Founded in 1987 as a site where social-scientific theorizing confronts empirical realities, Critical Review publishes pathbreaking research and reflections on the effects of modern society—particularly its capitalist and democratic elements—on human well-being.

Since 1997, the journal has treated complexity as the defining feature of modernity, and has focused on the effects of complexity on mass democracy. Critical Review is now the leading forum for considering whether voters and other political decision makers can make good choices in the face of pervasive ignorance about the social problems they are trying to solve. By exploring the informational and cognitive failures to which human decision makers are prone, Critical Review brings a large dose of realism to normative comparisons among political institutions and economic systems, seeking to ensure that such comparisons adequately take account of the modern world's complexity.