In some quarters of the American Right, it has become fashionable of late to blame our classically liberal order for the ills that afflict American conservatism, and then to hint vaguely that an alternative system of government might deliver more-salutary results for religious and social conservatives. This argument — insofar as one can call it that — is a poor one, and perhaps even a dangerous one. It should be resisted.
The critique offered by the “post-liberal” or illiberal-curious crowd contains a number of fatal flaws. It relentlessly confuses the bones of our political system with the meat that free people put upon …
