First Principles Essays

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A Commonsense Agenda for Childhood Vaccines

Catherine Pakaluk

Mar 12, 2025 30 min read

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Homeschooling, Homesteading, and the Renewal of American Citizenship

Rachel Alexander Cambre

Mar 4, 2025 16 min read

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Liberal Education’s Antidote to Indoctrination

Rachel Alexander Cambre

Jan 9, 2025 22 min read

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Beyond Jeremiads: Signs of Cultural Revival, Circa 2025

Mary Eberstadt

Dec 31, 2024 28 min read

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Toward a Pro-Woman Feminism for the 21st Century

Erika Bachiochi

Dec 31, 2024 Over an hour read

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Marriage: America’s Keystone Institution

Brad Wilcox

Dec 31, 2024 22 min read

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Imago DEI: Human Nature, Technology, and the Progress Dilemma

Mary Harrington

Dec 18, 2024 40 min read

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Resurrection or Surrender?: The Crisis of Purpose in the West

Spencer Klavan

Dec 17, 2024 34 min read

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The Higher Purpose of Children in American Society

Matthew T. Mehan

Dec 17, 2024 24 min read

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The Story of the Declaration of Independence

Brenda Hafera

Dec 16, 2024 About an hour read

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Progressive Versus Conservative Understandings of Religious Liberty

Vincent Phillip Muñoz

Oct 29, 2024 24 min read

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Classical Schools in America: A Movement of Hope

Rachel Alexander Cambre

Aug 26, 2024 39 min read

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Big Tech and the Challenge of Self-Government

Matthew B. Crawford

Jul 2, 2024 27 min read

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Marriagelessness and the Loss of National Greatness

Catherine Pakaluk

Apr 24, 2024 35 min read

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Men Without Meaning: The Harmful Effects of Expressive Individualism

Brenda Hafera

Mar 19, 2024 About an hour read

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Can Congress Reclaim Its Status as “The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body?”

Joseph Postell

Mar 7, 2024 39 min read

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Originalism and Conservatism: An American Story

Lee J. Strang

Feb 1, 2024 Over an hour read

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The Conservative Roots of American Conservationism

Rachel Alexander Cambre

Jan 22, 2024 42 min read

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Congress in Limbo: A Brief Survey of the History of the U.S. Congress

Joseph Postell

Jul 14, 2023 44 min read

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Restoring the Rule of Law in Finance

Todd Zywicki

Jun 1, 2023 About an hour read

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Stakeholder Capitalism: Theft, Path to Central Planning, or Both?

Jeremy Kidd, George A. Mocsary

May 12, 2023 24 min read

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Free Enterprise and the Common Good

Alexander Salter

Apr 11, 2023 38 min read

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Gender Ideology and the Future of the Human Person

Carl R. Trueman, PhD

Mar 20, 2023 23 min read

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America Needs an Education in Leisure

Rachel Alexander Cambre

Mar 15, 2023 37 min read

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Restoring Civil Society

Luke C. Sheahan

Mar 8, 2023 About an hour read

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Reason, Revelation, and Identity Politics

Richard M. Reinsch II

Feb 15, 2023 18 min read

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American Individualism, Rightly Understood

Samuel Gregg, Ph.D.

Nov 21, 2022 37 min read

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Why the American Founding Matters for American Conservatism

Samuel Gregg, Ph.D.

Aug 24, 2022 34 min read

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Beware the Siren Song of Socialism

Lee Edwards

Feb 3, 2022 23 min read

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Capitalism in the 1619 Project

Samuel Gregg, Ph.D.

Jan 26, 2021 23 min read

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Parental Rights: A Foundational Account

Melissa Moschella, Ph.D.

Dec 9, 2020 35 min read

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Science and the Decline of the American Academy

J. Scott Turner

Jun 19, 2020 About an hour read

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America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy

Bernard Dobski, Ph.D.

Jun 19, 2020 About an hour read

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America, the Republican Nation: A Response to Critics of the Nation-State

Bernard Dobski, Ph.D.

Jun 5, 2020 41 min read

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What Deregulation of Pornography Has Wrought

Scott Yenor

May 19, 2020 44 min read

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The Way We Were: Alexis de Tocqueville on Women and the Family

Diana Schaub

Mar 31, 2020 38 min read

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Judicial Supremacy and Our Two Constitutions: Reflections on the Historical R...

