In her review of Michael Novak’s autobiography Writing from Left to Right: My Journey from Liberal to Conservative, my Ethics and Public Policy Center colleague Mary Eberstadt writes: Throughout his writing, he embraces lines of argument and alternative ideas, admiringly turning them this way and that, with an intellectual openness rare to see—especially among intellectuals. This quality

The American Enterprise Institute’s Karlyn Bowman and Andrew Rugg, in examining the trends of recent polls,find trust and confidence in government to handle domestic and international problems at their lowest level in 40 years. Two-thirds of the public say they are dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed. Anger is rising, and the number

As much of the political world continues to be consumed by the government shutdown, I wanted to focus once again on recent remarks by one of the most remarkable and intriguing figures on the world stage: Pope Francis. In his recent interview with Antonio Spadaro, editor in chief of La Civilta Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal, Pope Francis

Even for our time, the invective is remarkable. In the current debate about the continuing resolution and the government shutdown, and because of their determination to begin to unwind the highly unpopular Affordable Care Act, Republicans are being referred to as jihadists, arsonists, anarchists, terrorists, extortionists, racists, gun-to-the-head hostage takers, grave threats to American democracy,

This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral—Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!—in America’s Gilded Capital By Mark Leibovich Blue Rider Press, 400 pages Many years ago, shortly after I moved to Washington D.C., I began to notice a pattern: People would talk about the nation’s capital with disgust and barely concealed contempt, as if living and

In a fascinating essay in National Affairs, Jonathan Rauch writes in praise of compromise, saying that “in our constitutional system, compromise is not merely a necessary evil but a positive good.” Rauch argues that compromise is part of the Madisonian framework–“the most essential principle of our constitutional system.” He adds, “Those who hammer out painful deals perform the

Earlier this week I appeared on a panel discussion hosted by the Heritage Foundation on ”The Conservative Mind at 60.” During the event I highlighted three themes that appear in Russell Kirk’s A Conservative Mind (published in 1953) and made the case for why those insights are still crucial to the health and wellbeing of modern conservatism. As for the themes

In his 12,000 word interview with Antonio Spadaro, editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal, Pope Francis revealed the heart of an extraordinary man. The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio, did not change Catholic Church doctrine. But six months into his papacy, through his words and his actions, he has changed its

A recent interview in Relevant magazine caught my attention. In it, the journalist Peter Hitchens made this observation: This is a period of great material wealth and the worships of economic growth and the century of the self, in which religious belief is going to be in trouble. The best metaphor for the state of mind in which

One of the strongest arguments for voting “yes” on authorizing strikes against Syria is that a “no” vote will do significant damage to the credibility of the United States. “It is to President Obama’s great discredit that he has staked his credibility on a vote whose outcome he failed to game out in advance,” Ross