October 8, 2009
Examining the History and Legality of Executive Branch Czars
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
The rise of government by bureaucrats--due to the delegation of power from Congress to administrative agencies, combined with the removal of those agencies from the ...
September 16, 2009
The Meaning Of The Constitution
By Edwin Meese III
(WebMemo #2616)
The Constitution is our fundamental law because it represents the settled and deliberate will of the people, against which the actions of government officials must ...
September 16, 2009
The Originalist Perspective
By David F. Forte
(WebMemo #2617)
Written constitutionalism implies that those who make, interpret, and enforce the law ought to be guided by the meaning of the United States Constitution--the supreme ...
September 2, 2009
Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: What Tocqueville Teaches Today
By Paul Rahe, James Ceaser, and Thomas West
(First Principles #28)
If we are ever to stop the advance of the administrative state, recover our liberty, and reassert our dignity as citizens rather than as clients ...
August 31, 2009
Confronting Unlimited Government: Lessons from the Term Limits Movement
By H. Abbie Erler, Ph.D.
(Special Report #48)
The modern term-limits movement arose in response to the professionalization of politics and growing popular discontent with Congress, but its supporters misunderstood the nature of ...
August 28, 2009
Constitutional Amendment Concerning Senate Vacancies
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
A proposed constitutional amendment to require that all vacancies in the Senate be filled by election is susceptible to insuperable objections. It fails to understand ...
August 20, 2009
Extended Republic or Centralized Nation-State? Herbert Croly, Progressivism, and the Decline of Civic Engagement
By Brian Brown
(First Principles #27)
The 20th century transformation of domestic policy in America into a climactic struggle between the national government and every conceivable social ill inherited from the ...
July 27, 2009
Ideas Matter: Restoring the Content of Public Diplomacy
By Robert R. Reilly
(Special Report #64)
It is not obvious to much of the world that the United States has the moral high ground against the terrorists. If we truly believe ...
July 1, 2009
This Fourth of July, Keep Cool with Coolidge
By Julia Shaw
(WebMemo #2514)
America's birthday is also that of Calvin Coolidge, the only President to be born on the Fourth of July. This is altogether fitting, as the ...
June 1, 2009
Justice, Law, and the Creation of the American Republic: The Forgotten Legacy of James Wilson
By Mark David Hall, Ph.D.
(First Principles #26)
James Wilson was one of six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. He was also a ...
May 18, 2009
Winston Churchill's Constitutionalism: A Critique of Socialism in America
By Justin D. Lyons
(First Principles #25)
Because of the working relationship between Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt in matters of foreign policy, we tend to assume that they agreed on domestic policy. ...
April 27, 2009
The End of Conservatism?
By Lee Edwards, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1120)
Through the power and successful political application of its ideas, the conservative movement became a dominant player in America’s political and economic realms. With the ...
April 1, 2009
The Future of Conservatism: An Argument for a Constitutional Conservatism
By Harvey C. Mansfield
(Heritage Lecture #1115)
Conservatives must defend the liberal regime and its ruling middle class: what Aristotle might call the “interest of the regime.” The liberal form of government ...
March 23, 2009
Can Congress Punish People? Why the Constitution Prohibits Bills of Attainder
By The Heritage Foundation
(WebMemo #2356)
The Framers considered freedom from bills of attainder so important that it is one of only two individual liberties that the original Constitution protects from ...
March 20, 2009
The Death of Public Service: Serve America Act Sends Volunteerism to Hooverville
By Brian Brown
(WebMemo #2351)
Serve America is the Senate's attempt to turn into reality President Obama's campaign promises about public service. But in practice, the bill hearkens back to ...
March 17, 2009
A New American Fusionism: Recovering Principles in Our Politics
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1114)
The fusion of our ideas and our politics is to be found not as much at the level of ...
March 17, 2009
A Political Idea That Won't Go Away: Implications of Moral Law for America's Founding and Future
By Greg Forster, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1113)
The idea of politics based on moral law is not inherently totalist and does not imply an unlimited mandate to impose a total vision of ...
