The Tempering of Democracy
by David T. KoyzisMight we do well to admit, not that democracy is a bad thing, but that too much democracy can harm a country's constitution? Continue Reading »
Might we do well to admit, not that democracy is a bad thing, but that too much democracy can harm a country's constitution? Continue Reading »
Social media tend to magnify the expansive self, encouraging participants to stake out a virtual identity within the ethereal territory of the world wide web: “This is who I am, like it or not!” “My political beliefs are part of my identity; to call them into question is to call my very identity into question.” Continue Reading »
Not enough has been said about how Pope Francis—a man of strong intuitions and vivid language—lives in and has been formed by literature. He regularly cites and recommends imaginative works like José Hernández’s Martín Fierro, Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World, and Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed. And he thinks by their patterns. Whereas Benedict strove for a concise, clear scholarly expression, Francis seeks the striking images and strong characterizations of the storyteller. Over here are the good guys, over there the bad. Continue Reading »
Last week at First Things we were very happy to host Michael Novak and Paul Adams as they discussed their new book on social justice. One of the themes Novak and Adams touched on in their presentations was how poorly Americans today seem to understand the concept of social justice. On both left and . . . . Continue Reading »
A political system, along with such supportive traditions as the rule of law and loyal opposition, is supposed to be a durable fixture on the political landscape and ought not to be changed lightly. It should be amended only when a favorable consensus can be achieved, and if that consensus is not forthcoming, then the constitution remains as it is. Continue Reading »
In the eighteenth century, a host of thinkers began to use the compound term “political economy” to refer to the traditional subject matter of politics. Both parts are needed to express the complex social system necessary to human liberty and flourishing. For human liberty and human flourishing . . . . Continue Reading »
Over the weekend, President Obama and other national leaders traveled to Selma, Alabama to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the march on Selma. The events of that day in particular, and of the Civil Rights movement in general, remind us of an important truth: Religion and politics do go together—a democratic version of the latter cannot be sustained without the former. Continue Reading »
In defense of a rigorously selective form of nostalgia. Continue Reading »
Democracy will only arrive in the Middle East when families and tribes become much less important than they now are. Continue Reading »
George Will argues that American politics is divided between conservatives, “who take their bearings from the individual’s right to a capacious, indeed indefinite, realm of freedom” and progressives “whose fundamental value is the right of the majority to have its way in making rules about which specified liberties shall be respected.” For Will, real conservatives favor an activist judiciary that will aggressively defend our “capacious, indeed indefinite realm of freedom” from the majority. Continue Reading »