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December 1, 2014|Charles Schumer, gentry liberals, Joel Kotkin

A Pro-Government Party . . . Versus What?

by Angelo M. Codevilla|6 Comments

Immigration Executive Action

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), known for his perceptiveness, ascribed his party’s 2014 defeat to the fact that, since the Democrats are the “pro-government party,” their electoral fortunes are tied to what Americans think about the role of government in their and in the country’s life.

The accuracy of that self-description is beyond question. The Party’s character is set by persons whom Joel Kotkin dubs “gentry liberals”—they hold the commanding heights of government, as well as of cultural and corporate life. They figure prominently, says Kotkin, in the “affluent classes as well as the powerful public sector.”

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September 2, 2014|Facebook, Joel Kotkin, Silicon Valley, social media, The New Class Conflict

Rescuing American Prosperity: A Conversation with Joel Kotkin

by Joel Kotkin|3 Comments

This latest podcast is with Joel Kotkin, America’s Demographer-in-Chief, on his recently released book, The New Class Conflict. Kotkin and I discuss his grave warning of an American future that no longer contains the promises of democratic capitalism. Two groups, in Kotkin’s telling, have converged and share a vision of America that is unconcerned with economic growth, shared prosperity, and the need to rein in state power. The book’s opening argues that this class of tech entrepreneurs and the "Clerisy" pose a fundamental challenge to America's self-understanding as a nation of economic mobility: In the coming decades, the greatest existential threat…

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November 8, 2013|James Burnham, Joel Kotkin, Legal Education, Originalism, The Prince, The Wire

Friday Roundup, November 8th

by Richard M. Reinsch II|Leave a Comment

Protesters rally against President Trump's travel ban on February 4, 2017 in Washington DC (Rena Schild / Shutterstock.com),

Comes now a discussion of an originalism that can sing! This month's Liberty Forum considers Mike Rappaport and John McGinnis's new book, Originalism and the Good Constitution. Rappaport and McGinnis offer their thoughts in a lead essay with responses from Richard Epstein and Ralph Rossum. The current Liberty Law Talk is with Mark Helprin on his latest novel In Sunlight and In Shadow. We also talk politics, war, and what's right and wrong in Mad Men. Walking The Wire and learning criminal procedure and constitutional law in the process. Tony Freyer and Andy Morriss: The structure and strategy of the Caymans as an…

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September 13, 2013|Arnold kling, Joel Kotkin, John Lukacs, Law, Law-Legislation and Liberty, NSA

Friday Roundup, September 13th

by Richard M. Reinsch II|Leave a Comment

Protesters rally against President Trump's travel ban on February 4, 2017 in Washington DC (Rena Schild / Shutterstock.com),

I've made several posts the past few weeks to Liberty Fund's upcoming Constitution Day Symposium on federalism. Regarding this important topic, our Online Library of Liberty has the deepest bench of online resources for further reading and study. Enjoy! So the current Liberty Law Talk is a discussion with Eric Mack on Friedrich Hayek's great trilogy Law, Legislation and Liberty. If you haven't yet waded into all three volumes, then this podcast is a great introduction. For our feature review essay this week, Richard Gamble evaluates John Lukacs' latest effort, History and the Human Condition. Gamble observes that Lukacs' work demands humility…

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August 2, 2013|2012 Election, Administrative State, Executive Power, First Amendment, Free Speech, Joel Kotkin, Religious Freedom

Friday Roundup, August 2nd

by Richard M. Reinsch II|Leave a Comment

Protesters rally against President Trump's travel ban on February 4, 2017 in Washington DC (Rena Schild / Shutterstock.com),

The Liberty Forum for August is an attempt to answer the question if the courts should assume a more prominent role in reining in the administrative state.  Joseph Postell's lead essay argues that Today’s administrative state, therefore, makes a mess of the constitutional separation of powers and its careful adjustment of incentives, checks and balances. In such a system, what role can and should the courts play in reviewing agency decision-making? Here is where a deeper understanding of the courts’ historical role in administration is most needed. Excellent responses from Gary Lawson and Mark Seidenfeld question Postell's argument in favor of heightened…

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April 12, 2013|Accelerating Democracy, Chai Feldblum, Free Speech, Immigration policy, Joel Kotkin, Margaret Thatcher, Religious Liberty

Friday Roundup, April 12th

by Richard M. Reinsch II|1 Comment

Protesters rally against President Trump's travel ban on February 4, 2017 in Washington DC (Rena Schild / Shutterstock.com),
  • The current Liberty Law Talk is with Vincent Cannato, author of American Passage: The History of Ellis Island, on the Constitution and immigration policy. Would that the majority in Arizona v. United States had read their history on this subject.
  • The Books section this week features Bradley Smith’s review of John McGinnis’ Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Governance Through Technology.
  • Betting on the effects of homeschooling, Art Carden puts his money down at Econ Lib.
  • So the future is predictable, boring even. A respected Seattle florist refuses to create a wedding floral arrangement for a same-sex ceremony, and, of course,  she’s being sued by the Washington Attorney General’s office for allegedly violating that state’s Consumer Protection Act.

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Book Reviews

The Ford Restoration

by Kirk Emmert

Occupying the White House in unfavorable circumstances can make a President fall back on his best friend: the U.S. Constitution.

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John C. Calhoun, Madisonian Manqué

by Thomas W. Merrill

His institutional innovations were geared toward preserving slavery.

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Podcasts

The Solid Ground of Mere Civility: A Conversation with Teresa Bejan

A discussion with Teresa M. Bejan

Teresa Bejan discusses with us how early modern debates over religious toleration are an example of how we can disagree well.

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Leading a Worthy Life in a Scattered Time: A Conversation with Leon Kass

A discussion with Leon Kass

Leon Kass discusses Leading a Worthy Life.

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Eric Voegelin Studies: A Conversation with Charles Embry

A discussion with Charles Embry

What did "Don't immanentize the eschaton!" really mean? An intro podcast on the formidable mind of Eric Voegelin.

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Republican Virtue, Interrupted: A Conversation with Frank Buckley

A discussion with F.H. Buckley

The real conflict in our politics centers on reforming massive levels of public corruption.

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About

Law and Liberty’s focus is on the content, status, and development of law in the context of republican and limited government and the ways that liberty and law and law and liberty mutually reinforce the other. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law and Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

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