In DISSENT, award-winning investigative journalist Jackie Calmes brings readers closer to the truth of who Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is, where he came from, and how he and the Republican party at large managed to secure one of the highest seats of power in the land. Kavanaugh's rise to the justice who solidified conservative control of the supreme court is a story of personal achievement, but also a larger, political tale: of the Republican Party's movement over four decades toward the far right, and its parallel campaign to dominate the government's judicial branch as well as the other two. And Kavanaugh uniquely personifies this history. Fourteen years before reaching the Supreme Court, during a three-year fight for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin would say to Kavanaugh, "It seems that you are the Zelig or Forrest Gump of Republican politics. You show up at every scene of the crime." Featuring revelatory new reporting and exclusive interviews, DISSENT is a harrowing look into the highest echelons of political power in the United States, and a captivating survey of the people who will do anything to have it.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

"All the greats--Buckley, Hayek, Kirk, Friedman, Reagan--are represented in the fine anthology edited by Gregory L. Schneider, and the gloves occasionally come off"
--"National Review"

"An ambitious book, chock-full of the learned and provocative writing that characterized the opposition party all throughout the strife-torn 20th century. It is brutally honest about the movement's current predicament."
--"The American Conservative"

"Liberals and conservatives alike should have no trouble endorsing this anthology from 70 years of the conservative movement in the United States."--"Library Journal"

While there have long been libertarians, agrarians, individualists, collectivists, nationalists, and others who fit the contemporary label of "conservative," no cohesive conservative movement existed prior to World War II. How, then, did conservatism develop into such a powerful American political force?

Tracing the history of conservatism from the concerns and ideas of the Old Right, through the Cold War, the "Gingrich revolution," and into the present, Conservatism in America Since 1930 gathers a wide range of conservative writings and documents showcasing the development and protean character of the modern conservative intellectual and political movement.

The book includes essays from Russell Kirk, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, William F. Buckley, Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Pat Buchanan, among others, and highlights key debates between the movement's factions. Along with essays by these canonical conservative figures, the volume also contains excerpts from sources less frequently cited, such as the Twelve Southerners andSeward Collins, as well as documents from conservative organizations and journals. The primary documents are supplemented by introductions which set the historical context and offer illuminating commentary on how conservatism shifted identity over the course of modern American history.

The Progressive Revolution (Volumes III & IV)-continues this historical and literary survey systematically chronicling both the historical significance and political deconstruction that the Progressive Revolution or the Progressive Age (circa 1860-present), particularly how this ubiquitous socialist revolution has destroyed Western Civilization and America's Judeo-Christian traditions . . . even to this day. These volumes are a collection of selected essays, articles and Socratic dialogues from Washington's weekly columns published in WND.com and RenewAmerica.com-both essential news and opinion websites of primarily conservative writers and ideas. This opus is divided into two volumes-Volume III: 2010-11 Writings; Volume IV: 2012-13 Writings-which rather than being arranged chronologically by date, are organized topically according to their subject matter of 12 intellectual disciplines including-Law, Politics, Foreign Policy, Philosophy, Aesthetics, the Academy, Religion, Economics, Science & Medicine, Culture & Society, History and Legal Scholarship.

Democratising Conservative leadership selection traces the effects of democracy on the British Conservative Party, specifically looking at how changes in the ways the Conservatives elect their leaders have altered their mandate to lead. The book includes analysis of the original undemocratic 'system' whereby a leader 'emerged' from a shadowy process of consultation, and of the six elections between 1965 and 1997 where the parliamentary Conservative Party alone chose the Party leader. This historical perspective is followed by in-depth analysis of the three contests since 2001 that have taken place under the 'Hague rules', according to which ordinary Party members have the final say. This is the most comprehensive account yet published of the operation of those rules on the Conservative Party and the legitimacy of its leadership, and of the 2005 election of David Cameron. This book will be essential reading for students, academic specialists and anyone interested in the recent history and contemporary practice of British Conservatism. -- .

From the acclaimed author of Listen, Liberal and What’s the Matter with Kansas, a scathing collection of interlocking essays perfect for this political moment.

With his trademark sardonic wit and lacerating logic, New York Times–bestselling author Thomas Frank takes us on a tour through present-day America, showing us a society in the late stages of disintegration.

Holding nothing back, Frank skewers both the right and left, and rages about the systematic inequality that led, in 2016, to millions of anxious, ordinary people rallying to the presidential campaign of a billionaire who meant them no good.

For those who despair of the future of America and of reason itself, Rendezvous with Oblivion is a booster shot of energy, reality, and moral outrage.

