To Keep and Bear Arms
Modern debates about the meaning of the Second Amendment have focused on whether it protects a right of individuals to keep and bear arms or, instead, a right of the states to maintain militia organizations like the National Guard. This question, however, was apparently never even discussed for a long time after the Bill of Rights was framed. The early discussions took the basic meaning of the amendment largely for granted and focused instead on whether it actually added anything significant to the original Constitution. The debate has shifted primarily because of subsequent developments in the Constitution and in constitutional law.
Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism
One Western leader above all others forced the Soviets to give up the Brezhnev Doctrine and abandon the arms race, brought down the Berlin Wall, and ended the Cold War: President Ronald Reagan, whose victory strategy included challenging the Soviet regime’s legitimacy, regaining superiority in the arms race, and using human rights as a weapon as powerful as any in the U.S. or Soviet arsenal.
Reappraising the Right: The Past and Future of American Conservatism
Conservatives want a society that sustains and encourages freedom, virtue, and safety: goals reflected in the movement's libertarian, traditionalist, and national security dimensions. To achieve these goals, they must communicate in language that connects with Americans in all stations of life. The recent past has been unsettling to conservatives, but in the words of William F. Buckley Jr., "the wells of regeneration are infinitely deep."
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.
The Way Out of 'Soft Despotism'
More than 170 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville warned Americans of an emerging danger to democracy: "soft despotism." This insidious threat, the French political thinker explained, could reduce a self-governing people to "nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals of which the government is the shepherd."
Rejecting Principles in the Name of Progress
The health reform debate has sparked numerous questions about the cost and scope of government involvement in health care. But few members of Congress have bothered to ask what the Constitution has to say on the topic -- even though they are sworn to uphold the principles articulated in that document.
Revolutionary Truths That Work
When upstart settlers of the New World proclaimed their independence in 1776, they represented but 13 small and fractious colonies carved from a vast wilderness and surrounded by hostile powers.
It Will Be as if the American Founding Never Happened
Forget George Washington, James Madison, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln—nothing meaningful happened in America before 1877. That’s the lesson North Carolina public high schools may start teaching. Under proposed changes in their high school history curriculum, the U.S. History course (which seniors take) will cover events from 1877 forward only. It will be as if the American Founding Read More...
Can U.S. Senators Be Recalled?
In Arizona, Louisiana and a few other states, well-meaning citizens would like to recall their U.S senators. Fair enough. But while this opinion represents a commendable movement to make Congress more accountable for its actions, it tramples on the U.S. Constitution and undermines the rule of law. Contrary to popular Web sites, the recall of Read More...
A History to Be Proud Of
In his new book, We Still Hold These Truths, Heritage’s Dr. Matthew Spalding explains that American students lack a fundamental understanding U.S. history. Dr. Spalding writes: The Department of Education reports that more than half of high school seniors lack even a basic knowledge of American history. Many college students, another study finds, can’t identify the Read More...
Morning Bell: Martin Luther King Jr. Held These Truths. Do You?
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial and admonished America to return to its First Principles. In his I Have a Dream Speech, he announced his dream that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to Read More...
Heritage President Dr. Edwin Feulner Makes “Top 100? Conservative List
Telegraph.co.uk has named The Heritage Foundation’s President, Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D, to its list of America’s Most Influential conservatives for the second year in a row: 35. Edwin Feulner (41) President, Heritage Foundation Founded by Feulner, Heritage has grown in Washington from a nine-member staff working out of a rented office on Capitol Hill in 1977 to a 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
- The Impact of the Citizens United Decision on Federal Elections
Read | Listen | Watch - Reappraising the Right: The Past and Future of American Conservatism
Read | Listen | Watch - We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future
Read | Listen | Watch - The Velvet Revolution: Twenty Years of Freedom in Central Europe - Slovak-U.S. Partnership Through the Eyes of Ambassadors
Read | Listen | Watch - Montesquieu and the Founding Fathers: Federalism, The Separation of Powers, and The Crisis of American Democracy
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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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