DOCSLIB.ORG

Neoconservatives and the Freedom Philosophy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Neoconservatives and the Freedom Philosophy From the President by Richard M. Ebeling Ideas On Liberty MAY 2004 Neoconservatives and the Freedom Philosophy he winter 2004 issue of The Public ever-forward. Libertarians oppose all regula- Interest contains an article by Adam tion, whether of markets or morals.” He Wolfson, the publication’s editor, on says that libertarians have a “love affair” T“Conservatives and Neoconserva- with new technologies as the path to human tives.” Mr. Wolfson outlines some of the happiness. And, in addition, they discount central ideas of neoconservatism by con- any role or place for “the general welfare” trasting them with what he refers to as tra- and are opposed to democratic decision- ditionalist conservatism, paleoconservatism, making in the shaping of a “public ethos.” and libertarian conservatism. Thus in their pursuit of advancing the right Before World War II, he points out, con- of individual choice, the libertarian, he servatism was really classical liberalism, claims, is happy if citizens are indifferent to with strong emphases on individual free- the well-being of their country. dom, laissez-faire economics, and progress What, then, does the neoconservative through scientific improvement. In the post- stand for? As summarized by Mr. Wolfson, war period, under the influence of Russell neoconservatives recognize the value of tra- Kirk’s 1953 book, The Conservative Mind, ditions and customs passed down by earlier Mr. Wolfson says, American conservatism generations, but have no desire for or belief was transformed into a political philosophy in returning to a past that is unrecoverable critical of modernity and its unreflective and unacceptable to the vast majority of belief that social and economic change contemporary Americans. Nor are neocon- always means progress. The Kirkian conser- servatives desirous of a turning inward from vatives emphasized the roles of tradition, the rest of the world, as he portrays the paleo- custom, local community, and institutional conservatives; and the neoconservatives are stability in maintaining the health and bal- against anything that would smack of a ance of society. The paleoconservatives, denial of democratic and social equality. identified by Mr. Wolfson with ideas In contrast to Mr. Wolfson’s view of the espoused by Pat Buchanan and Paul Gott- libertarian perspective, neoconservatives are fried, are anti-free trade, anti-immigration, not willing to sacrifice the idea of a public isolationist in foreign policy, and suspicious arena in which the democratic polity estab- of political and social equality. lishes standards for the common good to As for libertarianism, Mr. Wolfson states which all members of society should conform. that “It is progressive, and aims at expand- Specifically, he says that neoconservatism has ing economic freedom and individual choice no inherent disapproval of the welfare state, which he suggests the vast majority of Amer- Richard Ebeling ([email protected]) is president of icans desire as a means of overcoming “inse- FEE. curity.” Only those welfare-state programs 2 corrupting of family, marriage, and the work pawn of others. And it nurtures the philo- ethic should be opposed. In addition, neo- sophical and religious ideas of compassion conservatives believe in U.S. political and mil- and duty in participating in charitable good itary interventionism around the world to works to assist the unfortunate and the truly advance democracy; but the goal of such for- needy among us. eign interventionism, he argues, is to maintain The public ethos of a free society rejects as America’s interests as a “great and powerful inconsistent with liberty any notion that democracy.” majorities or minorities may use the democ- Mr. Wolfson’s portrayal of libertarianism ratic process to restrict the freedom of the and neoconservativism offers an opportunity individual in his social, economic, and per- to restate the fundamental premises of what sonal actions as long as he does not in any FEE’s founder, Leonard Read, long referred way violate the rights of others to peacefully to as the “freedom philosophy.” Over a 300- go about their affairs. It does not believe that year history the advocates of human free- simply because a majority in society wants dom have argued that rights reside only in government welfare programs, because such individuals, who form the unique “building programs give them a sense of protection blocks” of the social, economic, and political from the insecurities of life, that this morally order. Society should be viewed as the mutu- justifies the power of political coercion to ally beneficial relationships that individuals redistribute wealth and limit the choices of form for the improvement of their circum- other members of society to determine what stances. The role of government, as under- is best for themselves, their families, and stood, for example, by the American Found- others they may care about. ing Fathers, was to protect the rights of the The advocate of liberty is on guard against individual from invasion by predatory plun- all expansions of government into the pri- der so each man may be secure in his life, vate lives and free associations of individuals property, and freedom to pursue his happi- because he considers