From Buckley to Beck: Where Did We Go Wrong?

FF SYMPOSIUM: Sam Tanenhaus' latest book, The Death of Conservatism, argues that conservatism must decide whether it is a movement of cultural revenge or a governing philosophy. NewMajority has asked conservatives to weigh in. First up: Austin Bramwell, a former National Review trustee, and Geoffrey Kabaservice, our resident GOP historian who at one time contributed research to Tanenhaus.

Sam Tanenhaus' latest book, The Death of Conservatism, argues that conservatism must decide whether it is a movement of cultural revenge or a governing philosophy.  NewMajority has asked conservatives to weigh in. First up:  Austin Bramwell, a former National Review trustee, and Geoffrey Kabaservice, our resident GOP historian who at one time contributed research to Tanenhaus.

Austin Bramwell, Conservatism Isn't Dead, It's Just Intellectually Boring
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Tanenhaus wants to reach the sensational but conventional verdict that the movement has become alarmingly radical.  Yet the actual picture he draws is of a movement stuck helplessly in a rut. The conservative movement isn't dangerous or "revanchist;" it's just boring.  Right-wing intellectuals should eschew the movement and reintegrate into the mainstream, not because the movement threatens the Republic, but because freedom of thought can only be found outside of it.

Geoffrey Kabaservice, Conservatism is Dead Without Pragmatism

Many reviewers have claimed Tanenhaus' book to be a liberal critique of conservatism, but it doesn’t much deal with liberalism or even with conservatives’ battles against liberals.  Rather, it’s an explanation for why the vital dynamic between idealism and pragmatism within conservatism has ceased to function. The problem with modern-day conservatism is that the realists have been vanquished by the ideologists, with dire results for the conservative movement and the Republican Party that is now wholly identified with the movement.