A magisterial intellectual history of the last century of American conservatism When most people think of the history of modern conservatism, they think of Ronald Reagan. Yet this narrow view leaves many to question: How did Donald Trump win the presidency? And what is the future of the Republican Party? In The Right, Matthew Continetti gives a sweeping account of movement conservatism’s evolution, from the Progressive Era through the present. He tells the story of how conservatism began as networks of intellectuals, developing and institutionalizing a vision that grew over time, until they began to buckle under new pressures, resembling national populist movements. Drawing out the tensions between the desire for mainstream acceptance and the pull of extremism, Continetti argues that the more one studies conservatism’s past, the more one becomes convinced of its future. Deeply researched and brilliantly told, The Right is essential reading for anyone looking to understand American conservatism.
"Today's England is a moral-social basket case, full of violent crime, outrageous state-enforcement of political correctness, and protected Muslim extremists" Published in 2007, and hailed by conservatives, libertarians, nationalists and anarchists, Cultural Revolution, Culture War is the book that introduced the concepts of Cultural Marxism and Frankfurt School subversion to the English Right. Single-handedly and within a few weeks, it transformed the language of analysis and action on the British political right. Gabb's central thesis is that the British ruling class has, since 1997, turned itself into a totalitarian conspiracy, at war both with liberty and with tradition. It fights this war through the traditional means of state power and state propaganda, but also through its achievement of cultural hegemony. Controlling a single plot line of Eastenders is more important than a thousand editorials in The Guardian. The only response for non-leftists is to seize control of the State and to shut most of it down. The present ruling class all sucks from the nipple of the State. Stop the flow of milk, and the ruling class will collapse. Once this is done, Gabb sets out a challenging agenda of libertarian minimal statism - for all the usual libertarian reasons, but also because that is the only option at present for conservatives and the various kinds of nationalist. Now seen as a classic, this book is key to any understanding of rightist discourse in modern England. It is a must-read for activists of all persuasions, for political scientists, and for anyone who wants to understand the world in order to change it. From the Reviews: "Sean Gabb's case is that England has been taken over by a new ruling class, one that it totalitarian in its ambitions, in that it seeks to direct our thinking in every aspect of our culture. Not content with political power - indeed, its influence is more powerful and pervasive than that of government, it wants to mould our behaviour and even our thought to its own norms." (Madsen Pirie) "What comes to mind, as I read Sean's jeremiad is how silly American movement conservatives are when they glorify the "Anglosphere" and celebrate "our two countries" as paradigmatic "capitalist democracies." Today's England is a moral-social basket case, full of violent crime, outrageous state-enforcement of political correctness, and protected Muslim extremists." (Paul Gottfried) "But the remarkable fact is not our disagreement on cultural matters, but that I concur with so much of his analysis of the effect of "political correctness" and multiculturalism as ruling class ideologies. Like Gabb, I see official multiculturalism in the hands of the New Class and its state agencies as an instrument of division and control, serving a ruling class that prefers a population without the cohesion to resist." (Kevin Carson) "His new book is not the run-of-the-mill attack on political correctness that many writers indulge in; he does not merely recycle tabloid headlines, but goes deep into the heart of the political revolution known as "political correctness" that is destroying our country. He then outlines his manifesto for counter-revolution, the cornerstone of which is unilateral withdrawal from the European Union. The ground is covered in 105 pages with not a word wasted and in a style that is extremely readable as well as enlightening, a rare quality in an academic. His words hit the target as effectively as an English bowman on St Crispin's Day. Be warned, Dr Gabb pulls no punches and to many his medicine will seem extreme." (A Brief Encounter)
Polling shows that since the 1950s Americans’ trust in government has fallen dramatically to historically low levels. In At War with Government, the political scientists Amy Fried and Douglas B. Harris reveal that this trend is no accident. Although distrust of authority is deeply rooted in American culture, it is fueled by conservative elites who benefit from it. Since the postwar era conservative leaders have deliberately and strategically undermined faith in the political system for partisan aims. Fried and Harris detail how conservatives have sown distrust to build organizations, win elections, shift power toward institutions that they control, and secure policy victories. They trace this strategy from the Nixon and Reagan years through Gingrich’s Contract with America, the Tea Party, and Donald Trump’s rise and presidency. Conservatives have promoted a political identity opposed to domestic state action, used racial messages to undermine unity, and cultivated cynicism to build and bolster coalitions. Once in power, they have defunded public services unless they help their constituencies and rolled back regulations, perversely proving the failure of government. Fried and Harris draw on archival sources to document how conservative elites have strategized behind the scenes. With a powerful diagnosis of our polarized era, At War with Government also proposes how we might rebuild trust in government by countering the strategies conservatives have used to weaken it.
