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Alan Ehrenhalt

Alan Ehrenhalt

Contributing Editor

Alan Ehrenhalt served for 19 years as executive editor of Governing Magazine, and is currently one of its contributing editors. He has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review and op-ed page, the Washington Post Book World, New Republic and The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of four books: The United States of Ambition, The Lost City, Democracy in the Mirror, and The Great Inversion. He was also the creator and editor of the first four editions of Politics in America, a biennial reference book profiling all 535 members of Congress. Alan Ehrenhalt is a 1968 graduate of Brandeis University and holds an MS in journalism from Columbia. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard from 1977-1978; a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1987-1988; a Regents’ Lecturer at UCLA in 2006; an adjunct faculty member at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, at the University of Richmond, from 2004 through 2008; and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland Graduate School of Public Policy in 2009. In 2000 he received the American Political Science Association’s McWilliams award for distinguished contributions to the field of political science by a journalist. He is married, has two daughters, and lives in Arlington, Virginia.

He can be reached at ehrenhalt@yahoo.com.

Rising minorities in big cities are increasingly concerned about order and security. Political parties need to pay attention.
Thanks to a celebrated book, we know all about Robert Moses’ dictatorial misdeeds in New York City. But the truth is that many of his worst visions were being realized in cities across the country.
Like his father, the city’s longest-serving mayor combined preternatural instincts with sheer audacity. Sometimes Richard M. Daley overreached, but he left his city better than he found it.
Generally not that much when it comes to the economy or utility bills or how bureaucracy functions. But there are some important things they can influence.
Decades ago, enterprising newcomers had the run of legislative chambers. Control of campaign funds has changed that dynamic.
An economist is making the case for such a correlation, and it carries a ring of plausibility.
They’re a constant in urban history, typically launching with excitement but achieving modest results. That doesn’t stop the enthusiasts from dreaming.
Americans used to split their votes between parties a lot more than they do now. There are a lot of reasons things have changed, particularly growing cultural tribalism. Can we ever regain a bipartisan consensus?
Something positive does seem to be happening in many of the places that have been losing jobs and people for a long time. The gains may be modest, but they’re worth paying attention to.
The movement to protect historic buildings seemed unbeatable for decades, but it has spawned sophisticated, well-funded critics — and critics of the critics. Is it really “a good idea that has gone too far”?