February 24, 2009
Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence
By Bradley C. S. Watson
(First Principles #0024)
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 ...
February 20, 2009
D.C. Representation: How Congress Promotes the Interests of the District of Columbia
By Joseph Postell and Nathaniel Ward
(WebMemo #2304)
Congress’s latest attempt to grant representation to the District of Columbia by legislative fiat is not only unconstitutional but potentially contrary to the District’s interests. ...
January 27, 2009
Limited Government, Unlimited Administration: Is it Possible to Restore Constitutionalism?
By Gary S. Lawson
(First Principles #23)
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 ...
January 16, 2009
Religious Freedom Day: A Timely Reminder
By Ryan Messmore
(WebMemo #2225)
Since 1993, the President has annually proclaimed January 16 “Religious Freedom Day.” This proclamation is timely, as religious freedom faces new challenges in current public ...
January 15, 2009
How Americans Can Provide Real Public Service
By Brian Brown
(WebMemo #2222)
If President-elect Barack Obama truly wishes to see the American people mobilized in real, effective public service, rather than marching in lockstep for ulterior motives, ...
December 10, 2008
How to Think About the Foundations of American Conservatism
By James W. Ceaser, Ph.D.
(First Principles #22)
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 ...
December 3, 2008
Constitutional Ineligibility: What Does the Emoluments Clause Mean?
By David F. Forte
(WebMemo #2149)
Determined to avoid corruption and self-dealing in the legislative process, the Framers kept all appointive powers out of the hands of Congress. (See Article II, ...
October 30, 2008
The Idea of Change in American Politics: Meaningful Concept or Empty Promise?
By Wilfred M. McClay
(First Principles #21)
The current presidential campaign provides us with an opportune moment to revisit our misconceptions and replace them with better and more fully grounded ones, or, ...
September 30, 2008
The Nature of Rights in American Politics: A Comparison of Three Revolutions
By Charles R. Kesler, Ph.D.
(First Principles #18)
Conservatives should not be wary of adherence to the natural rights creed of the American Founders, moderated as it was by the temperamental virtues of ...
September 23, 2008
The Perils of Judicial Policymaking: The Practical Case for Separation of Powers
By Joshua Dunn, Ph.D.
(First Principles #20)
Critics of the judiciary’s ever-growing role in American politics usually focus on how it erodes self-government or, most severely, leads to judicial tyranny. If, as ...
August 22, 2008
Constitutional Discourse and American Government
By Andrew E. Busch, Ph.D.
(Special Report #22)
Constitutional rhetoric in the process of governing educates America's citizens and serves as a barometer of what is on the national mind. Most important, constitutional ...
July 18, 2008
In Defense of Liberty: The Relationship Between Security and Freedom
By Victor Davis Hanson, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1093)
Consensual governments can, in extremis, craft security legislation consistent with constitutional principles that will protect citizens without eroding their rights. However, government has no remedy ...
July 9, 2008
The Roots of Modern Conservative Thought from Burke to Kirk
By Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D.
(First Principles #19)
If we had to pick the thinkers more responsible than any other for planting the intellectual roots of modern conservative thought, I believe we would ...
June 25, 2008
How Will Freedom Succeed?
By The Reverend Robert A. Sirico
(Heritage Lecture #1090)
Human freedom is insufficient in itself to provide a good and prosperous life for people. It is not its own safeguard. Rather, it requires institutions ...
May 12, 2008
Just War and Endgame Objectives in Iraq
By Joseph Capizzi, Ph.D., and Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1081)
The just war theory connects the use of military force to politics, reminding statesmen that war and politics serve the same goals—namely, justice, order, and ...
March 26, 2008
The Conservative Movement: A Light in Dark Times
By J. Kenneth Blackwell
(Heritage Lecture #1070)
There have been times when there has been a gap between America’s promise and our practice. Now, as then, we must act to achieve moral ...
March 14, 2008
Liberty's Best Hope: Why American Leadership Is Needed for the 21st Century
By Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D., Henry R. Nau, Ph.D., and Dov Zakheim, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1069)
To counter the challenges to America's leadership at home and abroad, even by long-standing allies, we must be more persuasive, win the war on terrorism ...
