Tag: Patriotism

Topics

Books

Freedom and Loyalty

– The Journal of Politics 18:1 (February 1956), 17–27.
Excerpt: It is best to begin with what is familiar and, I hope, noncontroversial. Until the first World War there was no problem of freedom and loyalty to speak of in the United States.… More

Professors and Politics

– Cornell Daily Sun, May 4, 1962.
Excerpt: The purpose of the university places it in a position of uneasy tension with the community, and the tension is likely to increase with the extent to which this purpose is… More

Citizenship, Rights and Responsibilities

– Rights, Citizenship, and Responsibilities, Bradford P. Wilson, ed. (Valley Forge, PA: Freedom Foundation, 1984).
The proceedings of Freedom Foundation’s symposium on citizen responsibilities, December 13-14, 1984, Washington, D.C.

Flag-Burning & Other Modes of Expression

– Commentary, October 1989; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: This summer, Washington was given patriotism and obscenity to deal with when the Supreme Court upheld the burning of the flag by an angry Gregory Johnson and when an embarrassed… More

On Patriotism

– Bradley Lecture, American Enterprise Institute, September 16, 1996.
Excerpt: Patriotism means love of country (patria, in the Latin) and implies a readiness to sacrifice for it, to fight for it, perhaps even to give one’s life for it. In the traditional,… More

Making Patriots

– University of Chicago Press, 2001; paperback edition, 2002.
Although Samuel Johnson once remarked that “patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels,” over the course of the history of the United States we have seen our share of heroes:… More

A Country to Die For

– Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post, May 17, 2001.
Excerpt: This slender but closely argued explication and defense of patriotism is in most respects admirable and welcome, but it proceeds from a somewhat shaky premise. In the academic… More

Patriotism and Citizenship

– Panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, May 20, 2001.
The panelists discussed American patriotism and Mr. Berns’ book, Making Patriots, published by University of Chicago Press. Other panelists were Mr. Cohen, author of Citizens and… More

Is Patriotism Dead? by David Brooks

– David Brooks, Weekly Standard, May 21, 2001.
Excerpt: Noah Webster didn’t just produce a dictionary; he also wrote one of the most influential school textbooks in American history. It was called An American Selection of Lessons… More

Complexities of Patriotism

– George Will, Washington Post, May 27, 2001.
Excerpt: Decoration Day, as it was called when Americans still vividly remembered what it was they were supposed to be remembering, used to be May 30, no matter what, never mind the… More

To Honor My Country

– Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, July 4, 2001.
Excerpt: A mark of the times is that we have stripped most of our patriotic holidays of their patriotism. We no longer celebrate Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays on their… More

Walter Berns on C-SPAN Booknotes

– Interview with Walter Berns on his book Making Patriots by Brian Lamb, Booknotes, C-SPAN, August 19, 2001.
Excerpt: BRIAN LAMB, HOST: Walter Berns, where did you get the idea of writing a book called Making Patriots? Professor WALTER BERNS (Author, Making Patriots): Where did I get the idea? I… More

America—Idea or Nation?

– Wilfred M. McClay, Public Interest (Fall 2001).
Excerpt: At first glance, American patriotism seems a simple matter. But it is simple only until one actually starts to think about it, inquire after its sources, and investigate its… More

Imperishable Insights by Bill Buckley

– William F. Buckley, New Criterion (September 2001).
Excerpt: This (too) short book grew out of an essay written by the distinguished political philosopher Walter Berns for The Public Interest. What it does is to probe into American… More

From the Ashes Comes the Rebirth of Patriotism

– AEI Online, October 1, 2001.
Excerpt: The terrorist attacks of September 11 have inspired a greater outpouring of patriotism by the American people than have many previous wars, and numerous displays of the American… More

Mystic Chords of Memory: Cultivating America’s Unique Form of Patriotism

– The American Educator 26:1 (Spring 2002): 26–38; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: Patriotism. The word itself comes from the Latin patria, meaning country. Patriotism implies a love of country, a readiness to sacrifice for it, perhaps even a willingness to give… More

What Patriotism Means Today

– Panel discussion hosted at the American Enterprise Institute, April 8, 2002.
In a panel discussion titled “What Patriotism Means Today,” panelists talked about the history of patriotism in the U.S., the impact of terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on… More

Higher Education and Democracy

– "Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?," panel discussion hosted by the National Association of Scholars, May 31, 2002.
In a forum titled “Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?,” participants talked about the state of higher education and the… More

Patriot Practitioner

– American Enterprise, September 1, 2002.
Excerpt: World War II Navy veteran, scholar of Constitutional law and political philosophy, prolific author, patriot, and gentleman–those are just a few terms to describe AEI’s… More

The Perennial Trashing of Bourgeois Democracy

– Academic Questions 15:4 (September 1, 2002), 23–26; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: What began in nineteenth-century Britain as a serious critique of the new liberal democracy became, in twentieth-century America, a contemptuous “bourgeois bashing,”… More

Can Patriotism Survive Democracy?