political power to be ness as he sees it. corrupting and harmful to the creative potential in man. Political interventions and The Public Ethos regulations intimidate man’s mind and con- science, restrict his productive actions, The “public ethos” is not created by gov- weaken or eliminate the mutually beneficial ernment and, if it is to be healthy and consis- and charitable associations among people, tent with the preservation of a free society, and undermine the moral sense of self- must not be controlled or manipulated by responsibility and voluntary duty to others government. What is the “public ethos”? It in society. comprises society’s guiding beliefs, ideas, atti- Likewise, the friend of freedom believes tudes, customs, institutions, and ideals about that any “greatness” that America may pos- the normative standards and rules for per- sess on the international stage should come sonal and interpersonal conduct. Its repre- from being an example of individual free- sents what most members of society consider dom practiced at home, which then serves as to be acceptable and moral conduct in the an ideal for others around the world to emu- relationships that men have with each other. late. Furthermore, political and military The public ethos of a free society includes interventions abroad threaten the freedom strong beliefs in individual self-responsibility, and prosperity of the American citizenry, the rights and dignity of the individual, and because of the costs of these global activities. a sense of the morality of voluntary and These are the freedom principles and the peaceful relationships among men. It also public ethos that we have been losing in includes the ideal that each individual should America, and neoconservatism offers no be viewed as an end in himself and not the alternative to regain them. Ⅺ 3.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Meaning of Conservatism Free
    FREE THE MEANING OF CONSERVATISM PDF Roger Scruton | 220 pages | 26 Nov 2012 | St. Augustine's Press | 9781587315039 | English | South Bend, Indiana, United States The Meaning of Conservatism | Roger Scruton | Palgrave Macmillan The Meaning of Conservatism. Roger Scruton. First published inThe Meaning of Conservatism is now recognized as a major contribution to political thought, and the liveliest and most provocative modern statement of the traditional "paleo-conservative" position. Roger Scruton challenges those who would regard themselves as conservatives, and also their opponents. Conservatism, he argues, has little in common with liberalism, and is only tenuously related to the market economy, to monetarism, to free enterprise, or to capitalism. The Meaning of Conservatism involves neither hostility toward the state, nor the desire to limit the state's obligation toward the citizen. Its conceptions of society, law, and citizenship regard the individual not The Meaning of Conservatism the premise but as the conclusion of politics. At the same time it is fundamentally opposed to the ethic of social justice, to equality of station, opportunity, income, and achievement, and to the attempt to bring major institutions of society - such as schools and universities - under government control. Authority and Allegiance. Constitution and the State. The Conservative Attitude. The Meaning of Conservatism | SpringerLink Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include traditionhierarchyand authorityas established in respective cultures, as well as property rights. Historically associated with right-wing politicsthe term has since been used to describe a wide range of views.
    [Show full text]
  • The Regime Change Consensus: Iraq in American Politics, 1990-2003
    THE REGIME CHANGE CONSENSUS: IRAQ IN AMERICAN POLITICS, 1990-2003 Joseph Stieb A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: Wayne Lee Michael Morgan Benjamin Waterhouse Daniel Bolger Hal Brands ©2019 Joseph David Stieb ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Joseph David Stieb: The Regime Change Consensus: Iraq in American Politics, 1990-2003 (Under the direction of Wayne Lee) This study examines the containment policy that the United States and its allies imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War and argues for a new understanding of why the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. At the core of this story is a political puzzle: Why did a largely successful policy that mostly stripped Iraq of its unconventional weapons lose support in American politics to the point that the policy itself became less effective? I argue that, within intellectual and policymaking circles, a claim steadily emerged that the only solution to the Iraqi threat was regime change and democratization. While this “regime change consensus” was not part of the original containment policy, a cohort of intellectuals and policymakers assembled political support for the idea that Saddam’s personality and the totalitarian nature of the Baathist regime made Iraq uniquely immune to “management” strategies like containment. The entrenchment of this consensus before 9/11 helps explain why so many politicians, policymakers, and intellectuals rejected containment after 9/11 and embraced regime change and invasion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of the New Right on the Reagan Administration
    LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THE IMPACT OF THE NEW RIGHT ON THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION: KIRKPATRICK & UNESCO AS. A TEST CASE BY Isaac Izy Kfir LONDON 1998 UMI Number: U148638 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U148638 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to investigate whether the Reagan administration was influenced by ‘New Right’ ideas. Foreign policy issues were chosen as test cases because the presidency has more power in this area which is why it could promote an aggressive stance toward the United Nations and encourage withdrawal from UNESCO with little impunity. Chapter 1 deals with American society after 1945. It shows how the ground was set for the rise of Reagan and the New Right as America moved from a strong affinity with New Deal liberalism to a new form of conservatism, which the New Right and Reagan epitomised. Chapter 2 analyses the New Right as a coalition of three distinctive groups: anti-liberals, New Christian Right, and neoconservatives.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tea Party Movement As a Modern Incarnation of Nativism in the United States and Its Role in American Electoral Politics, 2009-2014
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 10-2014 The Tea Party Movement as a Modern Incarnation of Nativism in the United States and Its Role in American Electoral Politics, 2009-2014 Albert Choi Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/343 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] The Tea Party Movement as a Modern Incarnation of Nativism in the United States and Its Role in American Electoral Politics, 2009-2014 by Albert Choi A master’s thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, The City University of New York 2014 i Copyright © 2014 by Albert Choi All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. THE City University of New York iii Abstract The Tea Party Movement as a Modern Incarnation of Nativism in the United States and Its Role in American Electoral Politics, 2009-2014 by Albert Choi Advisor: Professor Frances Piven The Tea Party movement has been a keyword in American politics since its inception in 2009.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservatism in America Syllabus 2020
    Am I conservative? Does that conservative hate me? Why do conservatives say things like that? What does conservatism really mean anymore? Conservativism in America: Spring 2020 2019 was quite the year for conservatives. India, Japan, and the United Kingdom all joined the United States, Brazil, and George Ehrhardt Poland in electing Right-wing governments. Worldwide, the Anne Belk 351J median voter is now a populist conservative. 262-6920 [email protected] What does this mean? What do these conservatives believe? How do they behave politically? These are difficult questions; Class time too often we hear shallow, one-dimensional answers. Answers MWF: 10-11 from those on the Right demand loyalty to their own particular Anne Belk 223 brand of conservatism to the exclusion of all others. Answers from those on the Left sound like 19th Century colonial Office Hours: ethnographers, titillating their metropolitan readers with Mon: 11:00-12:00 curiosities from Darkest Africa Flyover Country. Instead of Wed: 11:00-12:00 giving you answers head-on, though, I want to sneak up on Thur: 2:00-4:00 them from behind, so they don’t run away and hide in the noise and fury of today’s politics. You have grown up in an American educational system where what might be called a ‘liberal worldview’ is normative--in other words, that worldview is taken as Right and Good and Just. You may have had teachers who disagreed, and your parents may have objected, but fundamentally, liberal ideas about what it means to be human and how we live together form the foundation on which acceptable ideas about politics and society are built.
    [Show full text]
  • The Intellectual Under Trump: Between Solitude and Solidarity
    The Intellectual Under Trump: Between Solitude and Solidarity Jon Catlin Jon Catlin is “Professor Adorno,” begins a 1969 interview with the German- a graduate of Jewish critical theorist, which would turn out to be his last. “Two the College and former Editor- weeks ago, the world still seemed in order—” in-Chief of The Midway Review. He is currently 1 “Not to me,” Adorno interjects. pursuing a Ph.D. in modern To the intellectual falls the unhappy task of permanent European intellectual dissatisfaction with the status quo. Theodor W. Adorno thus called history at his way of thought “the melancholy science.” During his exile from Princeton. Nazi Germany as a persecuted Jew twenty-five years earlier, Adorno 1. Theodor Adorno, had cited Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit in his “reflections from “Who’s Afraid of the Ivory Tower?” damaged life”: “The life of the mind only attains its truth when in Language without discovering itself in absolute desolation.”2 Soil, trans. and ed. Gerhard Richter (New York: Ford- The weeks and months since the election of Donald Trump ham University Press, 2010). have been clouded by such a mood of intellectual desolation. What 2. Theodor power can ideas have when all we see on the horizon is increasing Adorno, Minima violence—against our democracy, its laws, Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life the most vulnerable members of our society, (London: Verso, and our planet? Trump’s undisguised 2005), p. 15. abuse of power defies understanding and overwhelms reflection. Intellect itself seems paralyzed. In my seminar the morning after the election we could do little but stare in 1 the intellectual under trump silence.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Southampton Research Repository
