Books
Machiavelli’s Political Science
– "Machiavelli's Political Science," American Political Science Review, Vol. 75 (1981), pp. 293-305.The Forms and Formalities of Liberty
– "The Forms and Formalities of Liberty," The Public Interest, No. 70 (Winter 1983), pp. 121-131.Excerpt: This statement is long for an epigraph but dense enough to require explanation, and deep enough to reward reflection. Speaking of “forms,” Tocqueville directs our… More
A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment
– "A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment," with Delba Winthrop, This Constitution, no. 9 (1985): 34-37.Excerpt: Because America is so familiar to Americans, we take for granted the experimental nature of our politics. But this is the very theme of the two best books on American politics, The… More
America’s Constitutional Soul
– The Johns Hopkins University Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 1993)Excerpt: When it comes to American politics, I am an amateur. I love America at its best, or even at its most characteristic: “only in America.” Perhaps this kind of love ought… More
Self-Interest Rightly Understood
– "Self-Interest Rightly Understood," Political Theory, vol. 23 (1995), No. 1, pp. 48-66.Look, No Tocqueville!
– "Look, No Tocqueville!," review of The Next American Nation, by Michael Lind, National Interest, no. 41 (Fall 1995): 99-102.Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy
– Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy, by Pierre Manent, English translation, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996.Tocqueville and Conservatism
– "Tocqueville and Conservatism," panel discussion, C-SPAN, 12 September 1997.Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis
– “Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis,” with Delba Winthrop, Tyranny and Liberty, London: Institute of United States Studies, 1999, 1-31.Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville
– “Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville,” Friends and Citizens: Essays in Honor of Wilson Carey McWilliams, Peter Dennis Bathory and Nancy L. Schwartz, eds., Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 289-297.Translating Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– "Translating Tocqueville's Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, The Tocqueville Review, Vol. 21 (2000), 153-164.Democracy in America
– "Democracy in America," Book Notes interview with Brian Lamb, C-SPAN, 17 October 2000.Professor Harvey Mansfield discusses his recently published translation of Democracy in America.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
– a new translation with introduction (with Delba Winthrop) University Of Chicago Press (November 1, 2000)Colloquium on Democracy in America
– Audio, "Colloquium on Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, panel discussion, Ashbrook Center, 30 March 2001.What Tocqueville Would Say Today
– “What Tocqueville Would Say Today,” with Delba Winthrop, Hoover Digest, Summer 2001, No. 3, pp. 179-188.Excerpt: Russell Baker once said that in our time people cite Tocqueville without reading him even more than they do the Bible and Shakespeare. Every American president since Eisenhower has… More
Jaffa vs. Mansfield
– West, Thomas G., "Jaffa vs. Mansfield," Perspectives on Political Science, Claremont Institute, Fall 2002.Excerpt: What were the original principles of the American Constitution? Are those principles true? Many historians and political scientists write about the first question. Scholars are… More
Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– “Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America,” Nature in American Philosophy, Jean De Groot, ed., Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America, 2004, 109-128.Democratic Greatness in the American Founding
– "Democratic Greatness in the American Founding," lecture, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 1 October 2004.Harvey Mansfield: In-Depth
– "In-Depth with Harvey Mansfield," interview, C-SPAN, 4 September 2005.Tocqueville’s New Political Science
– "Tocqueville’s New Political Science," with Delba Winthrop, The Cambridge Companion to Tocqueville, Cheryl B.Welch, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 81-107.Stranger in a Strange Land
– "Stranger in a Strange Land," review of American Vertigo, by Bernard-Henri Lévi, Wall Street Journal, 27 January 2006.Excerpt: In the mid-1970s, the “new philosophers” of France, stirred by Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago,” rebelled against the Marxism that… More
La Démocratie et la Providence
– “La Démocratie et la Providence,” Raymond Aron et la Démocratieau XXIe Siècle, Elisabeth Dutartre, ed., Actes du Colloque International, Paris, 11-12 mars 2005, Paris: Editions de Fallois, 2007, pp. 37-40, 52.Philosophy as a Way of Life
– Blitz, Mark, "Philosophy as a Way of Life," National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: A student who attends Harvard today might think of Harvey Mansfield as a tough-grading conservative who defends manliness on late night television. But in the early 1960s, many… More
Harvey Mansfield Interview
– Interview with Bruce Cole, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: BRUCE COLE: How would you describe your scholarly activity or intellectual interests? HARVEY MANSFIELD The book I recently published on manliness is my most topical and has… More
Lacking Elevation
– "Lacking Elevation," review of Hugh Brogan’s Alexis de Tocqueville: A Life, New Criterion, May 2007, pp. 64-67.Excerpt: To write the biography of a thinker is a difficult thing. His thought claims our attention at a level above the doings and deeds of his life, the latter irrelevant to the truth of… More
The Arts of Rule Eds. Krause/McGrail
