The Problem of Democratic Individualism

by | May 12, 2014

By Peter Augustine Lawler From the vantage point of modern liberalism, and especially liberal democracy, America is not without its problems and limitations. The possibility even exists that America’s apparently extreme partisanship on behalf of the individual could...
The Real Source of Modern Judicial Review

The Real Source of Modern Judicial Review

by | Apr 28, 2014

Dred Scott v. SandfordModern judicial review has a curious history. Its proponents seek to find its origins in the 1803 case of Marbury vs. Madison. The argument is that Chief Justice John Marshall “cleverly” created judicial review as an American institution. As the...

Mackinder, Geography, and History

by | Mar 30, 2014

Halford Mackinder (1861–1947) understood the forces that shape world politics better than any thinker of the twentieth century. When he delivered his famous address to the Royal Geographical Society in London in January 1904—an address that accurately foresaw the main...

The Stories We Tell—The People We Become (Part 2)

by | Mar 12, 2014

Read Part One here. While both the Liberal Story and the Radical Story focus on equality as a good (however differently defined), the Conservative Story is about the danger of equality. Also unlike the two stories we’ve explored, which focus on abstract universals,...

The Stories We Tell—The People We Become

by | Mar 9, 2014

And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here,...

Pop Culture Mysticism

by | Feb 2, 2014

So that’s it then, I thought, standing in the darkness. I’m a Catholic conservative, and the most dynamic expression of my faith is pop culture. Being what I call a conservative pop-culture mystic is why I rejected liberalism, and also why I never have fully fit in...