Crisis of Conservatism?

The Republican Party, the Conservative Movement and American Politics after Bush

Edited by Joel D. Aberbach and Gillian Peele

Up-to-date, timely and comprehensive account of current conservative movement
Includes essays by many of the leading scholars of conservative politics
Includes variety of approaches, all outlining questions and recurrent debates and tensions that mark the world of conservative politics
Puts forth normative agendas for future of conservative politics

Crisis of Conservatism?

The Republican Party, the Conservative Movement and American Politics after Bush

Edited by Joel D. Aberbach and Gillian Peele

Description

Crisis of Conservatism? assesses the status of American conservatism—its politics, its allies in the Republican Party, and the struggle for the soul of the conservative movement that became especially acute with the controversial policies of the Bush administration and Republican losses in the 2006 and 2008 elections. What do different types of conservatives believe? How much do they have in common? How strong is the conservative movement in the United States, and what impact does it have on the Republican Party? Can conservatives and Republicans find in opposition a unity which had shattered as a result of being in power? To what degree do conservative ideas represent the mainstream of political beliefs in the United States? In short, is there the crisis of conservatism that some thought apparent as a result of the administration of George W. Bush?

The book's contributors, a broad array of leading scholars of conservatism, identify a range of tensions in the conservative movement and the Republican Party, tensions over what conservatism is and should be, over what conservatives should do when in power, and over how conservatives should govern. Views differ a great deal, both between the public and conservative elite groups and among conservative elites themselves. This is balanced by the tendency of many in the general public to identify themselves as conservatives and by the vibrant intellectual life and vitality of conservative elites.

In brief, Crisis of Conservatism? analyzes a conservative movement that seemed to be in crisis in the wake of the 2008 election and that remains beset by many problems and divisions but has fundamental strengths, both in the underlying proclivity of much of the American public to see itself as conservative and in the passion of conservative activists.

Crisis of Conservatism?

The Republican Party, the Conservative Movement and American Politics after Bush

Edited by Joel D. Aberbach and Gillian Peele

Author Information

Edited by Joel D. Aberbach, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles, and Gillian Peele, Fellow and Tutor in Politics and University Lecturer, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University

Contributors:

Joel D. Aberbach is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director of the Center for American Politics and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Gillian Peele is Fellow and Tutor in Politics and University Lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Christopher DeMuth is D.C. Searle Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Michael Greve is the John G. Serle Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Jon Herbert is lecturer in American politics at Keele University. Timothy J. Lynch is Senior Lecturer in US Foreign Policy at the Institute for the Study of the Americas within the School of Advanced Study, University of London. George A. (Sandy) Mackenzie is a policy advisor at the Public Policy Institute of AARP and a former member of the economic staff of the International Monetary Fund, where he served for 28 years. Trevor B. McCrisken is Associate Professor in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, Associate Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford, and Chair of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC). Pietro S. Nivola is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he holds the C. Douglas Chair in Governance Studies. John R. Petrocik is professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Missouri. A. James Reichley has been legislative secretary to Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania, political editor of Fortune, domestic policy assistant to President Gerald Ford, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University. Mark J. Rozell is professor of public policy at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. Ronnee Schreiber is Associate Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University. Michael Tanner is a senior fellow with the Cao Institute in Washington, DC, where he specializes in health, social welfare, and retirement issues. Steven Teles is Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, and a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation.

Crisis of Conservatism?

The Republican Party, the Conservative Movement and American Politics after Bush

Edited by Joel D. Aberbach and Gillian Peele

Reviews and Awards

"Crisis of Conservatism? is a remarkable compilation of empirical analysis and philosophical, historical, and practical perspectives on American conservatism. I know of no other volume that provides as rich and varied a perspective as this one does. For those who want to know about the American Right, this outstanding collection is virtually one-stop shopping." - Bert A. Rockman, Professor of Political Science, Purdue University

"Crisis of Conservatism? is a book of our age, capturing the empowering and crippling symbiosis of Republican electoral maneuvering and conservative policy advocacy. An impressive collection of advocates and scholars trace the cycles of Republican success in mobilizing conservative voters and the conservative disillusionment that often follows. Liberals and independent analysts will find much to learn about the sources of conservatism's staying power - its substantial investments in generating new policies, crafting strategically attuned messages, and infusing them in federated organizations throughout the country." - Lawrence R. Jacobs, Chair for Political Studies, University of Minnesota, and co-author of The Unsustainable American State