– The Arts of Rule: Essays in Honor of Harvey Mansfield, Sharon R. Krause and Mary Ann McGrail, eds., Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009.Excerpt: This is a book about the arts of rule. It has been created for the purpose of honoring Harvey C. Mansfield, who has taught so many of us so much about these arts. Above all, he has… More
Consequential Ideas
– "Consequential Ideas: Exploring the Subtle Dangers of 'Soft Despotism' in Democracies," review of Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville and the Modern Prospect, by Paul A. Rahe, Weekly Standard, 22 June 2009.Excerpt: Paul Rahe is a distinguished and prolific historian in the field of intellectual history who ventures with deliberate intent into political philosophy, judging what he sees. His… More
Tocqueville: A Very Short Introduction
– Oxford University Press, 2010.Excerpt: In view of Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher. But he calls himself a “new kind of liberal,” and he… More
A New Kind of Liberalism
– "A New Kind of Liberalism," New Criterion, March 2010.Excerpt: In view of Alexis de Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher; yet it was through his critique of philosophy… More
Tocqueville’s Alliance of Religion and Liberty
– Video, Lecture at Catholic University, October 8, 2010. Time 1:50:30.Providence and Democracy
– "Providence and Democracy," Claremont Review of Books, Winter/Spring 2010/2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville was a liberal, but, as he once wrote, a “new kind of liberal.” For us, no feature of his new liberalism is more remarkable than the alliance… More
The Degradation of Modern Democracy
– "The Degradation of Modern Democracy," review of The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, by Kenneth Minogue, Claremont Review of Books, 3 January 2011.Excerpt: Nowadays it is conservatives rather than liberals who stand up for liberty. Liberals have given themselves over to the advance of democracy, knowing not where it leads, and caring… More
To the Heart of American Exceptionalism
– "To the Heart of American Exceptionalism," Wall Street Journal, 5 February 2011.Excerpt: Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America,… More
On the Road with Alexis
– "On the Road with Alexis," Hoover Digest, 13 July 2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America, first home of… More
Democracy without Politics
– "Democracy without Politics," review of Democracy without Politics, by Steven Bilakovics, Defining Ideas, 14 March 2012.Excerpt: Steven Bilakovics has written a promising first book that will give concern to all who reflect on democracy today. It begins from the simple observation that although everybody… More
Harvey Mansfield 80th Birthday Conference Panel 3: Executive Power
– Harvey Mansfield on his 80th Birthday: A Review of His Works. This event is sponsored by the Program on Constitutional Government in the Department of Government, and in affiliation with the Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University. 30 March 2012.Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?
– "Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?", Defining Ideas, 30 August 2012.Excerpt: Here are some thoughts and some readings for freshmen (or first-years) excited about our election and heading for college. They also apply to the rest of us long-time voters who… More
The Crisis of American Self-Government
– "The Crisis of American Self-Government," interview with Sohrab Ahmari, Wall Street Journal, 30 November 2012.Excerpt: Equality untempered by liberty invites disaster, he says. “There is a difference between making a form of government more like itself,” Mr. Mansfield says, “and… More
What Is the Future of Conservatism?
– "What Is the Future of Conservatism?," Commentary Magazine, January 2013.Excerpt: It’s possible to be too concerned with the future–or to be judged too concerned–as conservatives discovered in the election of 2012. In winning, liberals paid almost no… More
Tocqueville’s Machiavellianism
– Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthop, “Tocqueville's Machiavellianism,” Perspectives on Political Science 43, no. 2 (Apr.–June 2014): 87–92.Abstract: Tocqueville’s sole reference to Machiavelli in Democracy in America is a nicely located misquotation. This article makes much of it, more than one would likely think… More
Conversations with Bill Kristol: Harvey Mansfield
– Conversations with Bill Kristol, June 16, 2014.In this wide-ranging conversation, the distinguished Harvard political philosopher reflects on the themes which have defined his career.
Essays
Machiavelli’s Political Science
– "Machiavelli's Political Science," American Political Science Review, Vol. 75 (1981), pp. 293-305.The Forms and Formalities of Liberty
– "The Forms and Formalities of Liberty," The Public Interest, No. 70 (Winter 1983), pp. 121-131.Excerpt: This statement is long for an epigraph but dense enough to require explanation, and deep enough to reward reflection. Speaking of “forms,” Tocqueville directs our… More
A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment
– "A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment," with Delba Winthrop, This Constitution, no. 9 (1985): 34-37.Excerpt: Because America is so familiar to Americans, we take for granted the experimental nature of our politics. But this is the very theme of the two best books on American politics, The… More
America’s Constitutional Soul
– The Johns Hopkins University Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 1993)Excerpt: When it comes to American politics, I am an amateur. I love America at its best, or even at its most characteristic: “only in America.” Perhaps this kind of love ought… More
Self-Interest Rightly Understood
– "Self-Interest Rightly Understood," Political Theory, vol. 23 (1995), No. 1, pp. 48-66.Look, No Tocqueville!
