Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence
Progressivism in its jurisprudential guise is rooted not in constitutional text, tradition, logic, or structure, but in the judge’s view of which necessities are most deeply felt and most likely to encourage social and personal growth. The practical result is that art trumps economics, expression trumps the common good, subjectivity trumps morality, freedom trumps natural law, and will trumps deliberation.
Limited Government, Unlimited Administration: Is it Possible to Restore Constitutionalism?
The Framers of our Constitution should be venerated in the general culture for what they did. Veneration of the personalities should be linked with veneration of the Constitution as a shorthand reminder of the constitutional design that they built and as a reason to preserve that design even when the immediate tug of politics in the age of the administrative state suggests otherwise.
How to Think About the Foundations of American Conservatism
The Culture-Creed distinction that some commentators apply to the conservative movement favors the Cultural category and attempts, with no basis in principle or fact, to place faith inside of Culture, suggesting a natural grouping of traditionalists and religious conservatives in opposition to natural-rights or neoconservatives. Its effects could have serious and negative implications for the conservative movement.
The Birth of the Administrative State: Where It Came From and What It Means for Limited Government
For those who hold the Constitution of the United States in high regard and who are concerned about the fate of its principles in our contemporary practice of government, the modern state ought to receive significant attention. The reason for this is that the ideas that gave rise to what is today called "the administrative state" are fundamentally at odds with those that gave rise to our Constitution. In fact, the original Progressive-Era architects of the administrative state understood this quite clearly, as they made advocacy of this new approach to government an important part of their direct, open, comprehensive attack on the American Constitution.
Energy in the Executive: Re-examining Presidential Power in the Midst of the War on Terrorism
Conduct of the war on terrorism raises novel, complex, and unprecedented legal and policy issues. This should be expected from a conflict that knows no borders and involves enemy combatants who do not fight on behalf of any nation. But critics go beyond claiming that President George W. Bush has made poor policy decisions to alleging that he has acted unconstitutionally by seizing Congress’s authority to wage war.
How to Read the Constitution: Self-Government and the Jurisprudence of Originalism
The argument that original meaning should guide constitutional interpretation is nearly as old as the Constitution itself. Before there were strict constructionists, before there were judicial activists, there were originalists. In those early days, few seriously objected to the notion that the Constitution should be read in accord with its original meaning, though there were plenty of debates over how best to ascertain that original meaning and what exactly was required to be faithful to the Constitution of the founding.
Urgency vs. Duty of Constitution
In business, the urgent often crowds out the important. It's important to have a long-term business plan. But it's urgent to make this week's payroll.
Is this the end of conservatism as we know it?
America's modern conservative movement began as a Remnant with Albert Jay Nock and Frank Chodorov, grew into an intellectual movement with Friedrich Hayek, Richard Weaver, and Russell Kirk, blossomed into a political movement with William F. Buckley Jr. and Barry Goldwater, burst into full bloom as a governing movement with Ronald Reagan and the Heritage-ACU-YAF axis, succumbed to hubris with Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, imploded under George W. Bush and the neoconservatives, and is now wondering whether it is headed for the ash heap of history.
Could 2010 Census Include Make-Believe People?
Left-leaning groups want to include millions of pretend people in the real-life 2010 Census. It almost happened in 2000. This time, they might get their way.
Happy in the Confirmation of Our Independence and Sovereignty
On December 23, 1783, General George Washington resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress, which met then in the State House in Annapolis. Both Washington and Congress recognized the importance of the occasion, and the ceremony was carefully organized by a Protocol Committee headed by Thomas Jefferson. The scene was described by James Read More...
Morning Bell: The Left’s Assault on the Declaration of Independence
There has been a lot of change in recent months – a $787 billion spending bill, a budget exceeding $3 trillion, government ownership of auto manufacturers, government-imposed caps on earnings, legislation imposing limits on economic activity in America under the name of environmental justice. It is increasingly difficult for conservatives to sustain any audacity of Read More...
Ring Those Bells, America
Amid the political noise out of Washington, June’s opinion polls picked up a growing public disquiet over ever-greater government spending and intrusion. These expressions of concern reflect the resiliency of the spirit of 1776, which we celebrate on Independence Day. The just powers of government, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed on July 4, 1776, flow from Read More...
The Meaning of America
The Fourth of July presents the occasion not only to celebrate our great country but also to reflect upon its meaning. The division between today’s liberals and conservatives is not irreducible to policy differences. It is indicative of a deeper debate about the meaning of America. Such debates are not new. Calvin Coolidge, our 30th president often celebrated Read More...
@ Heritage: Dr. Wang Dan, Student Leader in Tiananmen Square, 1989
Dr. Wang Dan, the foremost student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, joined Heritage’s Lee Edwards today in a conversation in our Allison auditorium. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduced the slender, soft spoken Dr. Wang, saying that immediately following the forceful breakup of the protests the 20 year-old Peking University student was “branded as Read More...
Congressional Fellows
The Heritage Congressional Fellowship is a training and educational program to instruct junior congressional staffers in the key ideas—from the principles of the American Founding to the fundamentals of economic freedom to the leading concepts of conservative thought—necessary for them to address current legislative issues and grapple with contemporary politics and policy.
