Governments do not exist to dispense rights, but to secure the natural rights that we hold just by virtue of our humanity. That proposition was a lodestar for the Founders when they established our country in the late eighteenth century during the Enlightenment. Over the past century, though, states have grown all over the West, including in the United States, and our founding principle has undergone steady erosion. In "The Conservative Sensibility," George Will makes the case for the classical liberalism of the Founding.
Will describes how our founding principles championed by James Madison differ from the progressivism that was mainstreamed by Woodrow Wilson and implemented steadily since, and also from European conservatism, which defended throne, altar, and existing structures. American conservatism seeks instead to conserve the classical liberalism of the Founding and the institutions created to put it into practice.
It is often said that constitutions elsewhere limn what government can do either for you or to you, but that our Constitution limits powers and gives citizens, in Will's words, "rights against the polity, rights that protect a zone of individual sovereignty in which the inherent dignity of the individual is expressed in the free exercise of agency." Separation of powers and constantly shifting factions were to prevent any group or groups from establishing tyranny.
Since the early twentieth century, however, thought that was not American at all but that originated in continental Europe, especially Germany, has produced policies that have been grafted onto our institutions, with gradual loss of liberty and the attendant problems that have ensued. These changes have affected both the daily lives of ordinary people but also our institutions—the author examines our government, lamenting presidential supremacy and the decline of Congress. He also looks at the history of the judiciary and offers his opinion on its proper role.
A classically liberal society requires free markets, dynamism, and growth, as well as work and production on the part of the populace, and Will rightly upbraids the tendency of many to falsely claim that they are "disabled" and remain on relief. There is no stomach in either party in either Washington or in the voting booths that send politicians to Washington to implement the serious spending cuts needed to prevent our debt-to-GDP ratio from eventually growing to the degree that it produces a massive fiscal crisis or currency crisis. Will insists that conservatives must take the politically perilous action of telling the full truth about the budget and spending.
The record of both parties regarding spending has been abysmal, but Republicans have at least cut taxes and regulations in recent years, as well as eliminated the odious individual mandate in the 2010 health insurance law. During the 2009 – 2016 period there was a seemingly endless cascade of Democratic scandals, including Solyndra, Fast and Furious, the IRS targeting scandal, the Hillary Clinton email scandal, using the FBI to spy on the challenging-party presidential campaign of 2016, the NSA and VA scandals, et al, et al, et al, et al, et al.
Since 2017 Republicans have run essentially scandal-free government but also have had to endure even more Democratic perfidy in the form of the bogus "collusion" story (the Democrats were the actual colluders in 2016) and the feral, almost unspeakably shameful attempt to keep Justice Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court. There are serious internal debates in both parties, but for now, the Republicans are light-years closer to the principles set forth in "The Conservative Sensibility."
Will urges some measure of reticence in foreign policy, and in education, he urges that our system strive to produce critical and independent thinkers—he sees the study of history to be especially beneficial toward that end. As an agnostic conservative, I greatly enjoyed the chapter describing Darwin, evolution, and how one can be both secular and conservative. One of the wisest admonitions in the volume urges conservatism to take care that it can appeal all over the country, including to secular urbanites, as the irreligious percentage of the population, already growing, inevitably climbs further in coming decades.
There are many references to the Founders and to Lincoln through the book, and as in any George Will tome, there are many little-known historical anecdotes that help make the books such a rewarding read. You won't agree with everything in this volume, but "The Conservative Sensibility" is not to be missed if you are on the Right—those who care about ideas would profit from what might be George Will's magnum opus, whether they are classical liberals like Will, populists, or those who essentially remain Reaganites but with a few populist leanings.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.
Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.
View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.
Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.
Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: 
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book.
Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
Frequently bought together
$16.40
Get it as soon as Friday, Mar 29
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
+
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Reviews with images
Great content in less than subpar physical package
A well written, provocative and first rate apologetic for true, classical liberalism in the Founders sense of liberalism, illustrated in the Madisonian architecture of limited government constitutionalism. Individual liberty and a government derived from the people, representative of the people, serving the will of the people. It is unfortunate but Hachette Books should be ashamed of their poor quality of the assembly of this volume as it began falling apart, from the title page to half way through the introduction, within a couple of days of cracking it open for the first time to read it. It’s still continuing to come apart as I write this. Of course I started to read this after the return window closed.
Top reviews from other countries
Patrick Cimolini
A good read for progressives.
Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2021