– "Look, No Tocqueville!," review of The Next American Nation, by Michael Lind, National Interest, no. 41 (Fall 1995): 99-102.Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy
– Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy, by Pierre Manent, English translation, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996.Tocqueville and Conservatism
– "Tocqueville and Conservatism," panel discussion, C-SPAN, 12 September 1997.Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis
– “Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis,” with Delba Winthrop, Tyranny and Liberty, London: Institute of United States Studies, 1999, 1-31.Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville
– “Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville,” Friends and Citizens: Essays in Honor of Wilson Carey McWilliams, Peter Dennis Bathory and Nancy L. Schwartz, eds., Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 289-297.Translating Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– "Translating Tocqueville's Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, The Tocqueville Review, Vol. 21 (2000), 153-164.Democracy in America
– "Democracy in America," Book Notes interview with Brian Lamb, C-SPAN, 17 October 2000.Professor Harvey Mansfield discusses his recently published translation of Democracy in America.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
– a new translation with introduction (with Delba Winthrop) University Of Chicago Press (November 1, 2000)Colloquium on Democracy in America
– Audio, "Colloquium on Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, panel discussion, Ashbrook Center, 30 March 2001.What Tocqueville Would Say Today
– “What Tocqueville Would Say Today,” with Delba Winthrop, Hoover Digest, Summer 2001, No. 3, pp. 179-188.Excerpt: Russell Baker once said that in our time people cite Tocqueville without reading him even more than they do the Bible and Shakespeare. Every American president since Eisenhower has… More
Jaffa vs. Mansfield
– West, Thomas G., "Jaffa vs. Mansfield," Perspectives on Political Science, Claremont Institute, Fall 2002.Excerpt: What were the original principles of the American Constitution? Are those principles true? Many historians and political scientists write about the first question. Scholars are… More
Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– “Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America,” Nature in American Philosophy, Jean De Groot, ed., Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America, 2004, 109-128.Democratic Greatness in the American Founding
– "Democratic Greatness in the American Founding," lecture, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 1 October 2004.Harvey Mansfield: In-Depth
– "In-Depth with Harvey Mansfield," interview, C-SPAN, 4 September 2005.Tocqueville’s New Political Science
– "Tocqueville’s New Political Science," with Delba Winthrop, The Cambridge Companion to Tocqueville, Cheryl B.Welch, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 81-107.Stranger in a Strange Land
– "Stranger in a Strange Land," review of American Vertigo, by Bernard-Henri Lévi, Wall Street Journal, 27 January 2006.Excerpt: In the mid-1970s, the “new philosophers” of France, stirred by Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago,” rebelled against the Marxism that… More
La Démocratie et la Providence
– “La Démocratie et la Providence,” Raymond Aron et la Démocratieau XXIe Siècle, Elisabeth Dutartre, ed., Actes du Colloque International, Paris, 11-12 mars 2005, Paris: Editions de Fallois, 2007, pp. 37-40, 52.Philosophy as a Way of Life
– Blitz, Mark, "Philosophy as a Way of Life," National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: A student who attends Harvard today might think of Harvey Mansfield as a tough-grading conservative who defends manliness on late night television. But in the early 1960s, many… More
Harvey Mansfield Interview
– Interview with Bruce Cole, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: BRUCE COLE: How would you describe your scholarly activity or intellectual interests? HARVEY MANSFIELD The book I recently published on manliness is my most topical and has… More
Lacking Elevation
– "Lacking Elevation," review of Hugh Brogan’s Alexis de Tocqueville: A Life, New Criterion, May 2007, pp. 64-67.Excerpt: To write the biography of a thinker is a difficult thing. His thought claims our attention at a level above the doings and deeds of his life, the latter irrelevant to the truth of… More
The Arts of Rule Eds. Krause/McGrail
– The Arts of Rule: Essays in Honor of Harvey Mansfield, Sharon R. Krause and Mary Ann McGrail, eds., Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009.Excerpt: This is a book about the arts of rule. It has been created for the purpose of honoring Harvey C. Mansfield, who has taught so many of us so much about these arts. Above all, he has… More
Consequential Ideas
– "Consequential Ideas: Exploring the Subtle Dangers of 'Soft Despotism' in Democracies," review of Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville and the Modern Prospect, by Paul A. Rahe, Weekly Standard, 22 June 2009.Excerpt: Paul Rahe is a distinguished and prolific historian in the field of intellectual history who ventures with deliberate intent into political philosophy, judging what he sees. His… More
Tocqueville: A Very Short Introduction
– Oxford University Press, 2010.Excerpt: In view of Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher. But he calls himself a “new kind of liberal,” and he… More
A New Kind of Liberalism
– "A New Kind of Liberalism," New Criterion, March 2010.Excerpt: In view of Alexis de Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher; yet it was through his critique of philosophy… More
Tocqueville’s Alliance of Religion and Liberty
– Video, Lecture at Catholic University, October 8, 2010. Time 1:50:30.Providence and Democracy
– "Providence and Democracy," Claremont Review of Books, Winter/Spring 2010/2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville was a liberal, but, as he once wrote, a “new kind of liberal.” For us, no feature of his new liberalism is more remarkable than the alliance… More
The Degradation of Modern Democracy
– "The Degradation of Modern Democracy," review of The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, by Kenneth Minogue, Claremont Review of Books, 3 January 2011.Excerpt: Nowadays it is conservatives rather than liberals who stand up for liberty. Liberals have given themselves over to the advance of democracy, knowing not where it leads, and caring… More
To the Heart of American Exceptionalism
– "To the Heart of American Exceptionalism," Wall Street Journal, 5 February 2011.Excerpt: Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America,… More
On the Road with Alexis
– "On the Road with Alexis," Hoover Digest, 13 July 2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America, first home of… More
Democracy without Politics
– "Democracy without Politics," review of Democracy without Politics, by Steven Bilakovics, Defining Ideas, 14 March 2012.Excerpt: Steven Bilakovics has written a promising first book that will give concern to all who reflect on democracy today. It begins from the simple observation that although everybody… More
Harvey Mansfield 80th Birthday Conference Panel 3: Executive Power
– Harvey Mansfield on his 80th Birthday: A Review of His Works. This event is sponsored by the Program on Constitutional Government in the Department of Government, and in affiliation with the Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University. 30 March 2012.Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?
– "Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?", Defining Ideas, 30 August 2012.Excerpt: Here are some thoughts and some readings for freshmen (or first-years) excited about our election and heading for college. They also apply to the rest of us long-time voters who… More
The Crisis of American Self-Government
– "The Crisis of American Self-Government," interview with Sohrab Ahmari, Wall Street Journal, 30 November 2012.Excerpt: Equality untempered by liberty invites disaster, he says. “There is a difference between making a form of government more like itself,” Mr. Mansfield says, “and… More
What Is the Future of Conservatism?