– Jeremy Rabkin, Azure 5763:15 (Summer 2003).
Excerpt: The title is misleading. If you are seeking instruction on how to make people patriots, you will find Walter Berns’ Making Patriots disappointing. What it presents, rather, is a… More

Interview with Walter Berns

– Peter and Helen Evans, RenewAmerica, August 4, 2004.
Excerpt: Helen: Let’s talk about your book, Making Patriots. What do you think the alternative to waving the flag at our Independence Day celebrations would be for that person? In… More

Walter Berns, 2005 National Humanities Medalist

– Cynthia Barnes, National Endowment for the Humanities, January 2005.
Excerpt: As a boy in 1920s Chicago, Walter Berns watched survivors of the Indian Wars march down Michigan Avenue during the Memorial Day parade. At school, he memorized the Gettysburg… More

Democracy and the Constitution: Essays by Walter Berns

– Audio, book forum, American Enterprise Institute, September 29, 2006.
AEI scholar and historian Walter Berns has spent his academic career defending the United States Constitution. In his latest collection of essays, Democracy and the Constitution (AEI Press,… More

Patriotism and Multiculturalism

– The Many Faces of Patriotism, Philip Abbott, ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 3–14.
In the decades following the end of the Cold War, scholars turned their attention to reevaluating patriotism. Many saw both its ability to serve as a cohesive force and its desirability as… More

On George Kateb’s Patriotism

– Cato Unbound, March 12, 2008.
Excerpt: Professor Kateb begins by defining patriotism as love of country; fair enough. He then distinguishes this love from that of a child’s for his parents, pointing out that,… More

Walter Berns’ Constitution by Christopher DeMuth

– Remarks by Christopher DeMuth at a Constitution Day seminar in honor of Walter Berns, hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, September 20, 2011.
Excerpt: In America today, the Constitution has come to mean constitutional law. Most Americans venerate their Constitution and realize that it is an important source of their liberties and… More

Walter Berns, Teacher and Patriot by Leon Kass

– Leon R. Kass, The American, September 27, 2011.
Excerpt: It is absolutely fitting and proper to honor Walter Berns in connection with Constitution Day. The U.S. Constitution, and the underlying ideas and ideals of… More

Patriots

– Audio, "Dialogue," Woodrow Wilson Center.
In ancient Sparta patriotism meant a commitment to warfare and a view of the state as divine. For modern Americans patriotism is set on a much different and abstract basis. Walter Berns… More

The Man that Made the Constitution Relevant

– Video, American Enterprise Institute, September 17, 2015.
A short tribute video produced by the American Enterprise Institute about the life and work of Walter Berns.

Essays

Freedom and Loyalty

– The Journal of Politics 18:1 (February 1956), 17–27.
Excerpt: It is best to begin with what is familiar and, I hope, noncontroversial. Until the first World War there was no problem of freedom and loyalty to speak of in the United States.… More

Professors and Politics

– Cornell Daily Sun, May 4, 1962.
Excerpt: The purpose of the university places it in a position of uneasy tension with the community, and the tension is likely to increase with the extent to which this purpose is… More

Citizenship, Rights and Responsibilities

– Rights, Citizenship, and Responsibilities, Bradford P. Wilson, ed. (Valley Forge, PA: Freedom Foundation, 1984).
The proceedings of Freedom Foundation’s symposium on citizen responsibilities, December 13-14, 1984, Washington, D.C.

Flag-Burning & Other Modes of Expression

– Commentary, October 1989; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: This summer, Washington was given patriotism and obscenity to deal with when the Supreme Court upheld the burning of the flag by an angry Gregory Johnson and when an embarrassed… More

On Patriotism

– Bradley Lecture, American Enterprise Institute, September 16, 1996.
Excerpt: Patriotism means love of country (patria, in the Latin) and implies a readiness to sacrifice for it, to fight for it, perhaps even to give one’s life for it. In the traditional,… More

Making Patriots

– University of Chicago Press, 2001; paperback edition, 2002.
Although Samuel Johnson once remarked that “patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels,” over the course of the history of the United States we have seen our share of heroes:… More

A Country to Die For

– Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post, May 17, 2001.
Excerpt: This slender but closely argued explication and defense of patriotism is in most respects admirable and welcome, but it proceeds from a somewhat shaky premise. In the academic… More

Patriotism and Citizenship

– Panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, May 20, 2001.
The panelists discussed American patriotism and Mr. Berns’ book, Making Patriots, published by University of Chicago Press. Other panelists were Mr. Cohen, author of Citizens and… More

