Conservative Minds

Scalia believes the plain text of the law governs and not the intent of the lawmaker or the predilections of the judge. A legal text should be interpreted reasonably to contain all that it fairly meant at the time of drafting. Words have a limited range of meaning, and no meaning that goes beyond that range is permissible. The judge's role is not to impose her own prescriptions for social justice. The 'Living Constitution' serves as a license to make policy from the bench. Scalia believes we need limiting principles to prevent judges from unrestrained judicial lawmaking.

Tocqueville travelled across America over nine months in 1831 and 1832. He drew on his observations to produce his two-volume masterpiece, Democracy in America. In the book, Tocqueville characterizes the social, political, religious, and intellectual habits of Americans with such deep understanding that, nearly two centuries later, it’s still foundational reading for the study of politics and sociology. In the words of Harvard political scientist Harvey Mansfield, Democracy in America is “the best book ever written on democracy and the best book ever written on America.”

Tocqueville travelled across America over nine months in 1831 and 1832. He drew on his observations to produce his two-volume masterpiece, Democracy in America. In the book, Tocqueville characterizes the social, political, religious, and intellectual habits of Americans with such deep understanding that, nearly two centuries later, it’s still foundational reading for the study of politics and sociology. In the words of Harvard political scientist Harvey Mansfield, Democracy in America is “the best book ever written on democracy and the best book ever written on America.”

Hayek sees a choice between individualism and socialism. He contrasts the Enlightenment project of liberal individualism against the collectivist ideologies of national socialism, fascism, and communism. Communism and fascism are two sides of the same coin - both categorically despise individualism. He warns against the trend away from liberalism in the West. According to Hayek, the very success of liberalism has become the cause of its decline. The liberal principles that made progress possible have come to be regarded more as obstacles to speedier progress. Freedom is cast aside in favor of hubristic collectivism. The Road to Serfdom demonstrates how collectivist ideologies lead inevitably to totalitarianism.

Buchanan sees an America divided by class. The elite class of professionals benefit from globalization and trade, while the middle class lies forgotten and left behind. Global trade deals put American labor in competition with millions of workers willing to do the same jobs for a fraction of the pay an American family needs for a living wage. Meanwhile, millions of illegal aliens compete with unskilled and semi-skilled Americans for local jobs. Buchanan argues that America’s elite is oblivious to what is happening to the country, "as an older, better America – where we were a community, a nation, a people – slowly dies." He calls for a New Nationalism that puts America before the global economy.

Bill Buckley nearly single-handedly initiated the modern American conservative movement. He launched the National Review in 1955 to "stand athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it." From his perch at NR, he led a multi-decade project aimed at remaking the public policy landscape. He pulled together disparate conservative strains, while pushing others - the 'kooks' - outside the tent. He played a leading role in consolidating conservatives into the Republican Party. His view of the world achieved vindication with the election of Ronald Reagan.

Irving Kristol is widely regarded as the godfather of neoconservative thought. Kristol and his early campatriots were disillusioned liberals and former communists. Most were social scientists. They introduced a rigorous social science approach to issues that the Right had lacked previously. Kristol founded the Public Interest magazine to stand as a bulwark against New Liberal orthodoxy. Neoconservatism differed from traditional conservatives in that its chosen enemy was contemporary liberalism, not socialism or statism in the abstract. He saw his role as enlarging the conservative vision to include moral philosophy, political philosophy, and social science research.

Nisbet argues that Enlightenment individualism has created a widening gulf between the individual and those social relationships that offer meaning. He says the modern release of the individual from traditional ties of class, religion, and kinship has made him free; but this freedom is accompanied by a sense of disenchantment and alienation. Humans have need for a clear sense of cultural purpose, membership, status, and continuity. He calls for a decentralization of power in society, including an enhanced role for 'intermediary instutitions' that constitute the formal interpersonal relationships in society.

Milton Friedman was the twentieth century’s most prominent advocate of free markets. He argues that the free market - what he labels "competitive capitalism" - is a necessary condition for political freedom. The free market gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. For him, government serves as a forum for determining the rules of the game and as an umpire to interpret and enforce those rules. Government is necessary to preserve freedom, yet concentrated political power in the hands of government also threatens freedom.

Burke believed deeply in tradition as the governing principle for human flourishing. He called society a living contract between the living, the dead, and future generations. God willed the state to provide the means for perfecting human virtue. For Burke, political and social life is an expression of god’s will.