Record voter mobilization has not produced change, so the Left must build durable organizations for the long haul
Source: Corey Robin. "The US Electorate Is Permanently Mobilized and Unable to Move." November 2, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
Americans are voting in record numbers and are very unhappy, yet the country's politics and economy barely budge and the electorate stays split down the middle. The author argues that quick eruptions or heroic leaders won't fix this, and that the Left needs to do the slow, patient work of building lasting organizations, whatever route it ultimately takes.
Conclusion
Because the US electorate is highly and permanently mobilized yet politically and socially 'stuck', neither episodic eruptions nor electoral mobilization alone will break the impasse. Whatever path the Left takes (electoral politics, non-reformist reforms, or more radical options), it requires the slow, patient construction of lasting organizations.
Premises
- US voter turnout has hit century-level highs in 2018, 2020, and (projected) 2026, and the electorate is more mobilized and dissatisfied than at any time in about a century.
- Despite this sustained mobilization, the electorate remains roughly evenly divided (about 50/50), and even full control of government by one party does not durably reshape it.
- Because parties cannot reshape the electorate, they have not been able to permanently reshape government or policy; Trump 1 did not stop Biden's innovations, and Biden's innovations barely affected Trump 2.
- Major sectors of the political economy and society (climate inaction, rising wealth inequality, no plan for AI, market exuberance) continue on their existing trajectory despite voter dissatisfaction.
- Voter suppression and gerrymandering have been only marginally effective, so the electorate's mobilization is robust rather than fragile.
- Episodic gestures and eruptions, the hallmark of today's 'hyperpolitical' age, have not produced durable change.
Assumptions
- High turnout and dissatisfaction should, absent some blocking factor, translate into structural change.
- A roughly 50/50 electoral split is evidence of political stalemate rather than a natural feature of a competitive two-party system.
- Durable change on the Left requires organizational infrastructure rather than electoral victories or charismatic leaders alone.
- The evidence of 'stuckness' (inequality, climate inaction, etc.) reflects the absence of lasting organizations rather than other causes such as institutional design, money in politics, or elite power.
- Turnout and polarization patterns of recent years are a reliable guide to whether the electorate can be moved.
- Past organizing strategies, rather than the Left's lack of organizing, are what explain the impasse.