Is Patriotism Dead? by David Brooks

– David Brooks, Weekly Standard, May 21, 2001.
Excerpt: Noah Webster didn’t just produce a dictionary; he also wrote one of the most influential school textbooks in American history. It was called An American Selection of Lessons… More

Complexities of Patriotism

– George Will, Washington Post, May 27, 2001.
Excerpt: Decoration Day, as it was called when Americans still vividly remembered what it was they were supposed to be remembering, used to be May 30, no matter what, never mind the… More

To Honor My Country

– Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, July 4, 2001.
Excerpt: A mark of the times is that we have stripped most of our patriotic holidays of their patriotism. We no longer celebrate Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays on their… More

Walter Berns on C-SPAN Booknotes

– Interview with Walter Berns on his book Making Patriots by Brian Lamb, Booknotes, C-SPAN, August 19, 2001.
Excerpt: BRIAN LAMB, HOST: Walter Berns, where did you get the idea of writing a book called Making Patriots? Professor WALTER BERNS (Author, Making Patriots): Where did I get the idea? I… More

America—Idea or Nation?

– Wilfred M. McClay, Public Interest (Fall 2001).
Excerpt: At first glance, American patriotism seems a simple matter. But it is simple only until one actually starts to think about it, inquire after its sources, and investigate its… More

Imperishable Insights by Bill Buckley

– William F. Buckley, New Criterion (September 2001).
Excerpt: This (too) short book grew out of an essay written by the distinguished political philosopher Walter Berns for The Public Interest. What it does is to probe into American… More

From the Ashes Comes the Rebirth of Patriotism

– AEI Online, October 1, 2001.
Excerpt: The terrorist attacks of September 11 have inspired a greater outpouring of patriotism by the American people than have many previous wars, and numerous displays of the American… More

Mystic Chords of Memory: Cultivating America’s Unique Form of Patriotism

– The American Educator 26:1 (Spring 2002): 26–38; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: Patriotism. The word itself comes from the Latin patria, meaning country. Patriotism implies a love of country, a readiness to sacrifice for it, perhaps even a willingness to give… More

What Patriotism Means Today

– Panel discussion hosted at the American Enterprise Institute, April 8, 2002.
In a panel discussion titled “What Patriotism Means Today,” panelists talked about the history of patriotism in the U.S., the impact of terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on… More

Higher Education and Democracy

– "Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?," panel discussion hosted by the National Association of Scholars, May 31, 2002.
In a forum titled “Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?,” participants talked about the state of higher education and the… More

Patriot Practitioner

– American Enterprise, September 1, 2002.
Excerpt: World War II Navy veteran, scholar of Constitutional law and political philosophy, prolific author, patriot, and gentleman–those are just a few terms to describe AEI’s… More

The Perennial Trashing of Bourgeois Democracy

– Academic Questions 15:4 (September 1, 2002), 23–26; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: What began in nineteenth-century Britain as a serious critique of the new liberal democracy became, in twentieth-century America, a contemptuous “bourgeois bashing,”… More

Can Patriotism Survive Democracy?

– Jeremy Rabkin, Azure 5763:15 (Summer 2003).
Excerpt: The title is misleading. If you are seeking instruction on how to make people patriots, you will find Walter Berns’ Making Patriots disappointing. What it presents, rather, is a… More

Interview with Walter Berns

– Peter and Helen Evans, RenewAmerica, August 4, 2004.
Excerpt: Helen: Let’s talk about your book, Making Patriots. What do you think the alternative to waving the flag at our Independence Day celebrations would be for that person? In… More

Walter Berns, 2005 National Humanities Medalist

– Cynthia Barnes, National Endowment for the Humanities, January 2005.
Excerpt: As a boy in 1920s Chicago, Walter Berns watched survivors of the Indian Wars march down Michigan Avenue during the Memorial Day parade. At school, he memorized the Gettysburg… More

Democracy and the Constitution: Essays by Walter Berns

– Audio, book forum, American Enterprise Institute, September 29, 2006.
AEI scholar and historian Walter Berns has spent his academic career defending the United States Constitution. In his latest collection of essays, Democracy and the Constitution (AEI Press,… More

Patriotism and Multiculturalism

– The Many Faces of Patriotism, Philip Abbott, ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 3–14.
In the decades following the end of the Cold War, scholars turned their attention to reevaluating patriotism. Many saw both its ability to serve as a cohesive force and its desirability as… More

On George Kateb’s Patriotism

– Cato Unbound, March 12, 2008.
Excerpt: Professor Kateb begins by defining patriotism as love of country; fair enough. He then distinguishes this love from that of a child’s for his parents, pointing out that,… More