In this well-researched book, Philip Massolin takes a fascinating look at the forces of modernization that swept through English Canada, beginning at the turn of the twentieth century. Victorian values - agrarian, religious - and the adherence to a rigid set of philosophical and moral codes were being replaced with those intrinsic to the modern age: industrial, secular, scientific, and anti-intellectual. This work analyses the development of a modern consciousness through the eyes of the most fervent critics of modernity - adherents to the moral and value systems associated with Canada's tory tradition. The work and thought of social and moral critics Harold Innis, Donald Creighton, Vincent Massey, Hilda Neatby, George P. Grant, W.L. Morton, Northrop Frye, and Marshall McLuhan are considered for their views of modernization and for their strong opinions on the nature and implications of the modern age. These scholars shared concerns over the dire effects of modernity and the need to attune Canadians to the realities of the modern age. Whereas most Canadians were oblivious to the effects of modernization, these critics perceived something ominous: far from being a sign of true progress, modernization was a blight on cultural development. In spite of the efforts of these critics, Canada emerged as a fully modern nation by the 1970s. Because of the triumph of modernity, the toryism that the critics advocated ceased to be a defining feature of the nation's life. Modernization, in short, contributed to the passing of an intellectual tradition centuries in the making and rapidly led to the ideological underpinnings of today's modern Canada.

Neoconservatism is more of a disposition than a single political theory, but it is an attitude that has had a profound impact on the broader conservative effort in the United States since the Fifties. It is a unique blend of skepticism and fortitude about a host of wide-ranging issues, spanning culture, economics, and national defense. This book looks at six neoconservative intellectuals Irving Kristol, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, Daniel Bell, and Nathan Glazer and the intellectual influences on their thinking about the defects of communism, fascism, progressivism, the dominant American culture, and even capitalism itself. This book looks at the gestation of political criticism within the pages of the neoconservatives own writings, as well as the books they read and the thinkers they either learned from or came to fear. The book looks at the ways in which the neoconservatives adapted Lenin s formula for success to conservative efforts in the United States, arguing that neoconservatism is an anti-ideology ideology, in that it considers a New Class of professional, ideologically motivated reformers to be the greatest problem facing the United States because of their increased efforts to technocratize ordinary life, their moral relativism, their efforts to usurp human nature and supplant it with their own utopian visions, their anti-Americanism, and their unwillingness to face imminent dangers threatening the American way of life. The book argues that the neoconservative political strategy is to take the fight to the enemy.

"Smart and thoughtful . . . Perceptive"
"--The Women's Review of Books"

"One does not associate scholars with perfect timing, news-wise, but Angela D. Dillard's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Now? could not be more of the moment."
--"New York Times Book Review"

"An excellent overview of this new movement."
--"The New Republic"

"If you, like many, marveled that George W. Bush not only did but could put together a cabinet and staff that was racially diverse as well as fiscally and morally conservative, here's a book you'll want to read."
--"Ms." magazine

In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Now? Angela Dillard offers the first comparative analysis of a conservatism which today cuts across the boundaries of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.

To be an African-American and a conservative, or a Latino who is also a conservative and a homosexual, is to occupy an awkward and contested political position. Dillard explores the philosophies, politics, and motivation of minority conservatives such as Ward Connerly, Glenn Loury, Linda Chavez, Clarence Thomas, and Bruce Bawer, as well as their tepid reception by both the Left and Right. Welcomed cautiously by the conservative movement, they have also frequently been excoriated by those African Americans, Latinos, women, and homosexuals who view their conservatism as betrayal.

Dillard's comprehensive study, among the first to take the history and political implications of multicultural conservatism seriously, is a vital source for understanding contemporary American conservatism in all its forms.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2020 From the bestselling author of Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge comes the dramatic conclusion of how conservatism took control of American political power. Over two decades, Rick Perlstein has published three definitive works about the emerging dominance of conservatism in modern American politics. With the saga's final installment, he has delivered yet another stunning literary and historical achievement. In late 1976, Ronald Reagan was dismissed as a man without a political future: defeated in his nomination bid against a sitting president of his own party, blamed for President Gerald Ford's defeat, too old to make another run. His comeback was fueled by an extraordinary confluence: fundamentalist preachers and former segregationists reinventing themselves as militant crusaders against gay rights and feminism; business executives uniting against regulation in an era of economic decline; a cadre of secretive "New Right" organizers deploying state-of-the-art technology, bending political norms to the breaking point-and Reagan's own unbending optimism, his ability to convey unshakable confidence in America as the world's "shining city on a hill." Meanwhile, a civil war broke out in the Democratic party. When President Jimmy Carter called Americans to a new ethic of austerity, Senator Ted Kennedy reacted with horror, challenging him for reelection. Carter's Oval Office tenure was further imperiled by the Iranian hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, near-catastrophe at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant, aviation accidents, serial killers on the loose, and endless gas lines. Backed by a reenergized conservative Republican base, Reagan ran on the campaign slogan "Make America Great Again"-and prevailed. Reaganland is the story of how that happened, tracing conservatives' cutthroat strategies to gain power and explaining why they endure four decades later.

