As the Democratic Party reassesses its direction after last year’s electoral losses, it’s encouraging to see new initiatives like Project 2029—a proposed, albeit late, answer to Project 2025—taking shape. But as Democrats rethink their policy, narrative, and electoral strategies, they risk repeating a familiar mistake in domestic social policy: substituting programs for policy.
By “programs,” I mean the specific interventions—like subsidies, grants, and services—designed to address particular social problems. Useful tools, yes, but too often, they are treated as ends in themselves. By “policy,” I mean the broader vision and principles that guide and integrate those tools toward a coherent national goal.
In my conversations with families across the country who struggle to make ends meet, kick a drug habit, manage a child’s complex behavioral challenges, or find dignified work, I hear the same concerns repeatedly: unaffordable child care, unaffordable housing, unaffordable health care, and not enough time with their children. What they want—and are willing to do their part to achieve—is a meaningful life of dignity, predictability, and stability. What they get is a patchwork of bureaucratically administered programs that too often serve the interests of the government-funded service providers, not the people. Many service providers do essential and heroic work. But when social policy is driven primarily by the needs of these organizations, rather than by a vision rooted in the experiences of families, we mistake institutional maintenance for progress.
Joe Waters is Capita’s Co-Founder and CEO
