The past decade in American politics and public life has felt like the combination of a war, a carnival, and a Hollywood movie. We’ve experienced not only the injustices pointed out by populists, such as the corruption of Wall Street bankers whose irresponsibility crashed our economy and devastated innumerable ordinary citizens, and the overbearing, self-serving, [ Read More ]
If economic frustration is the shared experience that catalyzes populist movements, and if questions of identity form the underlying concern, then questions of rule provide the context for why questions about identity are so powerful. In response to the question, “Who should rule?” populism provides a clear answer: “The people.” On the face of it, [ Read More ]
A liberal believes in liberty, right? Well, of course. It’s there in the name. But what if the liberal quest to expand our liberty is actually eroding our liberties? That’s the argument Patrick J. Deneen—associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame—makes in Why Liberalism Failed, a persuasive contribution to the ongoing political [ Read More ]
We live in a volatile age. The last decade of American politics has proved to be dysfunctional, rancorous, and polarizing. Together, we have experienced the increasing disintegration of both major political parties, the deep ideological and cultural divisions revealed by the 2016 election cycle, the inability of Congress to carry a sustained or constructive debate [ Read More ]
A person with only the dimmest spark of critical reflectiveness can understand that the United States of America is deeply divided at this point in her history. We are divided economically, racially, regionally, and demographically. Exacerbating these divides is our disagreement on how to deal with them politically. We can deal with them politically, and [ Read More ]