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The 1964 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association was graced by an address by Barry Goldwater, then running for the presidency. Association liberals urged a boycott of the address, which had been designated as an "unofficial" event. According to biographer Lee Edwards (Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution): "He was interrupted by applause twelve times and received a standing ovation from about half the audience..." "[D]rafted by Harry Jaffa with the help of William Rehnquist," Goldwater's speech focused on the Supreme Court in the federal system.
Let us be clearer than we have been in this country in these recent years: That the concentration of all the powers of government, in the same hands, either by the breakdown of the separation of powers, or by the breakdown of the lines separating states from nations, will mean a breakdown of liberty.
Thus, Goldwater engaged the President of the APSA, C. Herman Pritchett, in an exchange over the correctness of recent Supreme Court decisions on reapportionment and school prayer.
How much has changed, and how little! Now Chief Justice Rehnquist may soon step down from a Court that is the focus of heated and occasionally enlightened debate. Professor Jaffa, a Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute, continues to assail the Court-see his "False Prophets of American Conservatism," which includes a critique of Rehnquist. And he continues to advance his work on Abraham Lincoln and Shakespeare, among other subjects. His conservatism, the conservatism of the Claremont Institute, necessitates clashes with those of any persuasion who do not take their bearings by the theory and practice of the American Founders.
While it is doubtful President Bush or any of his Supreme Court nominees would be courteously received by the APSA membership, we know the same constitutional principles are involved and even more at risk, over two-score years later. Accordingly, we offer the APSA and the academic world these nine panel discussions of fundamental issues: Social Security reform, Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court, the conduct of our foreign policy, the future of conservatism, Thomas Hobbes and the clash between the ancients and the moderns, the blogging revolution's implications for our politics, how to celebrate Alexis de Tocqueville, Woodrow Wilson and the origins of contemporary liberalism, and Lincoln's relevance for our politics today.
- The False Prophets of American Conservatism, by Harry V. Jaffa
- Campaign Speech to the APSA, by Barry Goldwater
The Claremont Institute
American Political Science Association
Annual Meeting Program
September 1 - September 4, 2005
Washington, D.C.
PANEL 1: "Social Security and the Future of Self-Government: A Roundtable"
Thursday, September 1, 8:00 a.m.
Chair:
• William Voegeli, The Claremont Institute
His essay on social security appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Participants:
• Andrew E. Busch, Claremont McKenna College
He is author of a book on Ronald Reagan, and coauthor of a series of books on national elections with James W. Ceaser. See his recent op-ed on social security reform for the Ashbrook Center.
• Peter Ferrara, Institute for Policy Innovation
He is a longtime advocate of radical Social Security reforms, see his work for IPI and his blog on the matter.
• John D. Mueller, Ethics and Public Policy Center
He has a long-standing interest in natural law and economics and was an economics adviser to former Congressman Jack Kemp. See his discussion of Social Security and fertility.
• William Voegeli, The Claremont Institute
His essay on social security appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
PANEL 2: "A Justice Thomas Court? Natural Rights in Contemporary Jurisprudence"
Thursday, September 1, 10:15 a.m.
Chair:
• Michael Uhlmann, Claremont Graduate University
He has served as a policy and legal adviser in Republican administrations. See his recent Claremont Review of Books article on the Supreme Court as well as this piece in First Things.
Papers:
• "Thou Shalt Not Articulate Clear Principles: Religion and the Contemporary Supreme Court"
Phillip Munoz, Tufts University
Read his articles on American legal principles and religion in the American Political Science Review, National Review Online, and the Claremont Review of Books.
• "Foreign Sources for American Constitutional Law"
Jeremy Rabkin, Cornell University
Jeremy Rabkin has written two books on America and the world order, The Case for Sovereignty and Law without Nations?.
Discussants:
• Jeffrey Rosen, George Washington University and The New Republic
Jeffrey Rosen writes on legal affairs for several national journals; his latest book is The Naked Crowd.
• Paul Mirengoff, Powerline and The Claremont Institute
He is a Washington, D.C. attorney; read him daily at Powerlineblog.com
PANEL 3: "A Neo-Conservative Conspiracy? Principles and Objectives of Bush's Foreign Policy: A Roundtable"
Thursday, September 1, 2:00 p.m.
Chair:
• Tom Karako, The Claremont Institute
Tom Karako is editor of Missilethreat.com and Director of the Claremont Institute's Publius Program.
Participants:
• Angelo Codevilla, Boston University
His most recent book is No Victory, No Peace (published by The Claremont Institute and Rowman & Littlefield).
• Michael Ledeen, American Enterprise Institute
He is author of numerous works on foreign policy and political theory, including The War Against the Terror Masters.
PANEL 4: "Conservatism, Liberalism, and the Future of the Parties"
Thursday, September 1, 4:15 p.m.
Chair:
• Brian T. Kennedy, The Claremont Institute
He is President of the Claremont Institute and Publisher of the Claremont Review of Books.
Papers:
• "Democracy and the Bush Doctrine"
Charles R. Kesler, Claremont McKenna College and the Claremont Review of Books
He is editor of the Claremont Review of Books; read his article, "Democracy and the Bush Doctrine," from the Winter 2004 issue.
• "Freedom, Conservatism, and the Problem of Campaign Finance"
Scot J. Zentner, California State University, San Bernardino
Read his paper on "Progressivism and Political Parties"; he is currently writing a book on the thought of Harry V. Jaffa.
Discussants:
• Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review
National politics editor of National Review, he blogs at The Corner.
PANEL 5: "Thomas Hobbes and the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns"
Friday, September 2, 8:00 a.m.
Chair:
• Jeffrey Sikkenga, Ashland University
He is co-editor of the History of American Political Thought.