"Conservatism focuses on an exemplary core of France, Britain, Germany and the United States. It describes the parties, politicians and thinkers of the right, bringing out strengths and weaknesses in conservative thought"--Provided by publisher.
The dawn of the digital age was supposed to be a new era, when everybody would have a voice and battle it out in the marketplace of ideas—intellectual democracy at the touch of a keyboard. Social media offered a way for conservatives to outflank the leftist groupthink that dominated academia, the media, and the political establishment. But, as investigative reporter Peter J. Hasson shows in his explosive new book, The Manipulators, that's no longer the case. Instead, Big Tech companies have become enforcers of intellectual conformity: promoting leftist ideas, punishing dissent, and dictating politically correct opinions. Big Tech's grip on the levers of information seems unbreakable. Hasson, working with sources deep inside the tech giants, presents a chilling account of companies that relish their coercive power—and aren't shy about using it. In The Manipulators, you'll learn: • How tech companies skew search results and "fact-checks" in favor of left-wing ideas and liberal news sources • How Google employees organize anti-Trump "Resistance" on company time and with company resources • How Facebook gives special privileges to liberal publications • How Big Tech employees collude with liberal journalists and left-wing activists to dictate who can—and can't—have a voice online • How Twitter, which once touted itself as "the free speech wing of the free speech party," reinvented itself as a liberal news company • How pro-abortion extremists work with Big Tech to shut down pro-life speech online Big Tech has become the greatest threat to free speech and free thought in America. But Big Tech is not invincible. It is still vulnerable to conservative and consumer pressure—though not for long, if Democrats have their way. Peter Hasson provides a frightening look at the concentrated power of Big Tech, its extraordinary intellectual intolerance, and its determination to silence competing voices and even dictate our thoughts. The Manipulators is a warning about rampant political censorship that will only get worse unless Big Tech meets big opposition.
"Saletan's Bearing Right is as subtle and intelligent a study of abortion politics as has ever been written. You may not agree with the conclusions, but no one concerned about this issue can afford to miss this brilliant analysis."—Charles Krauthammer, syndicated columnist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary "Saletan destroys the myth that there's nothing new to say about America's abortion debate. His argument that the pro-choice movement has preserved abortion rights by co-opting conservative rhetoric will make activists on both sides of the debate uncomfortable, which is an achievement in and of itself. There's no smarter political commentator in Washington today."—Peter Beinart, editor, The New Republic "Will Saletan is one of America's shrewdest political writers. He brings clarity and intelligence to the roiling abortion debate, in a challenging and illuminating work of contemporary history. If you care about the issue of abortion, you must read this book."—Rich Lowry, editor, National Review "A unique assessment of recent abortion politics. Saletan uncovers political and institutional strategies with lucidity and verve. This book makes a raft of challenging arguments--a must-read, especially now."—Rickie Solinger, author of Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the U.S. "Will Saletan is a great political journalist with a strong moral sense. He also has an unusually shrewd understanding of what happens when ethics and values meet elections and the legislative process. So partisans on every side of the abortion debate--Saletan shows convincingly there are more than two--will be challenged by his book, at times upset, and always enlightened. Based on exceptional reporting and fiercely independent analysis, Bearing Right is eloquent, important, and surprising." --E.J. Dionne, Jr., syndicated columnist and author of Why Americans Hate Politics "A unique assessment of recent abortion politics. Saletan uncovers political and institutional strategies with lucidity and verve. This book makes a raft of challenging arguments—a must-read, especially now."—Rickie Solinger, author of Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the U.S.
