American Conservatives seek to conserve the principles of the American Founding. In part I, we examined how natural rights theory, the philosophical concept that asserts men are born free and possess inherent, or “natural” rights, animated the core political philosophy of the Founders. Its logic led them to conclude the only just form of government is one derived from the consent of the governed. In part II, we examined how the Judeo-Christian conception of an unchanging and fallen human nature was also a key part of the Founders thinking. That worldview made the Founders particularly wary of man’s tyrannical tendencies when given power over others and therefore properly skeptical of mankind’s capacity to produce a perfect political system. A Judeo-Christian worldview, marinated in the intellectual and philosophical currents of natural rights theory, created the framework within which the Founders approached the task of designing their new government in the late 1780’s. The eventual design of our Constitution was primarily the result of the political genius of James Madison. His detailed study of past human efforts to organize mankind politically prompted the insights that helped him craft our unique Constitutional system, a system American Conservatives believe to be the ‘last, best hope of earth’.
“Democracy is the worst form of government…except for all the others.”
Winston Churchill
As Madison studied political arrangements throughout history, he attempted to dissect the flaws in each and every system. Madison reverted to first principles. He asked himself, like any true conservative, What is the worst outcome of any political system? His answer can be boiled down to one word: tyranny. Whether it be monarchy, oligarchy, or even the democracies of Ancient Greece, the risk of any political arrangement devolving into tyranny was a danger he was keenly aware of, particularly in light of the recent experiences with the British crown.
AUXILIARY PRECAUTIONS
Madison realized the inherent risk to the democratic system he was trying to craft was a tyranny of the majority. The danger to democratic systems posed by the mob, whose temporary passions lead to the imposition of ill-considered notions, is akin to a fever sweeping through one’s body. Madison sought to inoculate the American body politic against this potential catastrophic fever by fortifying his design with what he called “auxiliary precautions”. These measures are what you may have heard referred to in school as “checks and balances”. The genius of Madison was his insight that he could use men’s natural self interestedness as a check against their potential abuse of democratic power. These measures, such as separation of powers between, and even among, the branches of government; procedural checks on those powers enjoyed by each branch over the other; and the varying means and methods of electing the members of each branch, including the unfairly maligned electoral college, are, to the conservative sensibility, some of the ingenious features of our system.
CLOSED QUESTIONS IN AN OPEN SOCIETY
As the Constitutional convention of 1787 wore on, its members, who were generally in agreement with Madison’s basic framework for the new government, began to split into two camps regarding its final form. Federalists, led by Madison and Alexander Hamilton, were keen to ensure that the new system created a federal government much stronger than the weak and ineffectual central government under the Articles of Confederation. Their opponents, dubbed Anti-Federalists, were wary of too much centralized power, fearing it would infringe upon the freedoms of the states in the union, and ultimately, the individual rights of the people. They demanded that in return for their support of Madison’s overall plan, a list of enumerated, individual rights be written down as part of the text of the new constitution. Madison felt the Constitution’s basis in natural rights philosophy made it implicit that nothing in the document could be interpreted to override those natural rights belonging to the people. Additionally, he feared that by specifically listing some rights, other rights enjoyed by the people, could be interpreted by future generations to not be protected. In classic American political fashion, a compromise was reached. The Anti- Federalists agreed to vote for adoption of the new Constitution with the understanding that Madison and the Federalists would immediately implement, via the amendment process written into the Constitution, a list of enumerated individual rights, including language that the enumeration of certain rights shall not be interpreted to deny other rights retained by the states or the people . Thus was born, after ratification by the states, the Bill of Rights. These ten amendments serve to remind us of the Founders’ commitment to the protection of individual rights. The Founders wanted to protect the minority against any potential majority that may wish to use its democratic power to deny the minority their fundamental, natural rights. As George Will put it in his graduate thesis, there are certain questions that, even in an open society, are closed. The Founders were natural rights absolutists, and they were insistent that the political system they created would always protect the natural rights of an individual against the temporary whims of a transient majority. The Bill of Rights are part of the sacred canon of our political system, and they are properly revered by American Conservatives as the fundamental basis of our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
“Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.”