Internships
The Heritage Foundation takes great interest in young conservative minds. Our highly competitive Internship Program is intended to introduce bright, innovative undergraduate and graduate students to the policymaking process and encourage them to become active and effective participants in public affairs. Working directly with our research analysts and policy-makers, or with professionals in one of our external departments, Heritage interns gain solid professional experience. In addition to their day-to-day assignments, interns attend weekly seminars designed to introduce them to conservative ideas, current policy debates, and have the opportunity to meet top Heritage Fellows and other outside scholars. We also arrange tours to places like the United States Capitol, the Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, and the Pentagon.
Guest Scholars
The B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies invites scholars to write essays (approx. 7,000 words) on a “First Principle” that they are particularly familiar with or interested in making available to the Center’s audiences. Scholars typically give a public lecture based on their paper and then lead a private discussion with one of our target audiences. While in town, scholars might work privately with Heritage experts, create a Heritage YouTube video, or teach Heritage interns. The Center offers a generous honorarium for the published essay and lecture and reimburses travel expenses.
To Apply:
Mail or e-mail the following materials to the Center:
- Curriculum Vita
- Letter explaining field of interest, qualifications to speak and write on topic, and relevance to the work of the Center.
- Copies of relevant academic work
Applications are received and considered on an ongoing basis.
For a list of current topics the Center is considering, email julia.shaw@heritage.org.
Guest Scholars include:
- Dr. Gordon Lloyd, Pepperdine University
- Dr. Joshua Dunn, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
- Dr. Andrew E. Busch, Claremont McKenna College
- Dr. Lucas E. Morel, Washington and Lee University
- Dr. Peter Schramm, Ashland University
- Dr. Jeremy Rabkin, George Mason School of Law
- Dr. Allen Guelzo, Gettysburg College
- Dr. R.J. Pestritto, Hillsdale College
Research Associate
A ten month residency at Heritage, for post undergraduates, that provides the opportunity to research issues relating to the Constitution, the American Founding and conservative principles.
First Principle Forums
First Principles Forums are held on college campuses around the country. These conferences seeks to provide a much-needed education in the principles of liberty and constitutional self-government, as well as important issues of public policy, to a broad audience of students, policymakers and citizens.
Heritage Research
Heritage Papers
- Comments by Edwin J. Feulner on Abraham Lincoln’s Bicentennial (forthcoming)
- Edwin Meese III, “Abraham Lincoln: Statesman for All Ages” (Heritage Lecture 1109, forthcoming)
- Allen Guelzo, “Prudence, Politics, and the Proclamation” (Heritage First Principles Series #14)
- Matthew Spalding, “How to Understanding Slavery and the American Founding” (Heritage WebMemo #1)
- The Honorable Frank J. Williams, “Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties in Wartime” (Heritage Lecture 834)
Heritage Lectures
- Shelby Steele, “Lincoln vs. Obama: Freedom vs. the Good”
- Lewis E. Lehrman, “Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point”
- Allen Guelzo, “Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America”
- Gabor Boritt, “The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows”
- Ronald C. White, “The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln through his Words”
- Harold Holzer, “Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President”
Heritage Experts
- Dr. Matthew Spalding, Director, B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies
- James Swanson, Senior Legal Fellow, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
- Joe Postell, Assistant Director, B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies
- Visit here for more Heritage Research on America’s First Principles
Other Resources for Further Research:
A Clause-by-Clause Analysis of the Constitution!
“The Constitution,” pledged George Washington, “is the guide which I will never abandon.”
Can we say the same today?
Under the leadership of former Attorney General Edwin Meese, and in conjunction with the nation’s preeminent think tank—The Heritage Foundation—The Heritage Guide to the Constitution brings together more than 100 of the nation’s best legal experts to provide the first ever line-by-line examination of the framers’ Constitution and its contemporary meaning.
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- The Claremont Institute
- Teaching American History
- The Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs
- The James Madison Center at Princeton University
- The Bill of Rights Institute
- The Jack Miller Center for Teaching America's Founding Principles and History
- The Grove City College Center for Vision and Values
- St. Vincent College Center for Political and Economic Thought
- The Constitutional Source Project
- The Lehrman American Studies Center
- NRC and the Future of Nuclear Power 07/07/2009
- NATO and Afghanistan: Equitable Burden Sharing 07/09/2009
- Securing Identification Cards: REAL ID vs. PASS ID 07/14/2009
- Shut Up, America! The End of Free Speech
Read | Listen | Watch - A Conversation with Dr. Wang Dan: Student Leader, Tiananmen Square, 1989
Read | Listen | Watch - Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: What de Tocqueville Teaches Us Today
Read | Listen | Watch - The Future of Tibet: Dialogue Between a Tibetan and a Chinese
Read | Listen | Watch - Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence
Read | Listen | Watch
Heritage Experts on First Principles
Media Information Line: (202) 675-1761
Lee Edwards Ph.D.
Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought , B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies
Edwin Meese III
Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
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