James Madison was the visionary who crafted the classical political framework of individual liberty, economic dynamism, based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution. When was the founders’ philosophy abandoned? Was it after the Civil War; or during the Woodrow Wilson Administration? This SDG is not designed to reconcile any particular problem or philosophy, but to discuss the enduring questions concerning the proper scope and intellectual competence of government. There is no better authority commenting on the current state of American Politics than George F. Will to build the case that the true classical Conservatism has always been in America’s best interest.
THE CORE BOOK IS ONLY MEANT TO BE A COMMON BASIS FROM WHICH TO START - NOT THE BOUNDARY FOR THE SDG.
Week one: History of ‘conservative’ political theory in the US
Chapter 1 page 1 – 31
History of Political Philosophy, edited by Strauss and Cropsey
Week two: History of ‘progressive’ political theory in the US
Chapter 2 pages 32 – 101
The Progressive Movement and the Transformation of American Politics
Schambra and West, 2007
Progressive and Conservative Constitutionalism, West, Georgetown University
Law Center, 1990
Week three: Congressional duty to supervise
Chapter 3 pages 102 -147
The Rise and Fall of the Separation of Powers, Calabresi, Berghausen &
Albertson, Northwestern University School of Law, 2012.
Executive Power in American Institutional Development, Whittlingon and
Carpenter, Perspectives on Politics, 2003
Week four: Judicial Activism vs. Judicial Restraint
Chapter 4 pages 148 – 215
Constitutional Conservatism and American Conservatism, O’Neil, American
Conservatism, 2016
The Constitutional Duty to Supervise, Metzger, Yale Law Journal, 2015
Week five: How best to minimize economic inequality?
Chapter 5 pages 216 – 298
The Inequity of the Progressive Income Tax, Hagpian, Hoover Institution, 2011.
The Consequences of Conservative Economic Policy, Hersh, Ettlinger and Pruss,
Center for American Progress, 2010.
Week six: How do we define the success of a society? Can politics change society?
Chapter 6 Pages 299 – 351
Reconsidering Culture and Poverty, Small, Harding and Lamont, Harvard University 2010
Week seven: The role of education in defending against forgetfulness
Chapter 7 pages 352 – 404
What is the purpose of education? 2012
Week eight: Does everyone want democracy? How political philosophy drives foreign policy
Chapter 8 pages 405 – 456
Alexander Hamilton and American Foreign Policy, Holloway, Heritage Foundation, 2015
Week nine: Conservatism and religion
Chapter 9 Pages 457 -511
The Tragedy of Compassionate Conservatism, Pilbeam, Cambridge University, 2010
History of Inherent Contradictions: The Origins and End of American Conservatism,
Kurth, American Conservatism, 2016.
Week ten: Is conservatism, as George Will knew it, dead?
Chapter 10 Pages 512 -538
Comprehending conservatism: a new framework for analysis,
Muller, Journal of Political Ideologies October 2006
Conflict, Fusion or Coexistence? The Complexity of Contemporary American
Conservatism, Zumbrunnen and Gangle, 2007.
The Conservative Sensibility, George F. Will, Hachette Books 2019
All listed articles to be distributed as PDFs.