Stephen Macedo

Stephen Macedo is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He is the author of Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage; Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy; and Liberal Virtues: Citizenship, Virtue, and Community in Liberal Constitutionalism. His newest book is In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us (co-authored with Frances Lee).

March 11, 2025
Politics & Law

March 11, 2025
Coronavirus, Free Speech, Healthcare, Interviews, Politics, Progressivism, Public Policy

How Our Politics Failed during the COVID Pandemic: An Interview with Stephen Macedo

By Matthew X. Wilson and Stephen Macedo

There was a fundamental failure of toleration for alternative points of view. I think some of it might be explained by the fact that it was a pandemic. For public health guidance to be effective, people have to comply. To that I would say fair enough, but it’s also equally important—or more important—to have confidence that the policies are sound. People complying en masse with unsound policies won’t do us a whole lot of good. That’s what open debate is supposed to address.

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