Benito Mussolini
Critics of the Founders, beginning most prominently with Professor Woodrow Wilson, later President Wilson, and like-minded political Progressives, express immense frustration with the design of our Constitutional republic. Progressives believe our rights come from the State. Therefore, they believe the State must take a more aggressive and central role in the lives of its citizenry, helping them to achieve a more equal and just society. They also believe mankind has progressed beyond his nature, beyond his primitive limitations, and is capable, with the proper enlightened leadership (always, curiously, found among the educated elite like Wilson himself) of achieving the dream of the ideal society. These ideas are fundamentally at odds with the Founders philosophy of natural rights and their more skeptical view of the potential of human nature. Therefore, Progressives are destined to chafe at the Constitution’s protection of individual freedoms, its preference for limited government, and its decentralization and balance of powers among the branches and the states. They heap untold amounts of scorn upon the electoral college; the makeup and means of election of senators; the need for super majorities to achieve significant changes; the filibuster; and even the bill of rights. They view these mechanisms, celebrated by Conservatives, as tragic faults of our system to overcome or eliminate. They see the Constitution as a relic of our primitive past and no longer relevant or applicable to the modern world they seek to create. And therein lies the rub. The ultimate conflict between American Conservatives and their Progressive counterparts, is, to borrow the title of an illuminating Thomas Sowell book, A Conflict of Visions.
CLOSET ELITISTS AND RACISTS?
Knowing that our Constitutional republic was born of an alternative, essentially conservative vision of humanity, Progressives realize that in order to convince the American people to adopt their vision, they must dislodge the Founders and their ideas from their revered perch in the minds of the citizenry. Therefore, we are subjected to countless Progressive critiques of the Constitution and its authors that seek to delegitimize the Founders personally, attacking their motives and sneering haughtily at them for their personal faults and foibles.
Critics often cite the Founders oft stated fears and warnings of an unchecked democracy, or a tyranny of the majority, as proof of underlying, anti-democratic sympathies. They accuse the Founders of establishing a faux democracy with a Constitution that is actually a cleverly designed mechanism intended to block the will of the people and serve only the interests of the wealthy elite. I submit these critics erroneously characterize the intentions of the Founders. They were not so keen to mention the faults of democracy because they deemed it an unworthy or undesirable political system. Having come to the logical conclusion that democracy was the only just system, they wanted to ensure that their fellow countrymen were fully aware of its limitations. It is only when we are aware of faults that are we able to address them effectively. Madison’s ‘auxiliary precautions’ and the Bill of Rights are evidence of a commitment to individual freedom within a democratic society, not a subversion of that democracy. However, because they are ideas that instantiate a system antithetical to the Progressive desire for more State power, they are disingenuously and unironically maligned as the devious, power hungry design of their elitist authors.
Most recently, the Founders have come under attack as specifically designing the Constitution to perpetuate slavery. Now, I will concede that there are some legitimate arguments to be had about the validity of the Founders philosophical assumptions that will impact whether one thinks their political designs were wise or foolish or somewhere in between. If Conservatism stands for anything, it most definitely stands for the idea that anything produced by humans is by nature imperfect and therefore not immune from criticism. There are some critiques, however, one needn’t waste time addressing seriously. They are so widely condemned, by thoughtful scholars from all political perspectives, as historically illiterate, agenda-driven pablum (yes, I’m looking at you New York Times 1619 project), that one should feel comfortable ignoring those critiques as being what the average, common sense citizen would immediately recognize as horses**t.
LET THE CONVERSATION BEGIN
My primary goal with these essays has been to illuminate to the best of my ability and understanding the underlying political philosophy of the American Conservative. Hopefully, I have succeeded in that task. With that groundwork in place, as I comment in the future on various political issues, I hope the reader will at least consider the basis for my arguments, whether one agrees with my position or not, rather than simply dismissing the conservative viewpoint with ill-informed invective.