February 19, 2008
The Trouble with Limited Government
By William Voegeli, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1060)
Despite their best efforts, conservatives have not reduced the size and scope of government so much as slowed its rate of growth over the past ...
February 7, 2008
The Abolition of Man? How Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science
By John G. West, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1058)
Scientific materialism challenges the traditional Western understanding of human nature and the universe and is central to arguments over moral relativism, personal responsibility, limited government, ...
December 17, 2007
What Separation of Powers Means for Constitutional Government
By Charles R. Kesler, Ph.D.
(First Principles #17)
It used to be expected, roughly speaking, that the Congress would pass laws, the President would execute them, and the Supreme Court would interpret them ...
December 17, 2007
The Power of Words: Reflections on 1,000 Heritage Lectures, 1980–2007
By Lee Edwards, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1001)
Believing that words are "the essential units on which a civilization rests," The Heritage Foundation has provided a forum for lectures by public officials, scholars, ...
December 14, 2007
Securing Liberty: The Purpose and Importance of the Bill of Rights
By Joseph Postell
(WebMemo #1747)
A bill of rights, the Founders saw, could serve the noble purpose of public education and edification.
December 5, 2007
The Meaning of Religious Liberty
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1722)
America's Founders believed that religion and morality play an indispensible role in the civic and public life of a self-governing people.
November 20, 2007
The Birth of the Administrative State: Where It Came From and What It Means for Limited Government
By Ronald J. Pestritto, Ph.D.
(First Principles #16)
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. ...
October 19, 2007
The Decline and Fall of the Right to Property: Government as Universal Landlord
By Edward J. Erler, Ph.D.
(First Principles #15)
The Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London indicates that the right to property must now be considered only a conditional right; ...
September 14, 2007
The Formation of the Constitution
By Matthew Spalding
(WebMemo #1617)
Matthew Spalding recounts "the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen."
August 20, 2007
Longing for Belonging and the Lure of the State
By Ryan Messmore
(Backgrounder #2063)
The case for limited government can be strengthened by acknowledging the fundamental human longing for a sense of belonging and recognizing that local participatory communities ...
August 17, 2007
Prudence, Politics, and the Proclamation
By Allen C. Guelzo, Ph.D.
(First Principles #14)
Abraham Lincoln understood emancipation not as the satisfaction of a “spirit” overriding the law, nor as the moment of fusion between the Constitution and absolute ...
August 3, 2007
Born American: Reflections of an Immigrant Patriot
By Peter W. Schramm
(First Principles #13)
Each generation has to be educated in our principles of right, the natural rights that stem from those principles, and our constitutional soul, which gives ...
July 18, 2007
The Progressive Movement and the Transformation of American Politics
By Thomas G. West and William A. Schambra
(First Principles #12)
Although material circumstances and politicians' self-interest helped to make America what it is today, the most important cause was a change in the prevailing understanding ...
July 10, 2007
The Life and Legacy of Russell Kirk
By George H. Nash
(Heritage Lecture #1035)
Russell Kirk churned out a prodigious torrent of writings that elevated the tone and substance of conservative discourse. He was a bridge-builder to the classics ...
June 28, 2007
Independence Forever: Why America Celebrates the Fourth of July
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(First Principles #11)
The Fourth of July is a great opportunity to renew our dedication to the principles of liberty and equality enshrined in what Thomas Jefferson called ...
June 6, 2007
Manners and Morals in Democracy
By Kenneth Minogue
(Heritage Lecture #1026)
The "moral life" is the human propensity to want to do the right thing, and there are few Western moral variants that are not individualistic. ...
May 25, 2007
The Meaning of Sovereignty: What Our Founding Fathers Could Tell Us About Current Events
By Jeremy Rabkin, Ph.D.
(First Principles #10)
Sovereignty is not merely a question of national rights, and a sovereign state, especially one with alliances and commitments in much of the world, cannot ...
