The American Revolution that Wasn't

Covid-19 has created expectations of a state-society re-alignment in the United States. Deep polarization has crushed them. Initially in the spring of 2020, the instability in these structural and ideological contours of governance showed some potential for lasting change in the spring. But by the summer and fall, partisanship and tribalism reasserted themselves, and political polarization rendered unlikely any enduring transformation of the relationship between society and the state.