Robert Lowry Clinton

Jun 19, 2020 Over an hour read

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“Hate Speech” and the New Tyranny over the Mind

Arthur Milikh

May 19, 2020 About an hour read

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The Case for Color-Blindness

Peter C. Myers

Sep 6, 2019 About an hour read

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The Meaning of American Citizenship

Carson Holloway

Jun 28, 2019 43 min read

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The Contested Removal Power

J. David Alvis, PhD

Jun 17, 2019 About an hour read

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The Promises and Perils of Identity Politics

David Azerrad

Jan 23, 2019 Over an hour read

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Against Judicial Supremacy: The Founders and the Limits on the Courts

Carson Holloway

Jan 25, 2019 About an hour read

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The Rise and Fall of Political Parties in America

Joseph Postell

Sep 30, 2018 43 min read

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The Progressive Critique of Free Markets: A Response

Luigi Bradizza

Aug 1, 2018 44 min read

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The Foreign Commerce Power and America’s National Interest

Carson Holloway

May 29, 2018 About an hour read

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Public-Sector Unions and the Founders’ Political Science

Daniel DiSalvo

Apr 23, 2018 About an hour read

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Is the System Rigged? Adam Smith on Crony Capitalism, Its Causes—and Cures

Lauren Brubaker, PhD

Mar 31, 2018 About an hour read

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Can the State be Neutral on Marriage?

Scott Yenor

Oct 5, 2017 About an hour read

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The Limits and Dangers of Civil Disobedience: The Case of Martin Luther King, Jr

Peter C. Myers

Dec 29, 2017 Over an hour read

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Sex, Gender, and the Origin of the Culture Wars: An Intellectual History

Scott Yenor

Jun 30, 2017 About an hour read

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The Right to Arms and the American Philosophy of Freedom

Nelson Lund

Oct 17, 2016 38 min read

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The Hidden Influence of John Rawls on the American Mind

Jerome Foss

Sep 22, 2016 35 min read

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The Modern Feminist Rejection of Constitutional Government

Christina Villegas

Aug 8, 2016 38 min read

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The Obligations of Family Life: A Response to Modern Liberalism

Scott Yenor

Jun 2, 2016 33 min read

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Tocqueville on Christianity and American Democracy

Carson Holloway

Mar 7, 2016 42 min read

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Alexander Hamilton and American Foreign Policy

Carson Holloway

Sep 15, 2015 42 min read

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The Defense of an Energetic and Limited Government

Carson Holloway

Aug 7, 2015 About an hour read

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Understanding Tyranny and Terror: From the French Revolution to Modern Islamism

Waller Newell

Jun 30, 2015 37 min read

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Champion of Liberty: Winston Churchill and His Message to America

Justin D. Lyons

Jun 2, 2015 23 min read

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Poverty and Welfare in the American Founding

Thomas G. West

May 19, 2015 25 min read

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Alexander Hamilton and American Progressivism

Carson Holloway

Apr 20, 2015 39 min read

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Federalism and Freedom: Orestes Brownson’s Case for the Federal Constitution

Robert E. Moffit, PhD

Feb 25, 2015 37 min read

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Martin Luther King, Jr., and the American Dream

Peter C. Myers

Mar 28, 2014 About an hour read

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The Birth of Direct Democracy: What Progressivism Did to the States

Ronald Pestritto, Taylor Kempema

Feb 25, 2014 41 min read

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The True Origin of Society: The Founders on the Family

Scott Yenor

Oct 16, 2013 39 min read

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Remaking the World: Progressivism and American Foreign Policy

Christopher C. Burkett

Sep 24, 2013 43 min read

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Liberalism Radicalized: The Sexual Revolution, Multiculturalism, and the Rise...

Kevin Slack

Aug 27, 2013 43 min read

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Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism

Charles Kesler

Oct 15, 2012 38 min read

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The Origins and Revival of Constitutional Conservatism: 1912 and 2012

William A. Schambra

Aug 20, 2012 27 min read

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The Transformation of American Democracy: Teddy Roosevelt, the 1912 Election,...

Sidney M. Milkis

Jun 11, 2012 28 min read

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A Federal Republic: Lincoln’s First Inaugural and the Nature of the Union

Herman Belz

Apr 19, 2012 About an hour read

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Interposition and the Heresy of Nullification: James Madison and the Exercise...

Christian G. Fritz, Ph.D.

Feb 21, 2012 41 min read

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The First Principles of Ronald Reagan’s Foreign Policy

Robert Kaufman

Nov 1, 2011 38 min read

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The First Conservatives: The Constitutional Challenge to Progressivism

Johnathan O'Neill

Jul 5, 2011 41 min read

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Still Witnessing: The Enduring Relevance of Whittaker Chambers

Richard Reinsch

Apr 1, 2011 35 min read

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America the Delusional? Overcoming Our European Temptation

Bruce Thornton

Mar 7, 2011 26 min read

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Ten (Mostly) Hayekian Insights for Trying Economic Times

Bruce Caldwell

Feb 1, 2011 40 min read

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Frederick Douglass’s America: Race, Justice, and the Promise of the Founding

Peter C. Myers

Jan 11, 2011 39 min read

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The Myth of Isolationism, Part 1: American Leadership and the Cause of Liberty

Marion Smith

Dec 6, 2010 40 min read

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America’s Founders and the Principles of Foreign Policy: Sovereign Independen...