– "What Is the Future of Conservatism?," Commentary Magazine, January 2013.Excerpt: It’s possible to be too concerned with the future–or to be judged too concerned–as conservatives discovered in the election of 2012. In winning, liberals paid almost no… More
Tocqueville’s Machiavellianism
– Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthop, “Tocqueville's Machiavellianism,” Perspectives on Political Science 43, no. 2 (Apr.–June 2014): 87–92.Abstract: Tocqueville’s sole reference to Machiavelli in Democracy in America is a nicely located misquotation. This article makes much of it, more than one would likely think… More
Conversations with Bill Kristol: Harvey Mansfield
– Conversations with Bill Kristol, June 16, 2014.In this wide-ranging conversation, the distinguished Harvard political philosopher reflects on the themes which have defined his career.
Commentary
Machiavelli’s Political Science
– "Machiavelli's Political Science," American Political Science Review, Vol. 75 (1981), pp. 293-305.The Forms and Formalities of Liberty
– "The Forms and Formalities of Liberty," The Public Interest, No. 70 (Winter 1983), pp. 121-131.Excerpt: This statement is long for an epigraph but dense enough to require explanation, and deep enough to reward reflection. Speaking of “forms,” Tocqueville directs our… More
A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment
– "A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment," with Delba Winthrop, This Constitution, no. 9 (1985): 34-37.Excerpt: Because America is so familiar to Americans, we take for granted the experimental nature of our politics. But this is the very theme of the two best books on American politics, The… More
America’s Constitutional Soul
– The Johns Hopkins University Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 1993)Excerpt: When it comes to American politics, I am an amateur. I love America at its best, or even at its most characteristic: “only in America.” Perhaps this kind of love ought… More
Self-Interest Rightly Understood
– "Self-Interest Rightly Understood," Political Theory, vol. 23 (1995), No. 1, pp. 48-66.Look, No Tocqueville!
– "Look, No Tocqueville!," review of The Next American Nation, by Michael Lind, National Interest, no. 41 (Fall 1995): 99-102.Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy
– Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy, by Pierre Manent, English translation, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996.Tocqueville and Conservatism
– "Tocqueville and Conservatism," panel discussion, C-SPAN, 12 September 1997.Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis
– “Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis,” with Delba Winthrop, Tyranny and Liberty, London: Institute of United States Studies, 1999, 1-31.Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville
– “Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville,” Friends and Citizens: Essays in Honor of Wilson Carey McWilliams, Peter Dennis Bathory and Nancy L. Schwartz, eds., Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 289-297.Translating Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– "Translating Tocqueville's Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, The Tocqueville Review, Vol. 21 (2000), 153-164.Democracy in America
– "Democracy in America," Book Notes interview with Brian Lamb, C-SPAN, 17 October 2000.Professor Harvey Mansfield discusses his recently published translation of Democracy in America.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
– a new translation with introduction (with Delba Winthrop) University Of Chicago Press (November 1, 2000)Colloquium on Democracy in America
– Audio, "Colloquium on Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, panel discussion, Ashbrook Center, 30 March 2001.What Tocqueville Would Say Today
– “What Tocqueville Would Say Today,” with Delba Winthrop, Hoover Digest, Summer 2001, No. 3, pp. 179-188.Excerpt: Russell Baker once said that in our time people cite Tocqueville without reading him even more than they do the Bible and Shakespeare. Every American president since Eisenhower has… More
Jaffa vs. Mansfield
– West, Thomas G., "Jaffa vs. Mansfield," Perspectives on Political Science, Claremont Institute, Fall 2002.Excerpt: What were the original principles of the American Constitution? Are those principles true? Many historians and political scientists write about the first question. Scholars are… More
Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– “Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America,” Nature in American Philosophy, Jean De Groot, ed., Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America, 2004, 109-128.Democratic Greatness in the American Founding
– "Democratic Greatness in the American Founding," lecture, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 1 October 2004.Harvey Mansfield: In-Depth
– "In-Depth with Harvey Mansfield," interview, C-SPAN, 4 September 2005.Tocqueville’s New Political Science
– "Tocqueville’s New Political Science," with Delba Winthrop, The Cambridge Companion to Tocqueville, Cheryl B.Welch, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 81-107.Stranger in a Strange Land
– "Stranger in a Strange Land," review of American Vertigo, by Bernard-Henri Lévi, Wall Street Journal, 27 January 2006.Excerpt: In the mid-1970s, the “new philosophers” of France, stirred by Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago,” rebelled against the Marxism that… More
La Démocratie et la Providence
– “La Démocratie et la Providence,” Raymond Aron et la Démocratieau XXIe Siècle, Elisabeth Dutartre, ed., Actes du Colloque International, Paris, 11-12 mars 2005, Paris: Editions de Fallois, 2007, pp. 37-40, 52.Philosophy as a Way of Life
– Blitz, Mark, "Philosophy as a Way of Life," National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: A student who attends Harvard today might think of Harvey Mansfield as a tough-grading conservative who defends manliness on late night television. But in the early 1960s, many… More
Harvey Mansfield Interview
– Interview with Bruce Cole, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: BRUCE COLE: How would you describe your scholarly activity or intellectual interests? HARVEY MANSFIELD The book I recently published on manliness is my most topical and has… More
