Drift and Mastery: An Attempt to Diagnose the Current Unrest

Drift and Mastery: An Attempt to Diagnose the Current Unrest, originally published in 1914, is a significant work of American political and social thought by Walter Lippmann. Written during the Progressive Era, the book examines the profound transformations affecting democratic institutions, industrial organization, economic relationships, and social life in the early twentieth-century United States. It explores the tension between passive adaptation to changing circumstances and the deliberate, informed direction of collective affairs.

Lippmann critically investigates the limitations of traditional political and economic assumptions in responding to the complexities of modern industrial society. Through discussions of political corruption, property, labor movements, economic incentives, social reform, and democratic organization, he identifies the inadequacies of inherited institutions and established modes of thought. Particular attention is given to the changing relationship between individual freedom and collective responsibility, the growing importance of scientific knowledge, and the possibilities of conscious social organization.

Central to the work is the distinction between "drift," understood as the uncritical acceptance of existing social and economic forces, and "mastery," representing the capacity of democratic societies to shape their development through knowledge, cooperation, and purposeful action. Lippmann argues that meaningful democratic progress requires more than opposition to established authority; it demands constructive institutional innovation, informed public judgment, and the development of effective forms of social coordination.

This 2026 edition, published by DScholar Press International as part of The Classic Series, includes a new preface by Dr. Saurabh Chandra, situating the historical work within continuing discussions of democracy, political responsibility, economic power, and social transformation. The volume offers students, researchers, and general readers an opportunity to engage critically with an influential contribution to twentieth-century political thought and its enduring questions concerning democratic governance and social change.