Walter Berns’ Constitution by Christopher DeMuth

– Remarks by Christopher DeMuth at a Constitution Day seminar in honor of Walter Berns, hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, September 20, 2011.
Excerpt: In America today, the Constitution has come to mean constitutional law. Most Americans venerate their Constitution and realize that it is an important source of their liberties and… More

Walter Berns, Teacher and Patriot by Leon Kass

– Leon R. Kass, The American, September 27, 2011.
Excerpt: It is absolutely fitting and proper to honor Walter Berns in connection with Constitution Day. The U.S. Constitution, and the underlying ideas and ideals of… More

Patriots

– Audio, "Dialogue," Woodrow Wilson Center.
In ancient Sparta patriotism meant a commitment to warfare and a view of the state as divine. For modern Americans patriotism is set on a much different and abstract basis. Walter Berns… More

The Man that Made the Constitution Relevant

– Video, American Enterprise Institute, September 17, 2015.
A short tribute video produced by the American Enterprise Institute about the life and work of Walter Berns.

Commentary

Freedom and Loyalty

– The Journal of Politics 18:1 (February 1956), 17–27.
Excerpt: It is best to begin with what is familiar and, I hope, noncontroversial. Until the first World War there was no problem of freedom and loyalty to speak of in the United States.… More

Professors and Politics

– Cornell Daily Sun, May 4, 1962.
Excerpt: The purpose of the university places it in a position of uneasy tension with the community, and the tension is likely to increase with the extent to which this purpose is… More

Citizenship, Rights and Responsibilities

– Rights, Citizenship, and Responsibilities, Bradford P. Wilson, ed. (Valley Forge, PA: Freedom Foundation, 1984).
The proceedings of Freedom Foundation’s symposium on citizen responsibilities, December 13-14, 1984, Washington, D.C.

Flag-Burning & Other Modes of Expression

– Commentary, October 1989; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: This summer, Washington was given patriotism and obscenity to deal with when the Supreme Court upheld the burning of the flag by an angry Gregory Johnson and when an embarrassed… More

On Patriotism

– Bradley Lecture, American Enterprise Institute, September 16, 1996.
Excerpt: Patriotism means love of country (patria, in the Latin) and implies a readiness to sacrifice for it, to fight for it, perhaps even to give one’s life for it. In the traditional,… More

Making Patriots

– University of Chicago Press, 2001; paperback edition, 2002.
Although Samuel Johnson once remarked that “patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels,” over the course of the history of the United States we have seen our share of heroes:… More

A Country to Die For

– Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post, May 17, 2001.
Excerpt: This slender but closely argued explication and defense of patriotism is in most respects admirable and welcome, but it proceeds from a somewhat shaky premise. In the academic… More

Patriotism and Citizenship

– Panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, May 20, 2001.
The panelists discussed American patriotism and Mr. Berns’ book, Making Patriots, published by University of Chicago Press. Other panelists were Mr. Cohen, author of Citizens and… More

Is Patriotism Dead? by David Brooks

– David Brooks, Weekly Standard, May 21, 2001.
Excerpt: Noah Webster didn’t just produce a dictionary; he also wrote one of the most influential school textbooks in American history. It was called An American Selection of Lessons… More

Complexities of Patriotism

– George Will, Washington Post, May 27, 2001.
Excerpt: Decoration Day, as it was called when Americans still vividly remembered what it was they were supposed to be remembering, used to be May 30, no matter what, never mind the… More

To Honor My Country

– Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, July 4, 2001.
Excerpt: A mark of the times is that we have stripped most of our patriotic holidays of their patriotism. We no longer celebrate Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays on their… More

Walter Berns on C-SPAN Booknotes

– Interview with Walter Berns on his book Making Patriots by Brian Lamb, Booknotes, C-SPAN, August 19, 2001.
Excerpt: BRIAN LAMB, HOST: Walter Berns, where did you get the idea of writing a book called Making Patriots? Professor WALTER BERNS (Author, Making Patriots): Where did I get the idea? I… More

America—Idea or Nation?

– Wilfred M. McClay, Public Interest (Fall 2001).
Excerpt: At first glance, American patriotism seems a simple matter. But it is simple only until one actually starts to think about it, inquire after its sources, and investigate its… More

Imperishable Insights by Bill Buckley

– William F. Buckley, New Criterion (September 2001).
Excerpt: This (too) short book grew out of an essay written by the distinguished political philosopher Walter Berns for The Public Interest. What it does is to probe into American… More

From the Ashes Comes the Rebirth of Patriotism

– AEI Online, October 1, 2001.
Excerpt: The terrorist attacks of September 11 have inspired a greater outpouring of patriotism by the American people than have many previous wars, and numerous displays of the American… More

Mystic Chords of Memory: Cultivating America’s Unique Form of Patriotism

– The American Educator 26:1 (Spring 2002): 26–38; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: Patriotism. The word itself comes from the Latin patria, meaning country. Patriotism implies a love of country, a readiness to sacrifice for it, perhaps even a willingness to give… More