Lacking Elevation
– "Lacking Elevation," review of Hugh Brogan’s Alexis de Tocqueville: A Life, New Criterion, May 2007, pp. 64-67.Excerpt: To write the biography of a thinker is a difficult thing. His thought claims our attention at a level above the doings and deeds of his life, the latter irrelevant to the truth of… More
The Arts of Rule Eds. Krause/McGrail
– The Arts of Rule: Essays in Honor of Harvey Mansfield, Sharon R. Krause and Mary Ann McGrail, eds., Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009.Excerpt: This is a book about the arts of rule. It has been created for the purpose of honoring Harvey C. Mansfield, who has taught so many of us so much about these arts. Above all, he has… More
Consequential Ideas
– "Consequential Ideas: Exploring the Subtle Dangers of 'Soft Despotism' in Democracies," review of Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville and the Modern Prospect, by Paul A. Rahe, Weekly Standard, 22 June 2009.Excerpt: Paul Rahe is a distinguished and prolific historian in the field of intellectual history who ventures with deliberate intent into political philosophy, judging what he sees. His… More
Tocqueville: A Very Short Introduction
– Oxford University Press, 2010.Excerpt: In view of Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher. But he calls himself a “new kind of liberal,” and he… More
A New Kind of Liberalism
– "A New Kind of Liberalism," New Criterion, March 2010.Excerpt: In view of Alexis de Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher; yet it was through his critique of philosophy… More
Tocqueville’s Alliance of Religion and Liberty
– Video, Lecture at Catholic University, October 8, 2010. Time 1:50:30.Providence and Democracy
– "Providence and Democracy," Claremont Review of Books, Winter/Spring 2010/2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville was a liberal, but, as he once wrote, a “new kind of liberal.” For us, no feature of his new liberalism is more remarkable than the alliance… More
The Degradation of Modern Democracy
– "The Degradation of Modern Democracy," review of The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, by Kenneth Minogue, Claremont Review of Books, 3 January 2011.Excerpt: Nowadays it is conservatives rather than liberals who stand up for liberty. Liberals have given themselves over to the advance of democracy, knowing not where it leads, and caring… More
To the Heart of American Exceptionalism
– "To the Heart of American Exceptionalism," Wall Street Journal, 5 February 2011.Excerpt: Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America,… More
On the Road with Alexis
– "On the Road with Alexis," Hoover Digest, 13 July 2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America, first home of… More
Democracy without Politics
– "Democracy without Politics," review of Democracy without Politics, by Steven Bilakovics, Defining Ideas, 14 March 2012.Excerpt: Steven Bilakovics has written a promising first book that will give concern to all who reflect on democracy today. It begins from the simple observation that although everybody… More
Harvey Mansfield 80th Birthday Conference Panel 3: Executive Power
– Harvey Mansfield on his 80th Birthday: A Review of His Works. This event is sponsored by the Program on Constitutional Government in the Department of Government, and in affiliation with the Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University. 30 March 2012.Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?
– "Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?", Defining Ideas, 30 August 2012.Excerpt: Here are some thoughts and some readings for freshmen (or first-years) excited about our election and heading for college. They also apply to the rest of us long-time voters who… More
The Crisis of American Self-Government
– "The Crisis of American Self-Government," interview with Sohrab Ahmari, Wall Street Journal, 30 November 2012.Excerpt: Equality untempered by liberty invites disaster, he says. “There is a difference between making a form of government more like itself,” Mr. Mansfield says, “and… More
What Is the Future of Conservatism?
– "What Is the Future of Conservatism?," Commentary Magazine, January 2013.Excerpt: It’s possible to be too concerned with the future–or to be judged too concerned–as conservatives discovered in the election of 2012. In winning, liberals paid almost no… More
Tocqueville’s Machiavellianism
– Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthop, “Tocqueville's Machiavellianism,” Perspectives on Political Science 43, no. 2 (Apr.–June 2014): 87–92.Abstract: Tocqueville’s sole reference to Machiavelli in Democracy in America is a nicely located misquotation. This article makes much of it, more than one would likely think… More
Conversations with Bill Kristol: Harvey Mansfield
– Conversations with Bill Kristol, June 16, 2014.In this wide-ranging conversation, the distinguished Harvard political philosopher reflects on the themes which have defined his career.
Multimedia
Machiavelli’s Political Science
– "Machiavelli's Political Science," American Political Science Review, Vol. 75 (1981), pp. 293-305.The Forms and Formalities of Liberty
– "The Forms and Formalities of Liberty," The Public Interest, No. 70 (Winter 1983), pp. 121-131.Excerpt: This statement is long for an epigraph but dense enough to require explanation, and deep enough to reward reflection. Speaking of “forms,” Tocqueville directs our… More
A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment
– "A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment," with Delba Winthrop, This Constitution, no. 9 (1985): 34-37.Excerpt: Because America is so familiar to Americans, we take for granted the experimental nature of our politics. But this is the very theme of the two best books on American politics, The… More
America’s Constitutional Soul
– The Johns Hopkins University Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 1993)Excerpt: When it comes to American politics, I am an amateur. I love America at its best, or even at its most characteristic: “only in America.” Perhaps this kind of love ought… More
Self-Interest Rightly Understood
– "Self-Interest Rightly Understood," Political Theory, vol. 23 (1995), No. 1, pp. 48-66.Look, No Tocqueville!
