This provocative book is a dialogue among Stanley B. Greenberg, Theda Skocpol, and other well-known thinkers. The contributors reject conservative answers to America's most pressing problems -- fraying social ties, hard-pressed family life, sluggish economic growth, and widening gaps between the life circumstances of the most privileged and of everyone else. They discuss a renewal of the nation's social contract, suggest how to revitalize American democracy (not only by reducing the role of big money, but also by reconnecting people to politics), and explore how popular Democrats can fashion broad electoral alliances in the years to come. The Democratic party must undertake a new mission to champion the daily needs of Americans who work for a living, the authors maintain. In this period of change, America needs a government that does more, not less. By opting for a popular progressive course, Democrats can realign national debates and inspire a broad new electoral majority.