Contemporary American conservatism - a melange of ideas, people, and organizations - is difficult to define; even conservatives themselves are unable to agree about its essential meaning. Yet the conservative movement is well financed, exerts strong influence in the Republican Party, inspires followers throughout the land, and has spawned a network of think tanks and media outlets that are the envy of its competitors. It is a powerful political force with which to be reckoned. This book examines how that has come about and what contemporary conservatism signifies for US politics and policy. It looks at the recent history of conservatism in America as well as its antecedents in the UK, traces changes over time using American National Election Study data from 1972 to the present in what it means when people say they are conservatives, and assesses the prospects for American conservatism, both in the near term electoral context and over the longer term as well.

Contemporary American conservatism - a melange of ideas, people, and organizations - is difficult to define; even conservatives themselves are unable to agree about its essential meaning. Yet the conservative movement is well financed, exerts strong influence in the Republican Party, inspires followers throughout the land, and has spawned a network of think tanks and media outlets that are the envy of its competitors. It is a powerful political force with which to be reckoned. This book examines how that has come about and what contemporary conservatism signifies for US politics and policy. It looks at the recent history of conservatism in America as well as its antecedents in the UK, traces changes over time using American National Election Study data from 1972 to the present in what it means when people say they are conservatives, and assesses the prospects for American conservatism, both in the near term electoral context and over the longer term as well.

This timely and significant book provides a comprehensive overview of right-wing ideology and policy-making in the years since Ronald Reagan left office, and an explanation of the reasons why the Republicans, the 'party of Reagan', turned towards Donald Trump. The authors assess the ways in which the Reagan legacy, rather than the empirical realities of his tenure, has impacted economic, social and cultural policy formation and conservative efforts at reshaping the United States. They also evaluate the changing relationships between different ideological currents on the right. Against this background, The American Right after Reagan discusses Trump's insurgent populism and the profound tensions that have marked his presidency. This thought-provoking book will prove invaluable to scholars in political science and American Studies, in particular those studying US domestic or foreign policy during this period. It will also provide useful insights for those seeking to understand the recent rise of right-wing populism and Trump's ascendancy.

Retrieving the Big Society presents a collection of essays that challenge the view of Britain s Big Society as a political gimmick and recognise it as an alternative to the central state in social and economic governance. Offers an original and critical take on the idea of the Big Society Attempts to make sense of the Big Society by placing in the context of the history of localism, mutualism, and voluntarism Features contributions by experts on British politics and political theory

This book presents a provocative perspective on the impact of the Reagan administration. Many political commentators, both liberal and conservative, argue that the 1980s was a period of fundamental conservative change. Some of them believe the changes have been so important that the 1980s should be seen as a watershed period in American political history as significant as the 1930s. Schwab denies this thesis and points out that politics and policy did not fundamentally change in a conservative direction. Instead, he demonstrates how policy developments and the political system actually moved in the opposite direction. In the realm of public opinion, Schwab points out that sentiment tends to shift toward the left rather than the right. Support for social and environmental programs remained high and even increased during the Reagan era, whereas support for Defense programs dropped to a near-record low. Instead of a New Right conservative shift in public opinion on social issues, Americans became more liberal on women's rights, minority rights, and sexual behaviour issues. Schwab's critique extends as well to Reagan's political success and popularity. Rather than being one of the most successful presidents in leading Congress, he was one of the least successful. His conservative ideology lessened support for him among many voters and congressional liberals gained more voter support during the 1980s' elections than conservatives.

Neoconservatism has undergone a transformation that has made a clear identity almost impossible to capture. The Republican foreign policy operatives of the George W. Bush era seem far removed from the early liberal intellectuals who focused on domestic issues. Justin Vaisse offers the first comprehensive history of neoconservatism, exploring the connections between a changing and multifaceted school of thought, a loose network of thinkers and activists, and American political life in turbulent times.