What Patriotism Means Today

– Panel discussion hosted at the American Enterprise Institute, April 8, 2002.
In a panel discussion titled “What Patriotism Means Today,” panelists talked about the history of patriotism in the U.S., the impact of terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on… More

Higher Education and Democracy

– "Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?," panel discussion hosted by the National Association of Scholars, May 31, 2002.
In a forum titled “Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?,” participants talked about the state of higher education and the… More

Patriot Practitioner

– American Enterprise, September 1, 2002.
Excerpt: World War II Navy veteran, scholar of Constitutional law and political philosophy, prolific author, patriot, and gentleman–those are just a few terms to describe AEI’s… More

The Perennial Trashing of Bourgeois Democracy

– Academic Questions 15:4 (September 1, 2002), 23–26; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: What began in nineteenth-century Britain as a serious critique of the new liberal democracy became, in twentieth-century America, a contemptuous “bourgeois bashing,”… More

Can Patriotism Survive Democracy?

– Jeremy Rabkin, Azure 5763:15 (Summer 2003).
Excerpt: The title is misleading. If you are seeking instruction on how to make people patriots, you will find Walter Berns’ Making Patriots disappointing. What it presents, rather, is a… More

Interview with Walter Berns

– Peter and Helen Evans, RenewAmerica, August 4, 2004.
Excerpt: Helen: Let’s talk about your book, Making Patriots. What do you think the alternative to waving the flag at our Independence Day celebrations would be for that person? In… More

Walter Berns, 2005 National Humanities Medalist

– Cynthia Barnes, National Endowment for the Humanities, January 2005.
Excerpt: As a boy in 1920s Chicago, Walter Berns watched survivors of the Indian Wars march down Michigan Avenue during the Memorial Day parade. At school, he memorized the Gettysburg… More

Democracy and the Constitution: Essays by Walter Berns

– Audio, book forum, American Enterprise Institute, September 29, 2006.
AEI scholar and historian Walter Berns has spent his academic career defending the United States Constitution. In his latest collection of essays, Democracy and the Constitution (AEI Press,… More

Patriotism and Multiculturalism

– The Many Faces of Patriotism, Philip Abbott, ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 3–14.
In the decades following the end of the Cold War, scholars turned their attention to reevaluating patriotism. Many saw both its ability to serve as a cohesive force and its desirability as… More

On George Kateb’s Patriotism

– Cato Unbound, March 12, 2008.
Excerpt: Professor Kateb begins by defining patriotism as love of country; fair enough. He then distinguishes this love from that of a child’s for his parents, pointing out that,… More

Walter Berns’ Constitution by Christopher DeMuth

– Remarks by Christopher DeMuth at a Constitution Day seminar in honor of Walter Berns, hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, September 20, 2011.
Excerpt: In America today, the Constitution has come to mean constitutional law. Most Americans venerate their Constitution and realize that it is an important source of their liberties and… More

Walter Berns, Teacher and Patriot by Leon Kass

– Leon R. Kass, The American, September 27, 2011.
Excerpt: It is absolutely fitting and proper to honor Walter Berns in connection with Constitution Day. The U.S. Constitution, and the underlying ideas and ideals of… More

Patriots

– Audio, "Dialogue," Woodrow Wilson Center.
In ancient Sparta patriotism meant a commitment to warfare and a view of the state as divine. For modern Americans patriotism is set on a much different and abstract basis. Walter Berns… More

The Man that Made the Constitution Relevant

– Video, American Enterprise Institute, September 17, 2015.
A short tribute video produced by the American Enterprise Institute about the life and work of Walter Berns.

Multimedia

Freedom and Loyalty

– The Journal of Politics 18:1 (February 1956), 17–27.
Excerpt: It is best to begin with what is familiar and, I hope, noncontroversial. Until the first World War there was no problem of freedom and loyalty to speak of in the United States.… More

Professors and Politics

– Cornell Daily Sun, May 4, 1962.
Excerpt: The purpose of the university places it in a position of uneasy tension with the community, and the tension is likely to increase with the extent to which this purpose is… More

Citizenship, Rights and Responsibilities

– Rights, Citizenship, and Responsibilities, Bradford P. Wilson, ed. (Valley Forge, PA: Freedom Foundation, 1984).
The proceedings of Freedom Foundation’s symposium on citizen responsibilities, December 13-14, 1984, Washington, D.C.