Historian Arthur Herman traces the roots of declinism and shows how major thinkers, past and present, have contributed to its development as a coherent ideology of cultural pessimism. From Nazism to the Sixties counterculture, from Britain's Fabian socialists to America's multiculturalists, and from Dracula and Freud to Robert Bly and Madonna, this work examines the idea of decline in Western history and sets out to explain how the conviction of civilization's inevitable end has become a fixed part of the modern Western imagination. Through a series of biographical portraits spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, the author traces the roots of declinism and aims to show how major thinkers of the past and present, including Nietzsche, DuBois, Sartre, and Foucault, have contributed to its development as a coherent ideology of cultural pessimism.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist's "astonishing" and "enthralling" New York Times bestseller and Notable Book about how the Founders' belief in natural rights created a great American political tradition (Booklist) -- "easily one of the best books on American Conservatism ever written" (Jonah Goldberg). For more than four decades, George F. Will has attempted to discern the principles of the Western political tradition and apply them to America's civic life. Today, the stakes could hardly be higher. Vital questions about the nature of man, of rights, of equality, of majority rule are bubbling just beneath the surface of daily events in America. The Founders' vision, articulated first in the Declaration of Independence and carried out in the Constitution, gave the new republic a framework for government unique in world history. Their beliefs in natural rights, limited government, religious freedom, and in human virtue and dignity ushered in two centuries of American prosperity. Now, as Will shows, conservatism is under threat -- both from progressives and elements inside the Republican Party. America has become an administrative state, while destructive trends have overtaken family life and higher education. Semi-autonomous executive agencies wield essentially unaccountable power. Congress has failed in its duty to exercise its legislative powers. And the executive branch has slipped the Constitution's leash. In the intellectual battle between the vision of Founding Fathers like James Madison, who advanced the notion of natural rights that pre-exist government, and the progressivism advanced by Woodrow Wilson, the Founders have been losing. It's time to reverse America's political fortunes. Expansive, intellectually thrilling, and written with the erudite wit that has made Will beloved by millions of readers, The Conservative Sensibility is an extraordinary new book from one of America's most celebrated political writers.
Congress is crippled by ideological conflict. The political parties are more polarized today than at any time since the Civil War. Americans disagree, fiercely, about just about everything, from terrorism and national security, to taxes and government spending, to immigration and gay marriage. Well, American elites disagree fiercely. But average Americans do not. This, at least, was the position staked out by Philip Converse in his famous essay on belief systems, which drew on surveys carried out during the Eisenhower Era to conclude that most Americans were innocent of ideology. In Neither Liberal nor Conservative, Donald Kinder and Nathan Kalmoe argue that ideological innocence applies nearly as well to the current state of American public opinion. Real liberals and real conservatives are found in impressive numbers only among those who are deeply engaged in political life. The ideological battles between American political elites show up as scattered skirmishes in the general public, if they show up at all. If ideology is out of reach for all but a few who are deeply and seriously engaged in political life, how do Americans decide whom to elect president; whether affirmative action is good or bad? Kinder and Kalmoe offer a persuasive group-centered answer. Political preferences arise less from ideological differences than from the attachments and antagonisms of group life.
A “must read” (Joe Scarborough) by a New York Times– best- selling author, The Corrosion of Conservatism presents a necessary defense of American democracy. Praised on publication as “one of the most impressive and unfl inching diagnoses of the pathologies in Republican politics that led to Trump’s rise” (Jonathan Chait, New York), The Corrosion of Conservatism documents a president who has traduced every norm and the rise of a nascent centrist movement to counter his assault on democracy. In this “admirably succinct and trenchant” (Charles Reichman, San Francisco Chronicle) exhumation of conservatism, Max Boot tells the story of an ideological dislocation so shattering that it caused his courageous transformation from Republican foreign policy advisor to celebrated anti- Trump columnist. From recording his political coming- of- age as a young émigré from the Soviet Union to describing the vitriol he endured from his erstwhile conservative colleagues, Boot mixes “lively memoir with sharp analysis” (William Kristol) from its Reagan-era apogee to its corrosion under Donald Trump.