In an insightful portrait of the neoconservatives and their impact on public life, Vaisse frames the movement in three distinct ages: the New York intellectuals who reacted against the 1960s leftists; the Scoop Jackson Democrats, who tried to preserve a mix of hawkish anticommunism abroad and social progress at home but failed to recapture the soul of the Democratic Party; and the Neocons of the 1990s and 2000s, who are no longer either liberals or Democrats. He covers neglected figures of this history such as Pat Moynihan, Eugene Rostow, Lane Kirkland, and Bayard Rustin, and offers new historical insight into two largely overlooked organizations, the Coalition for a Democratic Majority and the Committee on the Present Danger. He illuminates core developments, including the split of liberalism in the 1960s, and the shifting relationship between partisan affiliation and foreign policy positions.

Vaisse gives neoconservatism its due as a complex movement and predicts it will remain an influential force in the American political landscape.

Most current analysis on Latin American politics has been directed at examining the shift to the left in the region. Very little attention, however, has been paid to the reactions of the right to this phenomenon. What kind of discursive, policy, and strategic responses have emerged among the right in Latin America as a result of this historic turn to the left? Have there been any shifts in attitudes to inequality and poverty as a result of the successes of the left in those areas? How has the right responded strategically to regain the political initiative from the left? And what implications might such responses have for democracy in the region? The Right in Latin America seeks to provide answers to these questions while helping to fill a gap in the literature on contemporary Latin American politics. Unlike previous studies, Barry Cannon's book does not simply concentrate on party political responses to the contemporary challenges for the right in the region. Rather he uses a wider, more comprehensive theoretical framework, grounded in political sociology, in recognition of the deep social roots of the right among Latin America's elites, in a region known for its startling inequalities. Using Michael Mann's pioneering work on power, he shows how elite dominance in the key areas of the economy, ideology, the military, and in transnational relations, has had a profound influence on the political strategies of the Latin American right. He shows how left governments, especially the more radical ones, have threatened elite power in these areas, influencing right-wing strategic responses as a result. These responses, he persuasively argues, can vary from elections, through street protests and media campaigns, to military coups, depending on the level of perceived threat felt by elites from the left. In this way, Cannon uncovers the dialectical nature of the left/right relationship in contemporary Latin American politics, while simultaneously providing pointers as to how the left can respond to the challenge of the right's resurgence in the current context of left retrenchment. Cannon's multi-faceted inter-disciplinary approach, including original research among right-leaning actors in the region makes the book an essential reference not only for those interested in the contemporary Latin American right but for anyone interested in the region's politics at a critical juncture in its history.

What happened to economic policy during the first five years of Mrs Thatcher's government? Most commentators have emphasised the radical changes wrought in economic theory and policy over the period from 1979. The left saw this as heralding the introduction of the social market economy and authoritarian populism, the right saw it as evangelical monetarism and a new beginning. This book, first published in 1986, challenges the notion that there was a revolution in economic policy making. It emphasises the constraints on economic policy formation and the ironies that these have thrown up with respect to the Conservatives' attempts at changing the course of the economy. The book argues that the Thatcher government had not been able to implement a great deal of its rhetoric. This book is ideal for students of economics and politics.

Most current analysis on Latin American politics has been directed at examining the shift to the left in the region. Very little attention, however, has been paid to the reactions of the right to this phenomenon. What kind of discursive, policy, and strategic responses have emerged among the right in Latin America as a result of this historic turn to the left? Have there been any shifts in attitudes to inequality and poverty as a result of the successes of the left in those areas? How has the right responded strategically to regain the political initiative from the left? And what implications might such responses have for democracy in the region? The Right in Latin America seeks to provide answers to these questions while helping to fill a gap in the literature on contemporary Latin American politics. Unlike previous studies, Barry Cannon's book does not simply concentrate on party political responses to the contemporary challenges for the right in the region. Rather he uses a wider, more comprehensive theoretical framework, grounded in political sociology, in recognition of the deep social roots of the right among Latin America's elites, in a region known for its startling inequalities. Using Michael Mann's pioneering work on power, he shows how elite dominance in the key areas of the economy, ideology, the military, and in transnational relations, has had a profound influence on the political strategies of the Latin American right. He shows how left governments, especially the more radical ones, have threatened elite power in these areas, influencing right-wing strategic responses as a result. These responses, he persuasively argues, can vary from elections, through street protests and media campaigns, to military coups, depending on the level of perceived threat felt by elites from the left. In this way, Cannon uncovers the dialectical nature of the left/right relationship in contemporary Latin American politics, while simultaneously providing pointers as to how the left can respond to the challenge of the right's resurgence in the current context of left retrenchment. Cannon's multi-faceted inter-disciplinary approach, including original research among right-leaning actors in the region makes the book an essential reference not only for those interested in the contemporary Latin American right but for anyone interested in the region's politics at a critical juncture in its history.