Matthew Spalding

Oct 15, 2010 40 min read

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The Economic Principles of America’s Founders: Property Rights, Free Markets,...

Thomas G. West

Aug 30, 2010 34 min read

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Bureaucratic Tyranny or the Renewal of Self-Government: The Beginning of Cent...

John Adams Wettergreen

Aug 3, 2010 43 min read

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The Moral Basis for Economic Liberty

The Reverend Robert Sirico

Jul 13, 2010 41 min read

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Standing Athwart History: The Political Thought of William F. Buckley Jr.

Lee Edwards

May 5, 2010 About an hour read

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Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: What Tocqueville Teaches Today

Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: What Tocqueville Teaches Today, Thomas G. West, Paul Rahe

Sep 2, 2009 About an hour read

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Extended Republic or Centralized Nation-State? Herbert Croly, Progressivism, ...

Brian Brown

Aug 20, 2009 38 min read

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Justice, Law, and the Creation of the American Republic: The Forgotten Legacy...

Mark David Hall

Jun 1, 2009 32 min read

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Winston Churchill's Constitutionalism: A Critique of Socialism in America

Justin D. Lyons

May 18, 2009 35 min read

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Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence

Bradley Watson

Feb 24, 2009 36 min read

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Limited Government, Unlimited Administration: Is it Possible to Restore Const...

Gary Lawson

Jan 27, 2009 36 min read

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How to Think About the Foundations of American Conservatism

Dec 10, 2008 28 min read

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The Idea of Change in American Politics: Meaningful Concept or Empty Promise?

Oct 30, 2008 35 min read

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The Nature of Rights in American Politics: A Comparison of Three Revolutions

Charles Kesler

Sep 30, 2008 20 min read

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The Perils of Judicial Policymaking: The Practical Case for Separation of Powers

Joshua Dunn

Sep 23, 2008 36 min read

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The Roots of Modern Conservative Thought from Burke to Kirk

Edwin J. Feulner

Jul 9, 2008 28 min read

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What Separation of Powers Means for Constitutional Government

Charles Kesler

Dec 17, 2007 30 min read

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The Birth of the Administrative State: Where It Came From and What It Means f...

Ronald Pestritto

Nov 20, 2007 About an hour read

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The Decline and Fall of the Right to Property: Government as Universal Landlord

Edward Erler

Oct 19, 2007 About an hour read

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Prudence, Politics, and the Proclamation

Allen C. Guelzo, PhD

Aug 17, 2007 21 min read

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Born American: Reflections of an Immigrant Patriot

Peter Schramm

Aug 3, 2007 24 min read

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The Progressive Movement and the Transformation of American Politics

William A. Schambra, Thomas G. West

Jul 18, 2007 30 min read

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Independence Forever: Why America Celebrates the Fourth of July

Matthew Spalding

Jun 28, 2007 13 min read

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The Meaning of Sovereignty: What Our Founding Fathers Could Tell Us About Cur...

Jeremy Rabkin

May 25, 2007 29 min read

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A Moral Case Against Big Government: How Government Shapes the Character, Vis...

Ryan Messmore

Feb 27, 2007 28 min read

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The Conservative Consensus: Frank Meyer, Barry Goldwater, and the Politics of...

Lee Edwards

Jan 22, 2007 24 min read

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Faith and the American Founding: Illustrating Religion's Influence

Michael Novak

Nov 6, 2006 19 min read

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The Mythical "Wall of Separation": How a Misused Metaphor Changed Church–Stat...

Daniel Dreisbach

Jun 23, 2006 18 min read

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How to Read the Constitution: Self-Government and the Jurisprudence of Origin...

Keith Whittington

May 1, 2006 34 min read

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Energy in the Executive: Re-examining Presidential Power in the Midst of the ...

John C. Yoo

Apr 24, 2006 24 min read

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Making Citizens: The Case for Patriotic Assimilation

Matthew Spalding

Mar 16, 2006 40 min read

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From Constitutional Interpretation to Judicial Activism: The Transformation o...

Christoper Wolfe

Mar 3, 2006 28 min read

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What's Great About America

Dinesh D'Souza

Feb 23, 2006 42 min read

First Principles Essays

First Principles Essays

First Principles Essays

First Principles Essays

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