    University of Southampton Research Repository Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis and, where applicable, any accompanying data are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis and the accompanying data cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content of the thesis and accompanying research data (where applicable) must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder/s. When referring to this thesis and any accompanying data, full bibliographic details must be given, e.g. Alastair Paynter (2018) “The emergence of libertarian conservatism in Britain, 1867-1914”, University of Southampton, Department of History, PhD Thesis, pp. 1-187. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES History The emergence of libertarian conservatism in Britain, 1867-1914 by Alastair Matthew Paynter Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2018 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES History Doctor of Philosophy THE EMERGENCE OF LIBERTARIAN CONSERVATISM IN BRITAIN, 1867-1914 by Alastair Matthew Paynter This thesis considers conservatism’s response to Collectivism during a period of crucial political and social change in the United Kingdom and the Anglosphere. The familiar political equipoise was disturbed by the widening of the franchise and the emergence of radical new threats in the form of New Liberalism and Socialism. Some conservatives responded to these changes by emphasising the importance of individual liberty and the preservation of the existing social structure and institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Neoconservatism: Origins and Evolution, 1945 – 1980
    Neoconservatism: Origins and Evolution, 1945 – 1980 Robert L. Richardson, Jr. A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2009 Approved by, Michael H. Hunt, Chair Richard Kohn Timothy McKeown Nancy Mitchell Roger Lotchin Abstract Robert L. Richardson, Jr. Neoconservatism: Origins and Evolution, 1945 – 1985 (Under the direction of Michael H. Hunt) This dissertation examines the origins and evolution of neoconservatism as a philosophical and political movement in America from 1945 to 1980. I maintain that as the exigencies and anxieties of the Cold War fostered new intellectual and professional connections between academia, government and business, three disparate intellectual currents were brought into contact: the German philosophical tradition of anti-modernism, the strategic-analytical tradition associated with the RAND Corporation, and the early Cold War anti-Communist tradition identified with figures such as Reinhold Niebuhr. Driven by similar aims and concerns, these three intellectual currents eventually coalesced into neoconservatism. As a political movement, neoconservatism sought, from the 1950s on, to re-orient American policy away from containment and coexistence and toward confrontation and rollback through activism in academia, bureaucratic and electoral politics. Although the neoconservatives were only partially successful in promoting their transformative project, their accomplishments are historically significant. More specifically, they managed to interject their views and ideas into American political and strategic thought, discredit détente and arms control, and shift U.S. foreign policy toward a more confrontational stance vis-à-vis the Soviet Union.
    [Show full text]
  • THE AMERICAN IMPRINT on ALBERTA POLITICS Nelson Wiseman University of Toronto
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for Winter 2011 THE AMERICAN IMPRINT ON ALBERTA POLITICS Nelson Wiseman University of Toronto Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly Part of the American Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, and the United States History Commons Wiseman, Nelson, "THE AMERICAN IMPRINT ON ALBERTA POLITICS" (2011). Great Plains Quarterly. 2657. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/2657 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE AMERICAN IMPRINT ON ALBERTA POLITICS NELSON WISEMAN Characteristics assigned to America's clas­ the liberal society in Tocqueville's Democracy sical liberal ideology-rugged individualism, in America: high status was accorded the self­ market capitalism, egalitarianism in the sense made man, laissez-faire defined the economic of equality of opportunity, and fierce hostility order, and a multiplicity of religious sects com­ toward centralized federalism and socialism­ peted in the market for salvation.l Secondary are particularly appropriate for fathoming sources hint at this thesis in their reading of Alberta's political culture. In this article, I the papers of organizations such as the United contend that Alberta's early American settlers Farmers of Alberta (UFA) and Alberta's were pivotal in shaping Alberta's political cul­ Social Credit Party.2 This article teases out its ture and that Albertans have demonstrated a hypothesis from such secondary sources and particular affinity for American political ideas covers new ground in linking the influence and movements.
