Two growing conflicts, peculiar to postindustrial societies, challenge the ability of elites to keep postindustrial politics manageable. These are (1) a conflict between elites and those non-elites who remain reasonably well integrated in the productive and social orders of postindustrial...

Clear and pressing needs for many kinds of work have declined steadily since the mid-1970s in Western countries, and the declines show no sign of stopping. In the United States today, for example, roughly 7 million prime working-age men no longer seek work and are officially outside the labor...