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) was one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers in the areas of social theory, philosophy, aesthetics, and music. This volume reveals another aspect of the work of this remarkable polymath, a pioneering analysis of the psychological underpinnings of what we now call the Radical Right and its use of the media to propagate its political and religious agenda.
The now-forgotten Martin Luther Thomas was an American fascist-style demagogue of the Christian right on the radio in the 1930s. During these years, Adorno was living in the United States and working with Paul Lazarsfeld on the social significance of radio. This book, Adorno's penetrating analysis of Thomas's rhetorical appeal and manipulative techniques, was written in English and is one of Adorno's most accessible works. It is in four parts: "The Personal Element: Self-Characterization of the Agitator," "Thomas' Methods," "The Religious Medium,"and "Ideological Bait." The importance of the study is manifold: it includes a theory of fascism and anti-semitism, it provides a methodology for the cultural study of popular culture, and it offers broad reflections on comparative political life in America and Europe.
Implicit in the book is an innovative idea about the relation between psychological and sociological reality. Moreover, the study is germane to the contemporary reality of political and religious radio in the United States because it provides an analysis of rhetorical techniques that exploit potentials of psychological regression for authoritarian aims.

Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater was a staunch conservative more interested in advancing the conservative cause than running for president. A "Draft Goldwater" campaign three years in the making catapulted him to the Republican nomination in 1964, despite bitter opposition within the party. He was defeated in a landslide by Lyndon Johnson but the right had established itself as a reinvigorated force in the years to come. This is the story of the 1964 Republican convention and the beginnings of the modern conservative movement.

During the last 15-20 years a new party family of radical right-wing populism (RRP) has emerged in Western Europe, consisting of parties such as the French Front National and the Austrian Freedom's Party, among many others. Contrary to the situation in the other Scandinavian countries, such parties have been largely unsuccessful in Sweden. Although Sweden saw the emergence of the populist party New Democracy - which partly can be classified as a RRP party - in the early 1990s, it collapsed in 1994, and no party has so far been successful enough to take its place. Most of the literature on populism and right-wing extremism deals with successful cases; this book takes the opposite direction and asks how one can explain the failure of Swedish radical right-wing populism.

The main area of sustained populist growth in recent decades has been Western Europe, where populist parties have not only endured longer than expected, but have increasingly begun to enter government. Focusing on three high-profile cases in Italy and Switzerland - the Popolo della Liberta (PDL), Lega Nord (LN) and Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) - Populists in Power is the first in-depth comparative study to examine whether these parties are indeed doomed to failure in office as many commentators have claimed. Albertazzi and McDonnell's findings run contrary to much of the received wisdom. Based on extensive original research and fieldwork, they show that populist parties can be built to last, can achieve key policy victories and can survive the experience of government, without losing the support of either the voters or those within their parties. Contributing a new perspective to studies in populist politics, Populists in Power is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars interested in modern government, parties and politics.

In its time, the Quarterly Review was thought to closely reflect government policy, however, the essays in this volume reveal that it was inconsistent in its support of government positions and reflected disagreement over a broad range of religious, economic and political issues.

What we think of as liberalism today--the top and bottom coalition we associate with President Obama--began not with Progressivism or the new deal, but rather in the wake of the post-WWI disillusionment with American society. The Revolt Against the Masses explores the inner life of American liberalism over the past 90 years, beginning with liberalism's foundational writers and thinkers--such as Herbert Croly, Randolph Bourne, H.G. Wells, Sinclair Lewis, and H.L. Mencken--who despised the new worlds of mass production, mass politics, mass culture. These liberals sought to establish a true aristocracy that would serve as a counterpoint to the debasements of modern society. It was then in the seminal 1920s, that the strong strain of snobbery and contempt for the middle class, so pervasive today in the Hamptons, the New Yorker, HBO, and the Sierra Club, first defined liberalism. Today's brand of Barack Obama liberalism has gone further, displacing the old Main Street middle class with public sector workers, crony capitalists, and those elite arbiters of style and taste Siegel calls the liberal gentry. The Revolt Against the Masses explains how this came to be and why liberals continue to insist they act on behalf of the best interests of the middle class, even if the damned fools don't know it.