– "Look, No Tocqueville!," review of The Next American Nation, by Michael Lind, National Interest, no. 41 (Fall 1995): 99-102.Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy
– Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy, by Pierre Manent, English translation, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996.Tocqueville and Conservatism
– "Tocqueville and Conservatism," panel discussion, C-SPAN, 12 September 1997.Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis
– “Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis,” with Delba Winthrop, Tyranny and Liberty, London: Institute of United States Studies, 1999, 1-31.Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville
– “Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville,” Friends and Citizens: Essays in Honor of Wilson Carey McWilliams, Peter Dennis Bathory and Nancy L. Schwartz, eds., Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 289-297.Translating Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– "Translating Tocqueville's Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, The Tocqueville Review, Vol. 21 (2000), 153-164.Democracy in America
– "Democracy in America," Book Notes interview with Brian Lamb, C-SPAN, 17 October 2000.Professor Harvey Mansfield discusses his recently published translation of Democracy in America.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
– a new translation with introduction (with Delba Winthrop) University Of Chicago Press (November 1, 2000)Colloquium on Democracy in America
– Audio, "Colloquium on Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, panel discussion, Ashbrook Center, 30 March 2001.What Tocqueville Would Say Today
– “What Tocqueville Would Say Today,” with Delba Winthrop, Hoover Digest, Summer 2001, No. 3, pp. 179-188.Excerpt: Russell Baker once said that in our time people cite Tocqueville without reading him even more than they do the Bible and Shakespeare. Every American president since Eisenhower has… More
Jaffa vs. Mansfield
– West, Thomas G., "Jaffa vs. Mansfield," Perspectives on Political Science, Claremont Institute, Fall 2002.Excerpt: What were the original principles of the American Constitution? Are those principles true? Many historians and political scientists write about the first question. Scholars are… More
Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– “Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America,” Nature in American Philosophy, Jean De Groot, ed., Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America, 2004, 109-128.Democratic Greatness in the American Founding
– "Democratic Greatness in the American Founding," lecture, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 1 October 2004.Harvey Mansfield: In-Depth
– "In-Depth with Harvey Mansfield," interview, C-SPAN, 4 September 2005.Tocqueville’s New Political Science
– "Tocqueville’s New Political Science," with Delba Winthrop, The Cambridge Companion to Tocqueville, Cheryl B.Welch, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 81-107.Stranger in a Strange Land
– "Stranger in a Strange Land," review of American Vertigo, by Bernard-Henri Lévi, Wall Street Journal, 27 January 2006.Excerpt: In the mid-1970s, the “new philosophers” of France, stirred by Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago,” rebelled against the Marxism that… More
La Démocratie et la Providence
– “La Démocratie et la Providence,” Raymond Aron et la Démocratieau XXIe Siècle, Elisabeth Dutartre, ed., Actes du Colloque International, Paris, 11-12 mars 2005, Paris: Editions de Fallois, 2007, pp. 37-40, 52.Philosophy as a Way of Life
– Blitz, Mark, "Philosophy as a Way of Life," National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: A student who attends Harvard today might think of Harvey Mansfield as a tough-grading conservative who defends manliness on late night television. But in the early 1960s, many… More
Harvey Mansfield Interview
– Interview with Bruce Cole, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: BRUCE COLE: How would you describe your scholarly activity or intellectual interests? HARVEY MANSFIELD The book I recently published on manliness is my most topical and has… More
Lacking Elevation
– "Lacking Elevation," review of Hugh Brogan’s Alexis de Tocqueville: A Life, New Criterion, May 2007, pp. 64-67.Excerpt: To write the biography of a thinker is a difficult thing. His thought claims our attention at a level above the doings and deeds of his life, the latter irrelevant to the truth of… More
The Arts of Rule Eds. Krause/McGrail
– The Arts of Rule: Essays in Honor of Harvey Mansfield, Sharon R. Krause and Mary Ann McGrail, eds., Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009.Excerpt: This is a book about the arts of rule. It has been created for the purpose of honoring Harvey C. Mansfield, who has taught so many of us so much about these arts. Above all, he has… More
Consequential Ideas
– "Consequential Ideas: Exploring the Subtle Dangers of 'Soft Despotism' in Democracies," review of Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville and the Modern Prospect, by Paul A. Rahe, Weekly Standard, 22 June 2009.Excerpt: Paul Rahe is a distinguished and prolific historian in the field of intellectual history who ventures with deliberate intent into political philosophy, judging what he sees. His… More
Tocqueville: A Very Short Introduction
– Oxford University Press, 2010.Excerpt: In view of Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher. But he calls himself a “new kind of liberal,” and he… More
A New Kind of Liberalism
– "A New Kind of Liberalism," New Criterion, March 2010.Excerpt: In view of Alexis de Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher; yet it was through his critique of philosophy… More
Tocqueville’s Alliance of Religion and Liberty
– Video, Lecture at Catholic University, October 8, 2010. Time 1:50:30.Providence and Democracy
– "Providence and Democracy," Claremont Review of Books, Winter/Spring 2010/2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville was a liberal, but, as he once wrote, a “new kind of liberal.” For us, no feature of his new liberalism is more remarkable than the alliance… More
The Degradation of Modern Democracy
– "The Degradation of Modern Democracy," review of The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, by Kenneth Minogue, Claremont Review of Books, 3 January 2011.Excerpt: Nowadays it is conservatives rather than liberals who stand up for liberty. Liberals have given themselves over to the advance of democracy, knowing not where it leads, and caring… More
To the Heart of American Exceptionalism
– "To the Heart of American Exceptionalism," Wall Street Journal, 5 February 2011.Excerpt: Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America,… More
On the Road with Alexis
– "On the Road with Alexis," Hoover Digest, 13 July 2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America, first home of… More
Democracy without Politics
– "Democracy without Politics," review of Democracy without Politics, by Steven Bilakovics, Defining Ideas, 14 March 2012.Excerpt: Steven Bilakovics has written a promising first book that will give concern to all who reflect on democracy today. It begins from the simple observation that although everybody… More
Harvey Mansfield 80th Birthday Conference Panel 3: Executive Power
– Harvey Mansfield on his 80th Birthday: A Review of His Works. This event is sponsored by the Program on Constitutional Government in the Department of Government, and in affiliation with the Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University. 30 March 2012.Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?