Papers:
• "Hobbes' Universal Man and Gentleman"
Laurie M. Bagby, Kansas State University
She has written extensively on Hobbes and Thucydides, and is the author of Thucydides, Hobbes, and the Interpretation of Realism.
• "Rethinking Ancients and Moderns: Thomas Hobbes"
Thomas G. West, University of Dallas
He is currently writing a book on the political philosophy of the American Founding; read his recent review in the Claremont Review of Books on "Nature and Happines in Locke."
Discussants:
• Charles R. Kesler, Claremont McKenna College and the Claremont Review of Books
He is editor of the Claremont Review of Books.
• Jeffrey Sikkenga, Ashland University
He is co-editor of the History of American Political Thought.
PANEL 6: "Bloggers and the Future of American Politics: A Roundtable"
Friday, September 2, 10:15 a.m.
Chair:
• John B. Kienker, the Claremont Review of Books
He is managing editor of the Claremont Review of Books.
Participants:
• Scott W. Johnson, Powerline and The Claremont Institute
An attorney and senior vice president of TCF National Bank in Minneapolis, see his writings for the Claremont Institute; read him daily at Powerlineblog.com
• Paul Mirengoff, Powerline and The Claremont Institute
He is a Washington, DC attorney; read him daily at Powerlineblog.com
• Nina Easton, Boston Globe
She is the author of Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Ascendacy and co-author of a book by Boston Globe reporters about John F. Kerry.
• Bill Gertz, Washington Times
He has published several books on national security with special emphasis on China. His most recent book is Treachery; see his website, "The Gertz File."
PANEL 7: "Tocqueville at 200:Reassessing Tocqueville's 'New Political Science'"
Friday, September 2, 4:15 p.m.
Chair:
• Brian P. Janiskee, California State University, San Bernardino
He has just completed a book manuscript on local government and the American Founding. He is co-author of Democracy in California and co-editor of The California Republic; see his article on "Conservatives' Problems with Special Districts."
Papers:
• "Tocqueville and Civic Education"
David J. Bobb, Hillsdale College
David Bobb writes on civic and secondary education; see his recent review in the Claremont Review of Books entitled the "Future of Patriotism."
• "Tocqueville on Centralized Administrations and Bureaucracy"
John Marini, University of Nevada, Reno
He is author of The Politics of Budget Control; most recently he co-edited The Progressive Revolution in Politics and Political Science.
• "Did Tocqueville Make Mistakes? Mark Helprin's Freddy and Fredericka"
Ken Masugi, The Claremont Institute
He edited Interpreting Tocqueville's Democracy in America; see his article in the Claremont Review of Books, "Did Tocqueville Understand America?"
Discussant:
• Daniel Mahoney, Assumption College
Daniel Mahoney is author of De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Modern Democracy and The Liberal Political Science of Raymond Aron, among others. See his book review on Tocqueville in First Things.
The Panel of the Winston Churchill Association
"Winston Churchill's World Crisis as Political Science"
Saturday, September 3, 8:00 a.m.
Chair:
• Michael Barone, U.S. News and World Report
Besides The Almanac of American Politics, his most recent book is Hard America, Soft America (read James Q. Wilson's review in the Claremont Review of Books. He recently started a blog.
Papers:
• "The Rhetorical Dimensions of Churchill's World Crisis: Defending the Gallipoli Gambit"
Leon H. Craig, University of Alberta
See the review of his book, Of Philosophers and Kings: Political Philosophy in Shakespeare's Macbeth and King Lear, in the Claremont Review of Books.
• "Versailles and the League of Nations: Wilson and Churchill on Progress and the Structure of Peace"
Justin D. Lyons, Ashland University
An adjuct fellow at the Ashbrook Center, read his op-ed entitled "Remembering Winston Churchill:
A Possession for All Time."
• "Politics and Strategy in The Eastern Front"
James W. Muller, University of Alaska, Anchorage
He is editor of The River War, the upcoming, definitive, unabridged edition of Winston Churchill's original "Historical Account Of The Reconquest Of The Soudan." He is currently working on a book about Churchill's writings.
PANEL 8: "Liberalism's 'Commander in Chief '? R.J. Pestritto's Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism: A Roundtable"
Saturday, September 3, 10:15 a.m.
Chair:
• Jean M. Yarbrough, Bowdoin College
She is author of American Virtues, a study of Thomas Jefferson.
• R.J. Pestritto, University of Dallas
R.J. Pestritto is also author of Founding the Criminal Law and co-editor of The American Founding and the Social Compact (read the review in the Claremont Review of Books) and Challenges to the American Founding.
• Steven Hayward, American Enterprise Institute
Steven Hayward has written books on Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter. He has an upcoming book on Reagan and Churchill.
• Scott W. Johnson, Powerline and The Claremont Institute
An attorney and senior vice president of TCF National Bank in Minneapolis, see his writings for the Claremont Institute; read him daily at Powerlineblog.com
• David K. Nichols, Baylor University
Author of The Myth of the Modern Presidency, he is currently writing a book on critical elections.
PANEL 9: "The Use and Abuse of Abraham Lincoln: A Roundtable"
Saturday, September 3, 2:00 p.m.
Chair:
• Thomas L. Krannawitter, Hillsdale College
He has just completed a book manuscript on the ACLU's view of religious liberty. Read his writings from his time at the Claremont Institute, including these remarks on Lincoln for the APSA's 2002 conference.
• Allen C. Guelzo, Gettysburg College
His latest book is Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
• Harry V. Jaffa, The Claremont Institute
He is currently completing a book manuscript on three murders and the moral consciousness of western civilization; see this page of Jaffa's writings from the Claremont Institute.
• Michael Lind, New America Foundation
His latest book is What Lincoln Believed.