Flag-Burning & Other Modes of Expression

– Commentary, October 1989; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: This summer, Washington was given patriotism and obscenity to deal with when the Supreme Court upheld the burning of the flag by an angry Gregory Johnson and when an embarrassed… More

On Patriotism

– Bradley Lecture, American Enterprise Institute, September 16, 1996.
Excerpt: Patriotism means love of country (patria, in the Latin) and implies a readiness to sacrifice for it, to fight for it, perhaps even to give one’s life for it. In the traditional,… More

Making Patriots

– University of Chicago Press, 2001; paperback edition, 2002.
Although Samuel Johnson once remarked that “patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels,” over the course of the history of the United States we have seen our share of heroes:… More

A Country to Die For

– Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post, May 17, 2001.
Excerpt: This slender but closely argued explication and defense of patriotism is in most respects admirable and welcome, but it proceeds from a somewhat shaky premise. In the academic… More

Patriotism and Citizenship

– Panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, May 20, 2001.
The panelists discussed American patriotism and Mr. Berns’ book, Making Patriots, published by University of Chicago Press. Other panelists were Mr. Cohen, author of Citizens and… More

Is Patriotism Dead? by David Brooks

– David Brooks, Weekly Standard, May 21, 2001.
Excerpt: Noah Webster didn’t just produce a dictionary; he also wrote one of the most influential school textbooks in American history. It was called An American Selection of Lessons… More

Complexities of Patriotism

– George Will, Washington Post, May 27, 2001.
Excerpt: Decoration Day, as it was called when Americans still vividly remembered what it was they were supposed to be remembering, used to be May 30, no matter what, never mind the… More

To Honor My Country

– Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, July 4, 2001.
Excerpt: A mark of the times is that we have stripped most of our patriotic holidays of their patriotism. We no longer celebrate Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays on their… More

Walter Berns on C-SPAN Booknotes

– Interview with Walter Berns on his book Making Patriots by Brian Lamb, Booknotes, C-SPAN, August 19, 2001.
Excerpt: BRIAN LAMB, HOST: Walter Berns, where did you get the idea of writing a book called Making Patriots? Professor WALTER BERNS (Author, Making Patriots): Where did I get the idea? I… More

America—Idea or Nation?

– Wilfred M. McClay, Public Interest (Fall 2001).
Excerpt: At first glance, American patriotism seems a simple matter. But it is simple only until one actually starts to think about it, inquire after its sources, and investigate its… More

Imperishable Insights by Bill Buckley

– William F. Buckley, New Criterion (September 2001).
Excerpt: This (too) short book grew out of an essay written by the distinguished political philosopher Walter Berns for The Public Interest. What it does is to probe into American… More

From the Ashes Comes the Rebirth of Patriotism

– AEI Online, October 1, 2001.
Excerpt: The terrorist attacks of September 11 have inspired a greater outpouring of patriotism by the American people than have many previous wars, and numerous displays of the American… More

Mystic Chords of Memory: Cultivating America’s Unique Form of Patriotism

– The American Educator 26:1 (Spring 2002): 26–38; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: Patriotism. The word itself comes from the Latin patria, meaning country. Patriotism implies a love of country, a readiness to sacrifice for it, perhaps even a willingness to give… More

What Patriotism Means Today

– Panel discussion hosted at the American Enterprise Institute, April 8, 2002.
In a panel discussion titled “What Patriotism Means Today,” panelists talked about the history of patriotism in the U.S., the impact of terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on… More

Higher Education and Democracy

– "Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?," panel discussion hosted by the National Association of Scholars, May 31, 2002.
In a forum titled “Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?,” participants talked about the state of higher education and the… More

Patriot Practitioner

– American Enterprise, September 1, 2002.
Excerpt: World War II Navy veteran, scholar of Constitutional law and political philosophy, prolific author, patriot, and gentleman–those are just a few terms to describe AEI’s… More

The Perennial Trashing of Bourgeois Democracy

– Academic Questions 15:4 (September 1, 2002), 23–26; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: What began in nineteenth-century Britain as a serious critique of the new liberal democracy became, in twentieth-century America, a contemptuous “bourgeois bashing,”… More

Can Patriotism Survive Democracy?

– Jeremy Rabkin, Azure 5763:15 (Summer 2003).
Excerpt: The title is misleading. If you are seeking instruction on how to make people patriots, you will find Walter Berns’ Making Patriots disappointing. What it presents, rather, is a… More

Interview with Walter Berns

– Peter and Helen Evans, RenewAmerica, August 4, 2004.
Excerpt: Helen: Let’s talk about your book, Making Patriots. What do you think the alternative to waving the flag at our Independence Day celebrations would be for that person? In… More

Walter Berns, 2005 National Humanities Medalist

– Cynthia Barnes, National Endowment for the Humanities, January 2005.
Excerpt: As a boy in 1920s Chicago, Walter Berns watched survivors of the Indian Wars march down Michigan Avenue during the Memorial Day parade. At school, he memorized the Gettysburg… More

