Why Liberalism Failed

by Patrick J. Deneen

  “No Longer the Heart of the Home, the Piano Industry Quietly Declines.” New York Public Radio, January 6, 2015.

  Oakeshott, Michael. The Politics of Faith and the Politics of Scepticism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.

  ——. Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays. New York: Basic, 1962.

  Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation: The Political Origins of Our Time. 1944; Boston: Beacon, 2001.

  Polillo, Simone. “Structuring Financial Elites: Conservative Banking and the Local Sources of Reputation in Italy and the United States, 1850–1914.” Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 2008.

  Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York: Vintage, 1993.

  Purcell, Edward A. The Crisis of Democratic Theory: Scientific Naturalism and the Problem of Value. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1973.

  Putnam, Robert D. Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2015.

  Putnam, Robert D., and David E. Campbell. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.

  Rauschenbusch, Walter. Theology for the Social Gospel. 1917; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.

  Reed, Matt. “Remember the Canon Wars?” Inside Higher Ed, April 11, 2013.

  Reich, Robert B. “Secession of the Successful.” New York Times, January 20, 1991.

  Robinson, Brett T. Appletopia: Media Technology and the Religious Imagination of Steve Jobs. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2013.

  Root, Damon. Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court. New York: St. Martin’s, 2014.

  Schumacher, E. F. Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. New York: Harper and Row, 1975.

  Shachtman, Tom. Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish. New York: North Point, 2007.

  Shepard, Walter J. “Democracy in Transition.” American Political Science Review 29 (1935).

  Shiffman, Mark. “Humanity 4.5,” First Things, November, 2015.

  Siedentop, Larry. Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014.

  Sigmund, Paul E. Natural Law in Political Thought. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1981.

  Silver, Lee M. Remaking Eden: Cloning and beyond in a Brave New World. New York: Avon, 1997.

  Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965.

  Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. “The World Split Apart.” In Solzhenitsyn at Harvard, ed. Ronald Berman. Washington, DC: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1980.

  Thomas, Richard H. “From Porch to Patio.” Palimpsest, August 1975.

  Tierney, Brian. The Idea of Natural Rights: Studies on Natural Rights, Natural Law, and Church Law, 1150–1625. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997.

  Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America, trans. George Lawrence. New York: Harper and Row, 1969.

  Tuck, Richard. Natural Rights Theories: Their Origins and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

  Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic, 2011.

  Twelve Southerners. I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition. New York: Harper, 1930.

  Vargas Llosa, Mario. Notes on the Death of Culture: Essays on Spectacle and Society. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

  Vermuele, Adrian. Law’s Abnegation: From Law’s Empire to the Administrative State. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016.

  Winthrop, John. “A Model of Christian Charity.” In The American Puritans: Their Prose and Poetry, ed. Perry Miller. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.

  Zakaria, Fareed. The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad. New York: Norton, 2007.

  ——. “The Rise of Illiberal Democracy.” Foreign Affairs, November–December, 1997.

  Index

  abortion, (i)

  abstraction, (i)

  academic freedom, (i)

  administrative state, (i), (ii)

  Against Democracy (Brennan), (i)

  alienation, (i)

  Alone Together (Turkle), (i)

  Amish, (i), (ii), (iii)

  anticulture, (i)

  apocalypticism, (i)

  Aquinas, Thomas, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Arendt, Hannah, (i)

  aristocracy, (i), (ii)

  Aristotle, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

  Augustine, Saint, bishop of Hippo, (i)

  automobiles, (i)

  Average Is Over (Cowen), (i)

  Bacon, Francis: Dewey’s admiration for, (i), (ii); mastery of nature sought by, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

  Bellamy, Francis, (i)

  Benedict Option, The (Dreher), (i)

  Berry, Wendell, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  Bloom, Allan, (i)n9

  Boorstin, Daniel J., (i), (ii)

  Brennan, Jason, (i), (ii), (iii)n28

  Brexit, (i), (ii), (iii)

  brood parasitism, (i)

  bureaucracy, (i)

  Burke, Edmund, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

  Bush, George W., (i)n15

  Calvin, John, (i)

  Caplan, Bryan, (i), (ii)

  Carr, Nicholas, (i)

  Catlin, George E. G., (i)

  centralization, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

  Christianity, (i), (ii); afterlife stressed in, (i); liberal education and, (i), (ii); liberalism contrasted with, (i); liberalism grounded in, (i), (ii), (iii); liberty and, (i), (ii); marriage in, (i); virtue stressed in, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

  Cicero, Marcus Tullius, (i)

  citizenship, (i)

  civil service reform, (i)

  Civil War, American, (i)

  climate change, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Coming Apart (Murray), (i)

  communism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv); collapse of, (i)

  computers, (i)

  consent, (i)

  conservatives: Constitution invoked by, (i), (ii); environmental standards attacked by, (i); liberal goals advanced by, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v); markets revered by, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv); mastery of nature sought by, (i), (ii); sexual revolution vs., (i); statism decried by, (i), (ii); traditional curriculum and, (i), (ii)

