Running Scared America's never-ending election campaign -- a phenomenon unknown in any of the world's other democracies -- keeps politicians vulnerable, frightened, and preoccupied, and makes it hard for government to deal with the country's most pressing problems. Americans often complain that the system is not sufficiently democratic. In truth, the author writes, it may be too democratic. by Anthony King Web-Only: Political analysts Jonathan Rauch and Larry Sabato respond to points made in this article.

Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity His name means nothing to most Americans, but Norman Borlaug and his farming methods have in the course of half a century kept starvation at bay for hundreds of millions of people in Asia and Latin America. Some environmentalists now ask, Can't this man be stopped? by Gregg Easterbrook Web-Only: The Green Revolution Norman Borlaug's Nobel Prize acceptance speech (December 11, 1970).

Reports Notes & Comment: The Spirit of Cotonou Many of the world's languages are beleaguered. Here is a survival strategy for one of them, now thatit seems ready to come out from behind its Maginot Line. by Cullen Murphy Foreign Affairs: Cuba's Entrepreneurial Socialism We say "embargo," they say "blockade" -- but semantics aside, two facts emerge: First, the Cubans have coped surprisingly well with recent economic crises and tighter U.S. sanctions. Second, with American companies looking on, the rest of the world has been eager to do business in Cuba. by Joy Gordon Urban Affairs: Good News! The words "public housing" virtually epitomize what went wrong decades ago with major aspects of urban social policy. Today, quietly, low-income housing has become a showcase for what communities are doing right. by Alexander von Hoffman Fiction & Poetry The Litany of Disparagement A poem by Dick Allen Cosmopolitan A short story by Akhil Sharma Browse and search The Atlantic's online archive. The seahorse symbol indicates that an article is supplemented with additional Atlantic material, such as related articles, audio, or special online sidebars.		Arts & Leisure Travel: The World as Your Oyster "Now, where shall we eat?" Reliable strategies for answering that question -- wherever you are. by Corby Kummer Music: The Many Faces of Ives American composers have long gazed inquiringly upon Charles Ives -- and seen images of their own choosing reflected back. In the course of his rediscovery of the composer, the author finds that "the mythological Ives is a trickster god." by David Schiff Books The Most Eminent Victorian Gladstone, by Roy Jenkins by Geoffrey Wheatcroft Brief Reviews by Phoebe-Lou Adams Other Departments 77 North Washington Street Contributors Letters (Send a letter to the editor.) The January Almanac Word Court by Barbara Wallraff Note: some material from The Atlantic's print edition may not be available online, at the request of the authors or artists.
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