Modern American conservatism

From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, a minority conservative faction took over the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).  This project seeks to answer the questions of how a fringe minority within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination could undertake such a feat and why they chose to do so.  The framework through which this work analyzes these questions is one of competing worldviews that emerged within the SBC in response to decades of societal shifts and denominational transformations in the post-World War II era.  To place the events of the Southern Baptist “crisis” within this framework, this study seeks to refute the prevailing notion put forth in earlier works that the takeover was an in-house event, driven purely by doctrinal disputes between conservative Southern Baptists and SBC leadership.  Illustrating the differences between rhetoric and action on both sides of this intra-denominational conflict, this work seeks to provide perspective to the narrative of the Southern Baptist “crisis” by asserting that the worldviews guiding the opposing factions diverged not only on doctrine, but culture and politics as well.  Placing the events of the “crisis” within the context of broader worldviews, this project highlights and examines the intertwined nature of religion, culture, and politics in modern American society.

Donald Trump’s transformation of Republican Party ideology has helped reveal major problems in the political science discipline’s conceptualization and measurement of ideology. Most scholarship is dominated by the mistaken view that party ideology changes can best be described by parties moving “left” or “right” on a static, ideological, spatial spectrum. In reality, the meaning and content of “left” and “right” (“liberal” and “conservative”) constantly evolve along with the issue positions of the two major parties. Thus, it makes no sense to describe parties as moving to the “left” or “right” over time when the very meanings of “liberalism” and “conservatism” change during the same time period. By understanding the dynamic character of ideology, we can reconcile the paradox of how Trump’s Republican Party can change its ideology even while continuing to be identified with “conservatism” and the “Right.”

Resumen
El presente trabajo tiene como fin reflexionar brevemente sobre las causas de la crisis de la sociedad occidental contemporánea a partir del pensamiento de Wilhelm Röpke y Russell Kirk. Sendos aportes, desde diferentes contextos -el primero ordoliberal y proponente de la economía social de mercado; el segundo, desde el conservadurismo clásico estadounidense-, desarrollan un pensamiento marcado por un realismo crítico pero optimista. Este planteamiento se basa, primeramente, en asumir el hecho de que los problemas sociales modernos no son sólo de raíz política o económica, sino fundamentalmente de orden moral. Tanto Röpke como Kirk dan razón de esta premisa y por ello, en el actual panorama de desencanto y hastío social,  resulta oportuno volver a estos dos pensadores para buscar un certero diagnóstico. Este trabajo tiene como fin obtener una inspiración filosófica con que revitalizar auténticamente la política occidental yendo más allá de los aspectos epidérmicos de la presente crisis.

Palabras clave: Russell Kirk, Wilhelm Röpke, ordoliberalismo, conservadurismo, economía social de mercado, crisis moral, realismo, ideología, Estado, Occidente.

Abstract
This paper aims to discuss the causes of the social crisis in Western society from the work of Wilhelm Röpke and Russell Kirk. Both thinkers, from different orientations and academic contexts -the former ordoliberal and proponent of the social market economy; the latter, from the American conservatism- develop a thought marked by a critical and optimistic realism. This realism assumes the fact that the social problems that have been occurring since the emergence of Modernity do not have political or economic roots only, but fundamentally moral reasons. Both Röpke as Kirk defend this claim and that is why in these times of political and social disenchantment it is worth coming back to them for an accurate diagnosis. Thus, the goal of this work is to obtain a philosophical inspiration that truly revitalizes Western politics and let us go beyond the epidermal aspects of the current crisis.

Keywords: Russell Kirk, Wilhelm Röpke, ordoliberalism, conservatism, social market economy, moral crisis, realism, ideology, State, Western civilization

The novels by Russian immigrant writer Ayn Rand (1905-82) still attract a large readership, not least thanks to a recent renaissance of libertarian ideas in the US. Was it Rand’s intention, when writing her novels, to construct political tracts, as many insinuate, or was she indeed trying to imitate her literary idols, as she herself claimed? The answer is complicated due to Rand’s own contradictory statements on fiction’s impact. Although Rand suggested that it was the reader who gave text meaning, she also believed her books to have an unambiguous message that should have a distinct effect on the reader

Patrick Allitt’s The Conservatives is an ambitious and concise book that earned backcover blurbs from all the “right” people, including George Nash, an icon of conservative intellectualism, who remarks that “Patrick Allitt has written a perceptive, rigorously balanced, and richly panoramic account of conservative ideas and thinkers in American politics and culture since 1787.”

On the face of it, a title like The Conservatives raises more questions than it answers. “The conservatives” implies that there is a definite, nameable group of people who share a common vocabulary and worldview. But “conservative” is a fluid signifier as demonstrated by the sheer number and variety of people promoting conservatism while championing disparate and even incompatible beliefs. Trying to situate this term historically only multiplies its complexity.

Gilbert 24:4 (March-April 2021): 12. In this biographical sketch I recount the life and the lifelong devotion to Chesterton of the American conservative writer, magazine founder, television host, quondam political candidate, and entrepreneur, William F. Buckley. [Note: in the article I mistakenly said Buckley's New York mayoral campaign was 1968; it was actually 1965.]

This study analyzes the correlation of rhetoric usage by members of Congress who were supported by the Tea Party political movement with changes in mainstream conservative political discourse. The rhetoric of these politicians after the Tea Party’s ascendance in the 2010 congressional elections was compared to the rhetoric used by the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Republican nominees to understand the correlation with other changes in conservative discourse. I studied this discourse shift using speech analysis to code for instances of negative discourse and establish a comparison
between these election years while also noting rhetorical shifts evident among mainstream conservative politicians.

گفتگوی یک‌ساعت و نیمه من با وفا مهرآئین (به تاریخ ۱۸ آذر ۱۳۹۹) درباره علوم شناختی، نقش استعاره‌ها در سیاست، تقدم چارچوب‌های ذهنی بر زبان، مطالعات عصب‌شناختی روی گرایش‌های سیاسی، الهیات سخت‌گیر یا الهیات پرورش‌دهنده، محافظه‌کاری، ترقی‌خواهی و نهایتاً تاثیر هر یک از رویکردها در فهم امر بین‌الملل

The Tea Party is an interesting political movement in contemporary America.  Combining populist fervor with elements of the mainstream Republican establishment, such as support for the War on Drugs and opposition to immigration, and some elements of libertarian ideology such as opposition to the unionization of workers, they form a political nexus that has not been seen before in American political history. From the movement’s “birth” in 2009 to today, the Tea Party has had an active role in changing American politics, particularly in the 2010 congressional elections. In this paper, I will analyze the factors that led to their rise, their political ideology and stances, the makeup of their voting bloc, their connection to organizations that are openly bigoted and hostile to the federal government, an analysis of several of prominent Tea Party politicians, and how they are contributing to the popularity surge for 2016 Republican candidate Donald Trump.