  Considerations on Repressive Government (Mill), (i)

  Constitution, U.S., (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  constitutionalism, (i), (ii)

  consumerism, (i), (ii)

  Copts, (i)

  courts, (i)

  Cowen, Tyler, (i)

  Crawford, Matthew, (i)

  Crisis of Democratic Theory, The (Purcell), (i)

  “critical thinking,” (i), (ii)

  Croly, Herbert, (i)

  Dante Alighieri, (i)

  “deep state,” (i)

  Democracy in America (Tocqueville), (i), (ii), (iii)

  democratic competence, (i), (ii)

  depersonalization, (i)

  Descartes, René, (i), (ii)

  Dewey, A. Gordon, (i)

  Dewey, John: custom and tradition devalued by, (i); democracy viewed by, (i), (ii); human perfectibility viewed by, (i), (ii), (iii); as individualist, (i), (ii), (iii); as statist, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Dismal Science, The (Marglin), (i)

  diversity, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  “diversity of faculties,” (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  “Do Machines Make History?” (Heilbroner), (i)

  Douthat, Ross, (i)n17

  Dreher, Rod, (i)

  education, (i)

  elections, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv); diminished faith in, (i); Locke’s proposals for, (i); presidential, (i); proposals to restrict, (i); turnout in, (i)

  Ellul, Jacques, (i)

  “End of History, The” (Fukuyama), (i), (ii)

  environmentalism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  epistocracy, (i)

  Escape from Fr
eedom (Fromm), (i)

  Ethics (Aristotle), (i)

  European Union, (i)

  executive branch, (i), (ii)

  Facebook, (i)

  factions, (i), (ii), (iii)

  fascism, (i), (ii), (iii)

  federalism, (i), (ii)

  Federalist, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

  Federal Reserve, (i)

  financial crisis, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Firestone, Shulamith, (i)n6

  Fish, Charles, (i)n3

  Frankenstein (Shelley), (i)

  Fraser, Nancy, (i)

  freedom of association, (i)

  free speech, (i), (ii), (iii)

  French Revolution, (i)

  Friedman, Jeffrey, (i), (ii)

  Friedman, Thomas, (i)

  Fromm, Erich, (i)

  “From Porch to Patio” (Thomas), (i)

  Fukuyama, Francis, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Galston, William, (i)

  Gardner, Stephen, (i)

  Germany, (i)

  globalization, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v); alienation heightened by, (i), (ii), (iii); conservative support for, (i); criticism of, (i); inexorability of, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Goldwater, Barry, (i)

  “Great Books,” (i), (ii)

  Great Transformation, The (Polanyi), (i)

  Greece, ancient, (i), (ii)

  Hamilton, Alexander, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Havel, Václav, (i)

  Hayek, Friedrich, (i)

  Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, (i)

  Heidegger, Martin, (i)

  Heilbroner, Robert, (i)

  Hmong, (i)

  Hobbes, Thomas, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi); criticism of, (i); custom and tradition devalued by, (i), (ii); monarchy defended by, (i); pursuit of power viewed by, (i); state of nature viewed by, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v); timelessness and, (i)

  homogeneity, (i), (ii), (iii); inevitability of, (i); liberalism linked to, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

  household economics, (i), (ii)

  identity politics, (i), (ii), (iii)

  indebtedness, (i), (ii), (iii)

  individualism: liberalism underpinned by, (i); statism linked to, (i), (ii)

  Individualism Old and New (Dewey), (i)

  inequality, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii); as aberration, (i), (ii); in ancient Greece, (i); conservatism linked to, (i); Hayek’s view of, (i); liberalism linked to, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv); liberty consistent with, (i); Locke’s view of, (i), (ii); progressivism vs., (i); racial, (i); sexual, (i), (ii)

  initiative petition, (i)

  insurance, (i)

  “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” (Marche), (i)

  Jay, John, (i)

  Jefferson, Thomas, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Josselson, Ruthellen, (i)n4

  Jouvenel, Bertrand de, (i)

  judicial system, (i)

  Kennedy, John F., (i)

  Kerr, Clark, (i)

  Kerry, John, (i)n17

  Kurds, (i)

  Lamar, Mirabeau, (i)

  Lamont, Thomas, (i)

  Lasch, Christopher, (i), (ii)n16

  Lasswell, Harold D., (i)

  legislative branch, (i), (ii)

  Leviathan (Hobbes), (i), (ii), (iii)

  Levin, Yuval, (i)

  liberal education, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

  libertarians, (i)

  Lippmann, Walter, (i)

  Locke, John, (i); economic progress viewed by, (i), (ii), (iii); Founders influenced by, (i), (ii); freedom through law viewed by, (i); ideal rulers viewed by, (i), (ii); social contract viewed by, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  Luther, Martin, (i)

