Can Godless Leaders Represent the Godly?

By |2023-12-14T17:49:38-06:00December 14th, 2023|Categories: Christianity, Government, John Horvat|

Recent elections in Holland, Sweden, Italy and Argentina have given victories to a new type of conservative leader based on a faulty premise. Some Christians hold that the only way to fight against godless and immoral times is with godless leaders who practice no established religion and follow no set rules. Only these outside mavericks [...]

An Introduction to Conservatism for “Well-Meaning Liberals”

By |2023-11-15T05:47:05-06:00November 14th, 2023|Categories: Books, Conservatism, Economics, Government, Natural Rights Tradition, Political Philosophy, Senior Contributors, Thomas R. Ascik, Timeless Essays, Western Civilization|

Instead of considering contemporary political issues, or politicians, Roger Scruton attempts to rebuild conservatism by looking seriously at its past. Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, by Roger Scruton (176 pages, All Points Books, 2018) In his Conservatism, An Introduction to the Great Tradition (2017), long-time Anglo-American conservative champion and author Sir Roger Scruton says [...]

President James Monroe and Republican Virtue

By |2023-04-27T16:29:11-05:00April 27th, 2023|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Bradley J. Birzer, Character, Government, History, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays|

Whatever his failings as an imaginative thinker, President James Monroe’s own convictions were rooted deeply in the spirit and the letter of the U.S. Constitution. As he entered the White House in March 1817, he had little (well, less) use for James Madison’s newfound love of nationalism. While he entered the presidency too late to [...]

Censorship: The Tip of the Iceberg

By |2023-03-21T17:21:34-05:00March 21st, 2023|Categories: Free Speech, Freedom, Government, Liberalism|

A history of the transformation of American liberalism over the past half-century could well be told with just a focus on free speech and censorship. But this story of changed attitudes toward censorship yields lessons far beyond just the liberal attitude toward free speech. Aside from the inevitability of death and taxes, there is another [...]

Madison’s “Extended Republic” and the Culture Wars

By |2023-03-15T18:04:01-05:00March 15th, 2023|Categories: American Republic, Culture War, Government, James Madison, Politics, Timeless Essays|

Centering our national politics on the culture wars is unhelpful because in the end it simply is not cut out for this. The optimal jurisdictional sphere for resolving many of our cultural battles will be localities, not states. Localities must be empowered boldly to operate and experiment within the immense gray areas that the questions [...]

The Limits of Liberty

By |2023-01-22T21:00:13-06:00January 22nd, 2023|Categories: Bruce Frohnen, Civil Society, Freedom, Government, Liberty, Rule of Law, Senior Contributors, Social Order, Timeless Essays|

While the rule of law is an essential public good, the actual number and extent of laws also are important factors in determining whether there will be liberty—and, indeed, the rule of law itself. Moreover, as too much law undermines freedom and its own proper character, it also tears apart the very fabric of the [...]

George Washington: American Aurelius

By |2022-12-13T14:31:05-06:00December 13th, 2022|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Bradley J. Birzer, George Washington, Government, History, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays, Western Civilization|

In his own day, George Washington served as a pillar of Atlantis, recognized not only for his willingness to sacrifice his life for the great Republic, but also as the founder of the first serious Republic a weary world had witnessed in centuries. He deserves the title “the American Marcus Aurelius.” In his own day [...]

Harrington’s Cake: Institutions, Power, and Virtue

By |2022-12-12T14:22:47-06:00December 12th, 2022|Categories: American Republic, Congress, Government, Political Philosophy, Politics, Timeless Essays|

James Harrington insists on the possibility of an empire of laws. The claim that institutional arrangements can force self-interested behavior to serve the common interest underlies the system of separated powers and checks and balances central to the American constitutional order. But is he right? Can this theory of “dividing-and-choosing” give us confidence? “Two [girls] [...]

“Antigone” and the Necessity of Political Prudence

By |2022-11-06T15:36:43-06:00November 6th, 2022|Categories: Antigone, Government, Great Books, Politics, Religion, Sophocles, Timeless Essays|

A key lesson of Sophocles’ “Antigone” is that fanaticism results when public actors fail to practice the one virtue capable of moderating the excesses of human nature: political prudence. In an insightful essay (“Idolatry in Lockdown,” Law and Liberty, January 28, 2021), Spencer Klavan reflects on the contemporary significance of the conflict at the heart [...]

“The People”: Sheep and Feathers

By |2022-09-07T17:08:15-05:00September 7th, 2022|Categories: Democracy, Freedom, Government, Great Books, Monarchy, Politics, Timeless Essays, William Shakespeare|

Abstract law or the worship of a document is not sufficient for guidance of a people, nor are the paltry checks of public shame and dread enough to deter criminality. We stand a far greater chance of learning wisdom from William Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” than we do from listening to the countless talking heads and [...]

H.L. Mencken on Public Education

By |2022-09-06T13:31:05-05:00September 6th, 2022|Categories: Education, Government|

What H.L. Mencken thought was the case in his day likely remains the case today: Public schools have “done more harm than good.” How could they not, Mencken asked. Having taken the “care and upbringing of children out of the hands of parents, where it belongs,” the politicians of his day had “thrown” the entire [...]

Why American Democracy Is Worth Defending

By |2022-08-22T13:25:35-05:00August 22nd, 2022|Categories: American Republic, Declaration of Independence, Democracy, Government, Liberty, Politics, Timeless Essays|

What is American democracy, and why is it worth defending? The current political climate, in which democracy is increasingly (and troublingly) equated with populism, compels us to reflect on this question. Democracy is an ancient form of government, but historically, democracies that rise above mere mob rule and reflect genuine self-governance, while respecting basic rights, [...]

Statesmanship & the Dangers of Civil Religion

By |2022-06-27T17:35:55-05:00June 27th, 2022|Categories: Abraham Lincoln, Bruce Frohnen, Equality, Government, Politics, Timeless Essays|

Demands for statesmanship tend to hold up a model of greatness in political leadership that is profoundly dangerous. The desire to be “great” by upholding the interests of the nation as a political whole promotes a massive increase in the extent and centralization of political power. I recently attended a conference on statesmanship. Truth be [...]

The Marxist Worldview Behind the Spending Bill

By |2021-11-28T14:56:00-06:00November 28th, 2021|Categories: Civil Society, Economics, Government, Ideology, John Horvat|

Government programs cannot restore broken families and shattered communities. Only a moral regeneration of non-economic values can do this. The ravages of loneliness, despair, and suicide must be addressed by filling the spiritual voids that haunt people’s lives—and not by issuing government checks. The fight over the latest spending package is raging. Democrats are intent [...]

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