About George W. Carey

George W. Carey (1933-2013) was Professor of Government at Georgetown University and a Senior Contributor to The Imaginative Conservative. He was the author of In Defense of the Constitution and The Federalist: Design for a Constitutional Republic. He was co-author, with Willmoore Kendall, of The Basic Symbols of the American Political Tradition. He was also co-editor of numerous books including The Federalist Papers: The Gideon Edition, The Most Dangerous Branch: The Judicial Assault on American Culture and Community and Tradition.

Common Ground: The Founding Era

By |2023-09-16T15:06:57-05:00September 16th, 2023|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Constitution, Featured, George W. Carey, Timeless Essays|

With increasing frequency since the turn of the twentieth century, many scholars have raised troubling questions about the founders and their motives. Did they really believe in republican government, or were they intent on constructing a system that would protect elite interests under the rubric of a republican form? Can we take them at their [...]

The Popular Roots of Conservatism

By |2022-11-24T18:21:34-06:00November 24th, 2022|Categories: Conservatism, Featured, George W. Carey, Politics, Timeless Essays|Tags: |

American conservatism is rooted in what it understands to be the principles which guided our Founders; principles which, in turn, it sees as rooted in the better part of Western civilization, though adapted to the peculiarities of the American condition. The chief difficulty in assessing the state of contemporary American conservatism is arriving at some [...]

Republicanism and “The Federalist” Papers

By |2022-11-09T13:10:04-06:00November 9th, 2022|Categories: American Republic, Constitution, Featured, Federalist Papers, George W. Carey, Republicanism, Timeless Essays|Tags: |

The first essay of The Federalist provides a convenient point of departure for exploring Publius’s conception of republicanism and the problems associated with it. Towards the end of this essay, he informs us that among the “interesting particulars” he intends to take up in the subsequent papers is “The conformity of the proposed Constitution to [...]

Moral & Political Foundations of the American Founding

By |2022-11-03T16:53:27-05:00November 3rd, 2022|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Books, Donald Lutz, Featured, George W. Carey, Timeless Essays|Tags: |

The overemphasis on the writings of the politically prominent has resulted in a distorted picture of the political thought of the American Founding. American Political Writing During the Founding Era: 1760-1805, compiled by Charles S. Hyneman and Donald S. Lutz. These beautifully produced volumes represent the most ambitious effort to date to remedy a significant [...]

James Wilson: Political Thought and the Constitutional Convention

By |2022-10-17T16:22:26-05:00October 17th, 2022|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Constitutional Convention, Featured, George W. Carey, Timeless Essays|Tags: |

Scholars familiar with James Wilson note the discrepancy between status accorded him by most constitutional historians and the magnitude of his contributions to our founding. Scholars familiar with the writings and career of James Wilson are struck by the discrepancy between the status accorded him by most constitutional historians and the magnitude of his contributions [...]

The Extended Republic Theory of James Madison

By |2022-10-10T16:16:11-05:00October 10th, 2022|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Featured, Federalist Papers, George W. Carey, James Madison, Timeless Essays|Tags: |

Certainly, James Madison cannot be faulted for not having seen the true dimensions of the problems associated with factions. Perhaps more clearly than other theorists who preceded him, he saw its root causes. Yet, he can be faulted for not having urged upon his audience the observance of that morality necessary for the perpetuation of [...]

The Moral Center & America’s Future: James Bryce’s “American Commonwealth”

By |2022-10-04T14:31:09-05:00October 4th, 2022|Categories: Alexis de Tocqueville, American Republic, Featured, George W. Carey, James Bryce, Timeless Essays|Tags: |

James Bryce’s relatively optimistic view of America’s future relies on the tacit premise that its people will retain the moral center, inherited largely from their English forebears. His work, then, is valuable, if only to remind us of that heritage. It is also foreboding in suggesting that without this moral center troubled times await the [...]

In Defense of the Old Republic: The Problem of the Imperial Presidency

By |2020-11-20T09:41:32-06:00November 15th, 2020|Categories: Constitutional Convention, Featured, Federalist Papers, George W. Carey, Government, Presidency, Timeless Essays|Tags: |

The dangers associated with the imperial presidency are compounded by an awareness that, while new and more expansive theories of executive authority are seriously advanced, the office is not attracting individuals of high moral and intellectual character. The Philadelphia Constitution may be dead, but the basic problems which troubled the Framers—e.g., preserving the rule of [...]

How Conservatives & Liberals View The Federalist

By |2021-04-22T19:13:42-05:00November 9th, 2017|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Conservatism, Constitution, Featured, Federalist, Federalist Papers, History, Liberal|

In The Federalist, Publius writes of “new” and “improved” “principles” of the “science of politics,” and he urges his countrymen to abandon the classical teachings concerning the possibilities of republican government over an extensive territory… Conservatives—American and otherwise—have always held The Federalist in extremely high regard. Virtually all would agree with Clinton Rossiter that it stands with the Declaration [...]

Restoring Popular Self-Government

By |2022-09-29T00:12:40-05:00February 22nd, 2017|Categories: American Founding, Featured, Federalist Papers, George W. Carey, Supreme Court|Tags: |

Only with a conservatism anchored in the presumptions and principles of the Founders, in their understanding of constitutionalism and in the proper functions of each of the branches, are we prepared to do battle with the children of the Enlightenment… The most notable change in the American Republic over the last forty years has been [...]

Bringing America Home

By |2023-01-09T00:41:51-06:00December 13th, 2015|Categories: Books, Conservatism, Featured, George W. Carey|Tags: |

Conservative principles must somehow permeate the American soul if they are to change the course of American society and politics. The path to success and rejuvenation is not through political parties but instead through social persuasion. Bringing America Home: How America Lost Her Way and How We Can Find Our Way Back by Tom Pauken [...]

Conservatives & Politics: A Look Ahead

By |2015-08-02T09:12:46-05:00July 27th, 2015|Categories: Conservatism, Featured, George W. Carey, Timeless Essays|

(Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series, affords our readers the opportunity to join Professor George Carey as he examines the place of traditional conservatism in our present day by pondering what can be accomplished via the political process, despite the power of the president and his allegiances. —Alyssa M. Barnes, Editorial Assistant) Winston Elliott inquired whether I would [...]

How to Read Willmoore Kendall

By |2022-09-29T09:52:07-05:00March 28th, 2015|Categories: Books, George W. Carey, Willmoore Kendall|Tags: |

Willmoore Kendall Contra Mundum. By Willmoore Kendall. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1971. 640 pp. When writing about Willmoore Kendall a strong temptation exists to deal with the man, not his teachings or theory. This I have always felt to be a shame, and, at times, a deliberate dodge because the reviewer or commentator [...]

Alexander Hamilton: Conservative Statesman?

By |2023-07-12T00:38:48-05:00May 8th, 2014|Categories: Alexander Hamilton, American Republic, Books, Featured, George W. Carey, Political Philosophy|Tags: |

Alexander Hamilton never espoused the kind of extensive, intrusive governmental powers that most of the American people today, including many “conservatives,” have willingly accepted. The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton, by Michael P. Federici (The John Hopkins University Press, 291 pages) Toward the end of his work, Michael Federici writes, “It is rare to find [...]

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