  Machiavelli, Niccolò, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Madison, James, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  Magnalia Christi Americana (Mather), (i)

  Marche, Stephen, (i)

  Marglin, Stephen, (i)

  marriage, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Marx, Karl, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Mather, Cotton, (i)

  Matrix, The (film), (i)

  Mayo, Elton, (i)

  McWilliams, Wilson Carey, (i), (ii)

  Mendelson, Nina, (i)n15

  Merriam, Charles E., (i)

  Mill, John Stuart, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  “Model of Christian Charity, A” (Winthrop), (i)n10

  modernity, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

  monarchy, (i)

  multiculturalism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  Mumford, Lewis, (i)

  Murray, Charles, (i), (ii), (iii)

  National Uniformity for Food Act (2005), (i)n15

  natural law, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Nazism, (i)

  Nieli, Russell, (i)n7

  Nisbet, Robert, (i)

  No Child Left Behind Act (2001), (i)n15

  Northwest Ordinance (1787), (i)

  Oakeshott, Michael, (i)n18

  Obama, Barack, (i), (ii)

  Ohio University, (i)

  On Liberty (Mill), (i)

  Origins of Totalitarianism, The (Arendt), (i)

  paideia, (i)

  Paine, Thomas, (i)

  placelessness, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Plato, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  Player Piano (Vonnegut), (i)

  pluralism, (i)

  Polanyi, Karl, (i)

  political philosophy, (i)

  Politics (Aristotle), (i)

  popular culture, (i)

  Postman, Neil, (i)

  postmodernism, (i), (ii)

  poststructuralism, (i)

  poverty, (i)

  “Power of the Powerless, The” (Havel), (i)

  presentism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

  professionalization, (i)

  Progressivism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv); Founders’ liberalism likened to, (i)

  property rights, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

  Purcell, Edward A., (i)

  Puritans, (i), (ii)

  Putnam, Robert, (i), (ii)

  Quest for Community, The (Nisbet), (i)

  rationality, (i), (ii)

  Rauschenbusch, Walter, (i)

  Rawls, John, (i)

  Reagan, Ronald, (i)

  recall elections, (i)

  Reconstruction in Philosophy (Dewey), (i)

  Reed, Matt, (i)n9

  referenda, (i)

  Reflections on the Revolution in France (Burke), (i)

  Reich, Robert, (i)

  religion: as alternative to liberalism, (i), (ii); criticism of, (i); freedom of, (i), (ii); Mill’s view of, (i)

  Remaking Eden (Silver), (i)

  representation, (i)

  Republic (Plato), (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  republicanism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

  Republic of Technology, The (Boorstin), (i), (ii)

  restraint, (i)

  Rome, ancient, (i)

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., (i)

  Root, Damon, (i)

  Rorty, Richard, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, (i), (ii)

  Rubio, Marco, (i)

  rule of law, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Russia, (i)

  science and technology, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Second Treatise of Government (Locke), (i), (ii)

  self-interest, (i)

  separation of church and state, (i)

  separation of powers, (i)

  sexuality, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v); Aristotle’s view of, (i); commodification of, (i), (ii); liberalism and, (i), (ii), (iii); in schools, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Shallows, The (Carr), (i)

  Shelley, Mary, (i)

  Shepard, Walter J., (i)

  Silver, Lee, (i)

  slavery, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Smith, Adam, (i)

  Snow, C. P., (i)n3

  social contract, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

  social media, (i), (ii)<
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  Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, (i)

  state of nature, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii)

  STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Stoicism, (i)

  subsistence economy, (i)

  suburbia, (i)

  Summa Theologiae (Aquinas), (i)

  surveillance, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Technological Society, The (Ellul), (i)

  technology, (i), (ii), (iii)

  Technopoly (Postman), (i)

  Thomas, Richard, (i)

  Tocqueville, Alexis de, (i), (ii), (iii); American civic engagement viewed by, (i), (ii); individualism and statism linked by, (i), (ii); presentism viewed by, (i); types of liberty distinguished by, (i)

  totalitarianism, (i)

  transhumanism, (i)

  Trump, Donald J., (i), (ii), (iii)

  Tuchman, Barbara, (i)

  Turkle, Sherry, (i)

  Turner, Frederick Jackson, (i)

  universities, (i), (ii)

  University of Texas, (i), (ii)

  Uses of the University, The (Kerr), (i)

  utilitarianism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

  Vargas Llosa, Mario, (i)

  veil of ignorance, (i)

  Vico, Giambattista, (i)

  virtue, (i), (ii); self-interest substituting for, (i); as set of limits, (i)

  voluntarism, (i)

  Vonnegut, Kurt, (i)

  Walker, Scott, (i)

  Weimar Republic, (i)

  Whiggism, (i)

  Wilson, Woodrow, (i)

  Winthrop, John, (i)n10

  women’s movement, (i)

  Zakaria, Fareed, (i)