Podcast
American Enterprise Institute political economist Nicholas Eberstadt joints Terms of Engagement hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss falling male labor force participation and what he says are its effects on politics and society.
American men’s work rates have fallen relentlessly since the 1950s, with prime-age male labor force participation now approaching Depression-era lows—a trend political economist Nicholas Eberstadt has spent decades documenting. In this episode of Terms of Engagement, Eberstadt joins hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to unpack how this quiet collapse in male employment has shaped not just the economy but American manhood itself, eroding the social role and cultural expectations long tied to work. They discuss links between “un-working” men and the rise of populist politics in the U.S., why this trend remained hidden in official unemployment statistics for so long, and what it reveals about the fraying bonds between work, dignity, and civic life.
Nicholas Eberstadt is a political economist at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he researches and writes extensively on demographics, economic development, and international security. Domestically, he focuses on poverty and social well-being. He has written a number of books including “Men Without Work,” “A Nation of Takers,” and “The Tyranny of Numbers.” He has offered invited testimony before Congress on numerous occasions and has served as consultant or adviser for a variety of U.S. government agencies. Eberstadt earned his PhD in political economy and government and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an AB from Harvard University.
Archon Fung is the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. His research explores policies, practices, and institutional designs that deepen the quality of democratic governance with a focus on public participation, deliberation, and transparency. He has authored five books, four edited collections, and over fifty articles appearing in professional journals. He received two S.B.s — in philosophy and physics — and his Ph.D. in political science from MIT.
Stephen Richer is the former elected Maricopa County Recorder, responsible for voter registration, early voting administration, and public recordings in Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth largest county in the United States. Prior to being an elected official, Stephen worked at several public policy think tanks and as a business transactions attorney. Stephen received his J.D. and M.A. from The University of Chicago and his B.A. from Tulane University. Stephen has been broadly recognized for his work in elections and American Democracy. In 2021, the Arizona Republic named Stephen “Arizonan of the Year.” In 2022, the Maricopa Bar Association awarded Stephen “Public Law Attorney of the Year.” In 2023, Stephen won “Leader of the Year” from the Arizona Capitol Times. And in 2024, Time Magazine named Stephen a “Defender of Democracy.”
The views expressed on this show are those of the hosts alone and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Ash Center or its affiliates.
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Article
A new article in the American Journal of Political Science, co-authored by Yanilda María González, Ford Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy and Ash Center affiliate, examines public attitudes toward police violence in Brazil. The authors find that while police discourse can increase public endorsement of violence, counternarratives from marginalized victims can be effective in reducing citizen support for repressive policing.
