Leading up to what will likely be a highly divisive presidential election, mired in partisan and increasingly ideological politics, today’s anniversary of the Constitution’s ratification offers a valuable opportunity to reassess where we are as a country.
Today, the grand nations of old Europe are stifled by over-regulated economies, nationalized industries, and socialized health care, ruled more by bureaucrats in Brussels than by their own elected legislatures. Magnificent cathedrals are now empty testaments to their postmodern faith in secularism. The cultures of Europe are in steep decline, and it is unclear whether they will ever be able to recover.
The primary reason the United States has not gone the way of Europe yet is that our country has long maintained a political culture grounded in moral and constitutional principles, which has kept it moored in the Western tradition of reason and faith, protected from the radicalization and emptiness of modern thought that has devastated Europe. European-style arguments have not fully succeeded here precisely because they are working against the deep currents of American ideas and institutions.
But will this remain the case?
Progressive thinkers at the start of the last century repudiated the Founders’ principles, holding that there are no self-evident truths, as in “all men are created equal,” but only historical claims and the constant search for progress. There are no permanent rights with which man is endowed, but endlessly evolving rights that develop and grow.
But now, with the spread of “identity politics,” our old rights are under renewed attack. The latest example is the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which claims slavery in North America “as our true founding” in order to “reframe the country’s history” as one of racism, hatred and white supremacy, rather than life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Another concerning development is that Congress has over time delegated vast legislative powers to a metastasizing, bureaucratic executive branch that modern presidents struggle to control. This shift of power away from the lawmaking institutions of republican government to an oligarchy of unelected bureaucrats who increasingly govern virtually every aspect of our daily lives threatens the rule of law and undermines the core principle of consent of the governed.
If these trends become the undisputed norm, it could well mark the demise of our great experiment in self-government. This is not progress, but the decline of a civilization.
The change we need is a vibrant renewal of the permanent truths about man, politics, and liberty, the foundational principles and constitutional wisdom that are the true roots of our country’s greatness. Instead of the abandonment of republican institutions, we need the restoration of a constitutionally robust Congress, president, and Supreme Court.
This doesn’t mean going back to the 18th century. But we need to relearn our country’s guiding principles and think deeply about how to connect them to circumstances today. Relearning these fundamentals and how to thoughtfully engage in political life is the primary reason Hillsdale College has launched its new Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington, D.C., to give future statesmen the knowledge and tools that will guide them in a lifetime of deliberative and prudent service.
The key to making prudential decisions, as well as distinguishing between reasonable compromise and self-defeating reforms, is a deep understanding of and commitment to core principles. It is this sure commitment to principles that can transform prudence from mere timidity into bold and courageous action when the times call for it. And serious, thoughtful leaders cannot doubt that we are living in just such a time, calling for prudence at its very boldest.
The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson later recorded, was “neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing.” Rather, “it was intended to be an expression of the American mind.”
Our aim must be a clear expression and forthright defense of American principles and political institutions in the public square. Despite constant criticism and scorn by academic elites, political leaders, and the popular media, many Americans still believe in the uniqueness of this country, respect the noble ideas put forth by the American Founders, and have not accepted America’s decline as inevitable.
The goal must be to restore the liberating principles of the American founding as the defining public philosophy of our nation. As it has been for most of American history, so it can be again.
Matthew Spalding is Dean of Hillsdale College’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington, DC.
