Democracy (journal)

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Democracy
Premier Issue, Summer 2006
Type	Quarterly Political Journal
Format	Magazine

Owner
Editor	Andrei Cherny Kenneth Baer
Editor-in-Chief	Clay Risen
Founded	2006
Political allegiance	Progressivism / Liberalism
Language	English
Price	USD $7.00
Headquarters	2120 L Street, NW Suite 305 Washington, DC 20037

Website: www.democracyjournal.org

Democracy is a quarterly journal of progressive and liberal politics, as well as culture, founded by Kenneth Baer and Andrei Cherny in 2006. While new, Democracy is intended to be the progressive/liberal answer to such prominent and influential conservative journals as The Public Interest, Policy Review, Commentary, and The National Interest. Baer and Cherny state in a message to readers in the first issue that they intend to "regenerate the strength of the progressive movement" with "big ideas."^[1] Contrasting themselves with National Review's William F. Buckley, Baer and Cherny proclaim their journal will "stand athwart history and yell, Forward!"^[1] The editors put forward Democracy as "a place where ideas can be developed and important debates can be spurred" at a "time when American politics has grown profoundly unserious."^[1]

Baer told The Hill “We think that the party is rich in tactics and poor in ideas. What we really need for long-term success is deep, serious thinking about how we’re going to apply long-held progressive values to new challenges.”^[2]

Cherny added “I had started thinking about where all of the conservative ideas, for better or worse, had come from. Every big idea — Social Security privatization, supply-side economics, preemption, faith-based initiatives — had come out of one of their journals in their intellectual infrastructure.”^[2]

In an editorial for the Los Angeles Times Baer and Cherny laid out a case for making a break with what they characterized as the "ad hoc approach to politics" they claim the current Democratic Party is engaged in.^[3]