Here’s a new League post on whether democracies can be liberal—and whether liberalism can survive in democratic regimes: There are much more interesting questions lurking behind the (usually unprofitable) “are we/aren’t we a Christian or Protestant or WASP or plural nation?” debates: Just how much common ground does a liberal democracy need? Is there a point … Continue reading
Opponents of education reform often portray policy disagreements in terms of democratic public education vs. corporate privatization. Look, for instance, at Diane Ravitch’s and Randi Weingarten’s comments on this post from Mike Petrilli. Petrilli argues that reformers need to work much harder to push back against union-controlled school boards: And that’s where we get to the … Continue reading
The Washington Post‘s (birthday boy) Dana Milbank “explains” Obama’s subtlety: The political right is befuddled as it tries to explain him: First, Obama was a tyrant and a socialist; now he’s a weakling who refuses to lead. The political left is almost as confused, demanding to know why Obama gave away so much on health … Continue reading
Compare. Newt Gingrich, on Saturday: “I’m here to tell you that if you don’t start with values and you don’t start by establishing who we are as Americans, the rest of it doesn’t matter. Life is not just about money.” Democracy, A Journal (No. 20, Spring 11, p. 8): “No debate is more fundamental in … Continue reading
No! Wait! Don’t go! I promise it’s not as boring as it sounds! Sure, it’s a little bit political theory shop-talk-ish, but only a little. My students have a paper due in a few weeks, and one of them asked me recently to clarify what we meant by “modernity.” There’s a standard political theory … Continue reading
As good a reason as any to defend democratic institutions. “Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving. Not that it always effects the result, but that conflict is a sine qua non … Continue reading
Every once in a while (once every few months or so), Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury goes from funny to downright profound. Last Sunday’s (2/13/11) column was one of those times (I’m fairly certain that I can’t actually post the strip here without stomping on Trudeau’s copyright, but you can see it on his site here). I … Continue reading
I spent much of my afternoon waiting in line, as opposed to working, or reading, or writing an edgy blog post about something political or currently newsworthy. So, apropos of nothing at all… Sometimes it’s at the DMV. Sometimes it’s at pharmacies or doctor’s offices. Sometimes—bus stops, airports, restaurants, etc. At the end of the … Continue reading
From EJ Dionne’s column in today’s Washington Post: And events in Egypt have moved too fast for ideological lines to harden. Both conservatives and liberals are divided between human rights advocates who think the United States should long ago have distanced itself from Mubarak’s regime and realists who worry that a post-Mubarak government might be … Continue reading
It’s always good when the person before you in the “Contributors” list is Alexis de Tocqueville. Derek Barker; Richard Boyd; Paul Carresse; Brian Danoff; Albert W. Dzur; Khalil M. Habib; L. Joseph Hebert, Jr.; Peter Augustine Lawler; Susan McWilliams; Thomas L. Pangle; William B. Parsons, Jr.; Jon D. Schaff; F. Flagg Taylor IV; Aristide Tessitore; … Continue reading