Democracy and the Constitution: Essays by Walter Berns

– Audio, book forum, American Enterprise Institute, September 29, 2006.
AEI scholar and historian Walter Berns has spent his academic career defending the United States Constitution. In his latest collection of essays, Democracy and the Constitution (AEI Press,… More

Patriotism and Multiculturalism

– The Many Faces of Patriotism, Philip Abbott, ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 3–14.
In the decades following the end of the Cold War, scholars turned their attention to reevaluating patriotism. Many saw both its ability to serve as a cohesive force and its desirability as… More

On George Kateb’s Patriotism

– Cato Unbound, March 12, 2008.
Excerpt: Professor Kateb begins by defining patriotism as love of country; fair enough. He then distinguishes this love from that of a child’s for his parents, pointing out that,… More

Walter Berns’ Constitution by Christopher DeMuth

– Remarks by Christopher DeMuth at a Constitution Day seminar in honor of Walter Berns, hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, September 20, 2011.
Excerpt: In America today, the Constitution has come to mean constitutional law. Most Americans venerate their Constitution and realize that it is an important source of their liberties and… More

Walter Berns, Teacher and Patriot by Leon Kass

– Leon R. Kass, The American, September 27, 2011.
Excerpt: It is absolutely fitting and proper to honor Walter Berns in connection with Constitution Day. The U.S. Constitution, and the underlying ideas and ideals of… More

Patriots

– Audio, "Dialogue," Woodrow Wilson Center.
In ancient Sparta patriotism meant a commitment to warfare and a view of the state as divine. For modern Americans patriotism is set on a much different and abstract basis. Walter Berns… More

The Man that Made the Constitution Relevant

– Video, American Enterprise Institute, September 17, 2015.
A short tribute video produced by the American Enterprise Institute about the life and work of Walter Berns.

Teaching

Freedom and Loyalty

– The Journal of Politics 18:1 (February 1956), 17–27.
Excerpt: It is best to begin with what is familiar and, I hope, noncontroversial. Until the first World War there was no problem of freedom and loyalty to speak of in the United States.… More

Professors and Politics

– Cornell Daily Sun, May 4, 1962.
Excerpt: The purpose of the university places it in a position of uneasy tension with the community, and the tension is likely to increase with the extent to which this purpose is… More

Citizenship, Rights and Responsibilities

– Rights, Citizenship, and Responsibilities, Bradford P. Wilson, ed. (Valley Forge, PA: Freedom Foundation, 1984).
The proceedings of Freedom Foundation’s symposium on citizen responsibilities, December 13-14, 1984, Washington, D.C.

Flag-Burning & Other Modes of Expression

– Commentary, October 1989; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: This summer, Washington was given patriotism and obscenity to deal with when the Supreme Court upheld the burning of the flag by an angry Gregory Johnson and when an embarrassed… More

On Patriotism

– Bradley Lecture, American Enterprise Institute, September 16, 1996.
Excerpt: Patriotism means love of country (patria, in the Latin) and implies a readiness to sacrifice for it, to fight for it, perhaps even to give one’s life for it. In the traditional,… More

Making Patriots

– University of Chicago Press, 2001; paperback edition, 2002.
Although Samuel Johnson once remarked that “patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels,” over the course of the history of the United States we have seen our share of heroes:… More

A Country to Die For

– Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post, May 17, 2001.
Excerpt: This slender but closely argued explication and defense of patriotism is in most respects admirable and welcome, but it proceeds from a somewhat shaky premise. In the academic… More

Patriotism and Citizenship

– Panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, May 20, 2001.
The panelists discussed American patriotism and Mr. Berns’ book, Making Patriots, published by University of Chicago Press. Other panelists were Mr. Cohen, author of Citizens and… More

Is Patriotism Dead? by David Brooks

– David Brooks, Weekly Standard, May 21, 2001.
Excerpt: Noah Webster didn’t just produce a dictionary; he also wrote one of the most influential school textbooks in American history. It was called An American Selection of Lessons… More

Complexities of Patriotism

– George Will, Washington Post, May 27, 2001.
Excerpt: Decoration Day, as it was called when Americans still vividly remembered what it was they were supposed to be remembering, used to be May 30, no matter what, never mind the… More

To Honor My Country

– Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, July 4, 2001.
Excerpt: A mark of the times is that we have stripped most of our patriotic holidays of their patriotism. We no longer celebrate Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays on their… More

Walter Berns on C-SPAN Booknotes

– Interview with Walter Berns on his book Making Patriots by Brian Lamb, Booknotes, C-SPAN, August 19, 2001.
Excerpt: BRIAN LAMB, HOST: Walter Berns, where did you get the idea of writing a book called Making Patriots? Professor WALTER BERNS (Author, Making Patriots): Where did I get the idea? I… More

America—Idea or Nation?

