michael Lind, June 20, 2007
Additional Publications
America’s Debt Problem, Joshua Freedman and Sherle R. Schwenninger, December 1, 2015
The U.S. Economy after the Great Recession, Samuel Sherraden and Sherle R. Schwenninger, March 4, 2014
The American Middle Class Under Stress, Samuel Sherraden and Sherle R. Schwenninger, April 27, 2011
A New Social Contract, Sherle R. Schwenninger, 2010
The Danger of Long-Term Structural Unemployment, Lauren Damme and Sherle R. Schwenninger, July 12, 2010
The Worrying Return of Inequality, Lauren Damme and Sherle R. Schwenninger, April 13, 2010