Introduction

The John M. Olin Center's 1996-1997 lecture series seeks to inquire into the status of the terms "liberal" and "conservative" in American politics today. Through most of American history the principles behind our political divisions were defined in other terms; only in the wake of the New Deal did American politics become formulated in terms of an opposition between liberal and conservative. They remain the most common labels for characterizing parties, politicians, positions, and policies in contemporary American politics. But it is far from clear that either of them retains a coherent meaning or that together they capture the real alternatives that confront us today.

Liberalism has come to be ambivalent about "big government" and is torn by conflicts between old commitments to racial integration, civil liberties, and internationalism and newer sympathies for the fostering of diversity and sensitivity, protectionism, and anti-interventionism, between an old blue-collar social base and a newer educated elite. Although conservatives have enjoyed some recent electoral successes and even rendered the term "liberal" something of a political liability, they have grave problems with their own self-definition in a society committed to progress and problem-solving. It is doubtful that any coherent principles unite Burkean traditionalists, cultural conservatives, fiscal conservatives, supply-siders, populists, nativists, libertarians, and the religious right.

In our lecture series we intend not to repeat a standard debate between liberalism and conservatism, but to reconsider the meaning of both and explore alternative ways of articulating the issues we face. We hope to ask whether what are now called "liberalism" and "conservatism" in American politics best understand themselves as opponents in a war over the heart and soul of the country or as two complementary interpretations of a single set of founding principles, both necessary for the successful functioning of a polity dedicated to liberty, equality, and popular consent. Or, are the terms "liberalism" and "conservatism" inadequate for describing today's political realities? We are inviting participants involved in redefining either liberalism or conservatism as well as those engaged in formulating points of view meant to supersede both. Among the topics our lecturers will address are the history of the terms liberal and conservative in American politics, what their status is in today's politics, and how they are related to controversies over race, family, or religion. Enquiries may be directed to Stephen Gregory at 702-3423.