– Wilfred M. McClay, Public Interest (Fall 2001).
Excerpt: At first glance, American patriotism seems a simple matter. But it is simple only until one actually starts to think about it, inquire after its sources, and investigate its… More

Imperishable Insights by Bill Buckley

– William F. Buckley, New Criterion (September 2001).
Excerpt: This (too) short book grew out of an essay written by the distinguished political philosopher Walter Berns for The Public Interest. What it does is to probe into American… More

From the Ashes Comes the Rebirth of Patriotism

– AEI Online, October 1, 2001.
Excerpt: The terrorist attacks of September 11 have inspired a greater outpouring of patriotism by the American people than have many previous wars, and numerous displays of the American… More

Mystic Chords of Memory: Cultivating America’s Unique Form of Patriotism

– The American Educator 26:1 (Spring 2002): 26–38; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: Patriotism. The word itself comes from the Latin patria, meaning country. Patriotism implies a love of country, a readiness to sacrifice for it, perhaps even a willingness to give… More

What Patriotism Means Today

– Panel discussion hosted at the American Enterprise Institute, April 8, 2002.
In a panel discussion titled “What Patriotism Means Today,” panelists talked about the history of patriotism in the U.S., the impact of terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on… More

Higher Education and Democracy

– "Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?," panel discussion hosted by the National Association of Scholars, May 31, 2002.
In a forum titled “Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War: Is Higher Education Compatible with Patriotism?,” participants talked about the state of higher education and the… More

Patriot Practitioner

– American Enterprise, September 1, 2002.
Excerpt: World War II Navy veteran, scholar of Constitutional law and political philosophy, prolific author, patriot, and gentleman–those are just a few terms to describe AEI’s… More

The Perennial Trashing of Bourgeois Democracy

– Academic Questions 15:4 (September 1, 2002), 23–26; reprinted in Democracy and the Constitution: Landmarks of Contemporary Political Thought (AEI Press, 2006).
Excerpt: What began in nineteenth-century Britain as a serious critique of the new liberal democracy became, in twentieth-century America, a contemptuous “bourgeois bashing,”… More

Can Patriotism Survive Democracy?

– Jeremy Rabkin, Azure 5763:15 (Summer 2003).
Excerpt: The title is misleading. If you are seeking instruction on how to make people patriots, you will find Walter Berns’ Making Patriots disappointing. What it presents, rather, is a… More

Interview with Walter Berns

– Peter and Helen Evans, RenewAmerica, August 4, 2004.
Excerpt: Helen: Let’s talk about your book, Making Patriots. What do you think the alternative to waving the flag at our Independence Day celebrations would be for that person? In… More

Walter Berns, 2005 National Humanities Medalist

– Cynthia Barnes, National Endowment for the Humanities, January 2005.
Excerpt: As a boy in 1920s Chicago, Walter Berns watched survivors of the Indian Wars march down Michigan Avenue during the Memorial Day parade. At school, he memorized the Gettysburg… More

Democracy and the Constitution: Essays by Walter Berns

– Audio, book forum, American Enterprise Institute, September 29, 2006.
AEI scholar and historian Walter Berns has spent his academic career defending the United States Constitution. In his latest collection of essays, Democracy and the Constitution (AEI Press,… More

Patriotism and Multiculturalism

– The Many Faces of Patriotism, Philip Abbott, ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 3–14.
In the decades following the end of the Cold War, scholars turned their attention to reevaluating patriotism. Many saw both its ability to serve as a cohesive force and its desirability as… More

On George Kateb’s Patriotism

– Cato Unbound, March 12, 2008.
Excerpt: Professor Kateb begins by defining patriotism as love of country; fair enough. He then distinguishes this love from that of a child’s for his parents, pointing out that,… More

Walter Berns’ Constitution by Christopher DeMuth

– Remarks by Christopher DeMuth at a Constitution Day seminar in honor of Walter Berns, hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, September 20, 2011.
Excerpt: In America today, the Constitution has come to mean constitutional law. Most Americans venerate their Constitution and realize that it is an important source of their liberties and… More

Walter Berns, Teacher and Patriot by Leon Kass

– Leon R. Kass, The American, September 27, 2011.
Excerpt: It is absolutely fitting and proper to honor Walter Berns in connection with Constitution Day. The U.S. Constitution, and the underlying ideas and ideals of… More

Patriots

– Audio, "Dialogue," Woodrow Wilson Center.
In ancient Sparta patriotism meant a commitment to warfare and a view of the state as divine. For modern Americans patriotism is set on a much different and abstract basis. Walter Berns… More

The Man that Made the Constitution Relevant

– Video, American Enterprise Institute, September 17, 2015.
A short tribute video produced by the American Enterprise Institute about the life and work of Walter Berns.