May 10, 2007
Regurgitating the Apple: How Modern Liberals "Think"
By Evan Sayet
(Heritage Lecture #1020)
The Modern Liberal position is arrived at through indiscriminateness, which invariably leads the Modern Liberal to side with evil over good, wrong over right, and ...
February 27, 2007
A Moral Case Against Big Government: How Government Shapes the Character, Vision, and Virtue of Citizens
By Ryan Messmore
(First Principles #9)
The case for good, limited government is incomplete if it proceeds only in terms of the effects upon individual freedom or the fiscal implications of ...
February 23, 2006
What's Great About America
By Dinesh D'Souza
(First Principles #1)
America, once an experiment unique in the world, is now the last best hope for the world. By making sacrifices for America, we bind ourselves ...
November 28, 2005
Myth and Memory in the American Identity
Part of The Lehrman Lectures on Restoring America's National Identity
By Wilfred M. McClay, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #911)
Essential traits like civility, restraint, and loyalty are not sustainable for long without deeply rooted social and cultural institutions devoted to the formation of character, ...
November 21, 2005
The Never-Ending War: The Battle Over America's Self-Meaning
Part of The Lehrman Lectures on Restoring America's National Identity
By Midge Decter
(Heritage Lecture #910)
America's cultural war has lasted about a century and a half. The 1960s and 1970s clash of ideas and attitudes was but a particularly gaudy ...
November 8, 2005
The Crisis of American National Identity
Part of The Lehrman Lectures on Restoring America's National Identity
By Charles R. Kesler, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #906)
The American creed is the keystone of American national identity, but it requires a culture to sustain it. The republican task is to recognize the ...
July 21, 2005
On Becoming American: Reasserting Citizenship in the Immigration Debate
By William E. Simon, Jr.
(Heritage Lecture #890)
There are two vital priorities for immigration policy. One is a clear, firm commitment to stating and enforcing our policies. The other is to create ...
July 19, 2005
Constitution, Character, and National Identity
Part of The Lehrman Lectures on Restoring America's National Identity
By Larry P. Arnn
(Heritage Lecture #891)
The United States is a polity built in the name of the rights of man, as those rights are established in the great "course and ...
November 10, 2004
The Ashcroft Legacy: Liberty and Security
By Paul Rosenzweig
(WebMemo #607)
John Ashcroft's successful tenure furthered our security and our freedoms.
May 11, 2004
Churchill: Forging an Alliance for Freedom
By Allen Packwood
(Heritage Lecture #835)
Winston Churchill's pro-American sentiment was honed during World War I; came to fruition during his wartime correspondence with President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and was furthered ...
June 2, 2003
The Bush Presidency at Midterm: An Assessment
By Michael Barone, Fred Barnes, Carl Cannon, James Pfiffner
(Heritage Lecture #789)
The Heritage Foundation, before and after the 2000 presidential election, held a series of panels that were intended to help a new President make the ...
December 9, 2002
Remarks by the Vice President Presenting Lady Margaret Thatcher with the Clare Boothe Luce Award
By Vice President Dick Cheney
(WebMemo #181)
Political and economic freedom prevailed because of Margaret Thatcher's political leadership in Britain. And like that of her unfailing friend and ally, Ronald Reagan, in ...
November 4, 2002
What To Do In 2003: Domestic & Foreign Policy
By Andrew Olivastro
(WebMemo #168)
2003 should provide Congress with many opportunities for strengthening the U.S. economy, improving the nation's public infrastructure, and enhancing the health and safety of Americans. ...
August 5, 2002
Ludwig von Mises as Policy Analyst: Monetary Reform, Fiscal Policy, and Foreign Exchange Controls
By Richard M. Ebeling
(Heritage Lecture #754)
Ludwig von Mises was one of the outstanding economists of the 20th century. His most famous contribution to economic theory during his lifetime was his ...
June 25, 1997
A User's Guide To Economic Sanctions
By Robert P. O'Quinn
(Backgrounder #1126)
The annual debate over renewal of normal trading status for the People's Republic of China (PRC) has raised an enormous debate in this country over ...
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