    [Show full text]
  • Neoconservatism Hoover Press : Berkowitz/Conservative Hberkc Ch5 Mp 104 Rev1 Page 104 Hoover Press : Berkowitz/Conservative Hberkc Ch5 Mp 105 Rev1 Page 105
    Hoover Press : Berkowitz/Conservative hberkc ch5 Mp_103 rev1 page 103 part iii Neoconservatism Hoover Press : Berkowitz/Conservative hberkc ch5 Mp_104 rev1 page 104 Hoover Press : Berkowitz/Conservative hberkc ch5 Mp_105 rev1 page 105 chapter five The Neoconservative Journey Jacob Heilbrunn The Neoconservative Conspiracy The longer the United States struggles to impose order in postwar Iraq, the harsher indictments of the George W. Bush administration’s foreign policy are becoming. “Acquiring additional burdens by engag- ing in new wars of liberation is the last thing the United States needs,” declared one Bush critic in Foreign Affairs. “The principal problem is the mistaken belief that democracy is a talisman for all the world’s ills, and that the United States has a responsibility to promote dem- ocratic government wherever in the world it is lacking.”1 Does this sound like a Democratic pundit bashing Bush for par- tisan gain? Quite the contrary. The swipe came from Dimitri Simes, president of the Nixon Center and copublisher of National Interest. Simes is not alone in calling on the administration to reclaim the party’s pre-Reagan heritage—to abandon the moralistic, Wilsonian, neoconservative dream of exporting democracy and return to a more limited and realistic foreign policy that avoids the pitfalls of Iraq. 1. Dimitri K. Simes, “America’s Imperial Dilemma,” Foreign Affairs (Novem- ber/December 2003): 97, 100. Hoover Press : Berkowitz/Conservative hberkc ch5 Mp_106 rev1 page 106 106 jacob heilbrunn In fact, critics on the Left and Right are remarkably united in their assessment of the administration. Both believe a neoconservative cabal has hijacked the administration’s foreign policy and has now overplayed its hand.
    [Show full text]
  • The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 30Th Edition Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    THE CONSERVATIVE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT IN AMERICA SINCE 1945 30TH EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK George H Nash | 9781933859125 | | | | | The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 30th edition PDF Book CNN anchor Brian Stelter on Wednesday chided a reporter after she criticized the media's double standard in reporting on Hunter Biden's controversial emails, telling her that she is "bitter" and harbors "resentment" about the matter. In particular, Trumpism is deliberately breaking with the conservative internationalism of the Cold War era and with the pro-free-trade, supply-side-economics orthodoxy that has dominated Republican policymaking since It is a coalition with many points of origin and diverse tendencies that are not always easy to reconcile. In the summer of , Americans were stunned to learn that Britain had voted Socialist. There is no such thing as a lost cause, said T. At one point in , Hayek even briefly became an election issue when Clement Atlee accused the Conservative Party of adopting the Austrian economist's allegedly reactionary principles. As he later observed, the emotions the book engendered amazed him. Hayek was not the only European intellectual who provided intellectual sustenance to the American Right in the mids. Build Your Own Bookshelf? But conservatives diverge profoundly in their appraisal of the phenomenon itself and of the man who has become its champion. No one in the Biden camp has denied the veracity of a single email thus far. It had not, after all, been such a long time since modern liberalism statism to its detractors had attained power in America. Uploaded by Tracey Gutierres on December 12, In any case, one of the salient developments of the late s and s was the intellectual journey of various liberals and social democrats toward conservative positions and affiliations.
    [Show full text]
  • Of American Conservatism Cas Mudde, Depauw University
    University of Georgia From the SelectedWorks of Cas Mudde 2010 The Rise (and Fall?) of American Conservatism Cas Mudde, DePauw University Available at: https://works.bepress.com/cas_mudde/3/ REVIEW ESSAY The Rise (And Fall?) of American Conservatism1 The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Right Made phenomenon (with the notable exception of the Political History. By Donald T. Critchlow. (Harvard Christian Right). Hence, a broad variety of interest- University Press, 2007.) ing questions remain unanswered. What is the con- America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the servative movement and who belongs to it? How did Neoconservative Legacy. By Francis Fukuyama. (Yale an ideology that was shunned by virtually all in- University Press, 2007.) tellectuals and politicians in the 1950s become practi- cally hegemonic within the public debate in the They Knew They Were Right. The Rise of The Neocons. By 1980s? And what effect does the recent rise (and Jacob Heilbrunn. (Anchor, 2009.) fall?) of neoconservatism mean for the future of Upstream: The Ascendancy of American Conservatism. By American conservatism? Alfred S. Regnery. (Threshold, 2008.) Interestingly, it is mostly conservatives who publish The Death of Conservatism. By Sam Tanenhaus. (Random on American conservatism. All five books reviewed here House, 2009.) are written by conservatives, although of somewhat different types. While some are clearly favorable toward their topic of study (Critchow and Regnery), others are modestly to very critical (from least to most critical: Introduction Fukuyama, Heilbrunn, Tanenhaus). This essay will discuss the rise and alleged fall of American conserva- tism, as presented in conservative writings, focusing At the beginning of the twenty-first century, ‘‘neo- particularly on conceptual and ideological issues, which conservatism’’ was the buzzword in debates on are often ignored or understudied in the literature.
    [Show full text]