– "Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?", Defining Ideas, 30 August 2012.Excerpt: Here are some thoughts and some readings for freshmen (or first-years) excited about our election and heading for college. They also apply to the rest of us long-time voters who… More
The Crisis of American Self-Government
– "The Crisis of American Self-Government," interview with Sohrab Ahmari, Wall Street Journal, 30 November 2012.Excerpt: Equality untempered by liberty invites disaster, he says. “There is a difference between making a form of government more like itself,” Mr. Mansfield says, “and… More
What Is the Future of Conservatism?
– "What Is the Future of Conservatism?," Commentary Magazine, January 2013.Excerpt: It’s possible to be too concerned with the future–or to be judged too concerned–as conservatives discovered in the election of 2012. In winning, liberals paid almost no… More
Tocqueville’s Machiavellianism
– Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthop, “Tocqueville's Machiavellianism,” Perspectives on Political Science 43, no. 2 (Apr.–June 2014): 87–92.Abstract: Tocqueville’s sole reference to Machiavelli in Democracy in America is a nicely located misquotation. This article makes much of it, more than one would likely think… More
Conversations with Bill Kristol: Harvey Mansfield
– Conversations with Bill Kristol, June 16, 2014.In this wide-ranging conversation, the distinguished Harvard political philosopher reflects on the themes which have defined his career.
Teaching
Machiavelli’s Political Science
– "Machiavelli's Political Science," American Political Science Review, Vol. 75 (1981), pp. 293-305.The Forms and Formalities of Liberty
– "The Forms and Formalities of Liberty," The Public Interest, No. 70 (Winter 1983), pp. 121-131.Excerpt: This statement is long for an epigraph but dense enough to require explanation, and deep enough to reward reflection. Speaking of “forms,” Tocqueville directs our… More
A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment
– "A Summer Seminar on the American Experiment," with Delba Winthrop, This Constitution, no. 9 (1985): 34-37.Excerpt: Because America is so familiar to Americans, we take for granted the experimental nature of our politics. But this is the very theme of the two best books on American politics, The… More
America’s Constitutional Soul
– The Johns Hopkins University Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 1993)Excerpt: When it comes to American politics, I am an amateur. I love America at its best, or even at its most characteristic: “only in America.” Perhaps this kind of love ought… More
Self-Interest Rightly Understood
– "Self-Interest Rightly Understood," Political Theory, vol. 23 (1995), No. 1, pp. 48-66.Look, No Tocqueville!
– "Look, No Tocqueville!," review of The Next American Nation, by Michael Lind, National Interest, no. 41 (Fall 1995): 99-102.Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy
– Foreword to Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy, by Pierre Manent, English translation, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996.Tocqueville and Conservatism
– "Tocqueville and Conservatism," panel discussion, C-SPAN, 12 September 1997.Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis
– “Liberalism and Big Government: Tocqueville’s Analysis,” with Delba Winthrop, Tyranny and Liberty, London: Institute of United States Studies, 1999, 1-31.Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville
– “Majority Tyranny in Aristotle and Tocqueville,” Friends and Citizens: Essays in Honor of Wilson Carey McWilliams, Peter Dennis Bathory and Nancy L. Schwartz, eds., Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 289-297.Translating Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– "Translating Tocqueville's Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, The Tocqueville Review, Vol. 21 (2000), 153-164.Democracy in America
– "Democracy in America," Book Notes interview with Brian Lamb, C-SPAN, 17 October 2000.Professor Harvey Mansfield discusses his recently published translation of Democracy in America.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
– a new translation with introduction (with Delba Winthrop) University Of Chicago Press (November 1, 2000)Colloquium on Democracy in America
– Audio, "Colloquium on Democracy in America," with Delba Winthrop, panel discussion, Ashbrook Center, 30 March 2001.What Tocqueville Would Say Today
– “What Tocqueville Would Say Today,” with Delba Winthrop, Hoover Digest, Summer 2001, No. 3, pp. 179-188.Excerpt: Russell Baker once said that in our time people cite Tocqueville without reading him even more than they do the Bible and Shakespeare. Every American president since Eisenhower has… More
Jaffa vs. Mansfield
– West, Thomas G., "Jaffa vs. Mansfield," Perspectives on Political Science, Claremont Institute, Fall 2002.Excerpt: What were the original principles of the American Constitution? Are those principles true? Many historians and political scientists write about the first question. Scholars are… More
Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
– “Nature and Fact in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America,” Nature in American Philosophy, Jean De Groot, ed., Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America, 2004, 109-128.Democratic Greatness in the American Founding
– "Democratic Greatness in the American Founding," lecture, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 1 October 2004.Harvey Mansfield: In-Depth
– "In-Depth with Harvey Mansfield," interview, C-SPAN, 4 September 2005.Tocqueville’s New Political Science
– "Tocqueville’s New Political Science," with Delba Winthrop, The Cambridge Companion to Tocqueville, Cheryl B.Welch, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 81-107.Stranger in a Strange Land
– "Stranger in a Strange Land," review of American Vertigo, by Bernard-Henri Lévi, Wall Street Journal, 27 January 2006.Excerpt: In the mid-1970s, the “new philosophers” of France, stirred by Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago,” rebelled against the Marxism that… More
La Démocratie et la Providence
– “La Démocratie et la Providence,” Raymond Aron et la Démocratieau XXIe Siècle, Elisabeth Dutartre, ed., Actes du Colloque International, Paris, 11-12 mars 2005, Paris: Editions de Fallois, 2007, pp. 37-40, 52.Philosophy as a Way of Life
– Blitz, Mark, "Philosophy as a Way of Life," National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: A student who attends Harvard today might think of Harvey Mansfield as a tough-grading conservative who defends manliness on late night television. But in the early 1960s, many… More
Harvey Mansfield Interview
– Interview with Bruce Cole, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.Excerpt: BRUCE COLE: How would you describe your scholarly activity or intellectual interests? HARVEY MANSFIELD The book I recently published on manliness is my most topical and has… More
Lacking Elevation
– "Lacking Elevation," review of Hugh Brogan’s Alexis de Tocqueville: A Life, New Criterion, May 2007, pp. 64-67.Excerpt: To write the biography of a thinker is a difficult thing. His thought claims our attention at a level above the doings and deeds of his life, the latter irrelevant to the truth of… More
The Arts of Rule Eds. Krause/McGrail
– The Arts of Rule: Essays in Honor of Harvey Mansfield, Sharon R. Krause and Mary Ann McGrail, eds., Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009.Excerpt: This is a book about the arts of rule. It has been created for the purpose of honoring Harvey C. Mansfield, who has taught so many of us so much about these arts. Above all, he has… More
Consequential Ideas
– "Consequential Ideas: Exploring the Subtle Dangers of 'Soft Despotism' in Democracies," review of Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville and the Modern Prospect, by Paul A. Rahe, Weekly Standard, 22 June 2009.Excerpt: Paul Rahe is a distinguished and prolific historian in the field of intellectual history who ventures with deliberate intent into political philosophy, judging what he sees. His… More
Tocqueville: A Very Short Introduction
– Oxford University Press, 2010.Excerpt: In view of Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher. But he calls himself a “new kind of liberal,” and he… More
A New Kind of Liberalism
– "A New Kind of Liberalism," New Criterion, March 2010.Excerpt: In view of Alexis de Tocqueville’s criticisms of philosophy, it may seem paradoxical and presumptuous to call him a philosopher; yet it was through his critique of philosophy… More
Tocqueville’s Alliance of Religion and Liberty
– Video, Lecture at Catholic University, October 8, 2010. Time 1:50:30.Providence and Democracy
– "Providence and Democracy," Claremont Review of Books, Winter/Spring 2010/2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville was a liberal, but, as he once wrote, a “new kind of liberal.” For us, no feature of his new liberalism is more remarkable than the alliance… More
The Degradation of Modern Democracy
– "The Degradation of Modern Democracy," review of The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, by Kenneth Minogue, Claremont Review of Books, 3 January 2011.Excerpt: Nowadays it is conservatives rather than liberals who stand up for liberty. Liberals have given themselves over to the advance of democracy, knowing not where it leads, and caring… More
To the Heart of American Exceptionalism
– "To the Heart of American Exceptionalism," Wall Street Journal, 5 February 2011.Excerpt: Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America,… More
On the Road with Alexis
– "On the Road with Alexis," Hoover Digest, 13 July 2011.Excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is a book that every American who reads should read. There’s no better book on democracy and none better on America, first home of… More
Democracy without Politics
– "Democracy without Politics," review of Democracy without Politics, by Steven Bilakovics, Defining Ideas, 14 March 2012.Excerpt: Steven Bilakovics has written a promising first book that will give concern to all who reflect on democracy today. It begins from the simple observation that although everybody… More
Harvey Mansfield 80th Birthday Conference Panel 3: Executive Power
– Harvey Mansfield on his 80th Birthday: A Review of His Works. This event is sponsored by the Program on Constitutional Government in the Department of Government, and in affiliation with the Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University. 30 March 2012.Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?
– "Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?", Defining Ideas, 30 August 2012.Excerpt: Here are some thoughts and some readings for freshmen (or first-years) excited about our election and heading for college. They also apply to the rest of us long-time voters who… More
The Crisis of American Self-Government
– "The Crisis of American Self-Government," interview with Sohrab Ahmari, Wall Street Journal, 30 November 2012.Excerpt: Equality untempered by liberty invites disaster, he says. “There is a difference between making a form of government more like itself,” Mr. Mansfield says, “and… More
What Is the Future of Conservatism?
– "What Is the Future of Conservatism?," Commentary Magazine, January 2013.Excerpt: It’s possible to be too concerned with the future–or to be judged too concerned–as conservatives discovered in the election of 2012. In winning, liberals paid almost no… More
Tocqueville’s Machiavellianism
– Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthop, “Tocqueville's Machiavellianism,” Perspectives on Political Science 43, no. 2 (Apr.–June 2014): 87–92.Abstract: Tocqueville’s sole reference to Machiavelli in Democracy in America is a nicely located misquotation. This article makes much of it, more than one would likely think… More
Conversations with Bill Kristol: Harvey Mansfield
– Conversations with Bill Kristol, June 16, 2014.In this wide-ranging conversation, the distinguished Harvard political philosopher reflects on the themes which have defined his career.