Tag: Social Science

Topics

Books

Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist

– Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist, by C. Randolph Benson, and Thomas Jefferson: A Well-Tempered Mind, by Carl Binger, American Political Science Review, vol. 67 (1973): 982-84.

A Medley of ‘Mediology’

– "A Medley of ‘Mediology,'" review of Le Pouvoir Intellectuel en France, by Regis Debray, Government and Opposition, vol. 16 (1981): 254-57.

Machiavelli’s The Prince

– A new translation with introduction, University of Chicago Press, 1985; second edition, with corrections and a glossary, 1998.

Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy

– "Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy," The Public Interest, No. 86 (Winter 1987), pp. 53-64.
Excerpt: ALTHOUGH modern democracy is unhappy with the word “soul,” it has one nonetheless; and its soul is not healthy today. The disease is widely known as “dependeney,” the… More

Social Science and the Constitution

– "Social Science and the Constitution," Confronting the Constitution, Allan Bloom, ed., American Enterprise Institute Press, 1990, pp. 411-436.

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

The Tragedy of Weber

– "The Tragedy of Weber: John Patrick Diggins, Max Weber," review of Max Weber: Politics and the Spirit of Tragedy, by John Patrick Diggins, Weekly Standard, 8 December 1996.
Excerpt: John Patrick Diggins, a provocative academic who writes primarily on American politics, has the happy faculty of raising your interest without entirely satisfying it. His latest… More

Machiavelli’s Virtue

– University Of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (March 25, 1998)
Excerpt: Machiavelli’s political science has not received the attention it deserves. All commentators are attracted, with a force they often seem not to understand, by the question of… More

A Student’s Guide to Political Philosophy

– Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2001.
Excerpt: Political Philosophy is found in great books—those by Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau and others of the highest rank—and in books by professors. You should spend much more… More

Manliness

– Yale University Press, 2006.  Italian trans., Virilità, Rizzoli, 2006.
Excerpt: Today the very word manliness seems quaint and obsolete. We are in the process of making the English language gender-neutral, and manliness, the quality of one gender, or rather,… More

Democracy and Greatness

– "Democracy and Greatness: The Education Americans Need," Weekly Standard, 11 December 2006.
Excerpt: We sometimes hear of the place of the great books in a democratic education (not, unfortunately, at Harvard). When it is spoken of approvingly, that place is at the center or in… 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

How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science

– "How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science," 2007 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.
Excerpt: You may think I have some nerve coming from a university to Washington to tell you how to understand politics. Well, I mean how to understand, not how to practice. In any event the… More

How to Understand Politics

– "How to Understand Politics," revised version of 2007 Jefferson Lecture, First Things, August/September 2007.
Excerpt: For some time we have taken political science for granted, as if it did not require some nerve to come out of a university to tell everyone else how to understand politics. In my… More

Anger and Self-Importance

– "Anger and Self-Importance," lecture delivered at the Hoover Institution, 29 October 2007.
Harvey Mansfield: Anger and Self-Importance from The Hoover Institution and The Hoover Institution on FORA.tv

When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists

– "When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists," Weekly Standard, 14 Jan 2008.
Excerpt: The wrappings are off and the Christmas gifts stand exposed to the light of day. Did you get what you wanted? Christmas is under attack not only for materialism, not only for… More

A Question for the Economists

– "A Question for the Economists," Weekly Standard, 13 April 2009.
Excerpt: One group of those involved in the present financial crisis has so far escaped notice–the economists. They are masters in the science of prediction, but as a group, if not to… More

Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?

– "Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?" In Character, Winter 2009.
Excerpt: Courage is not solely for men, but it is mainly for men. The Greek word for courage is andreia, which comes from he-man and also means manliness. The Greek philosopher Aristotle… 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 Truly American Scholar

– "A Truly American Scholar: James Q. Wilson Was Able to Make Students Enthusiastic over Prudence, While Other Teachers Gained Applause Only with Displays of Liberalism or Extremism," Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2012.
Excerpt: Scholar James Q. Wilson, who died last week at the age of 80, hated to be praised. He was truly modest. Now that he has departed he can do no more, and it is up to those he left… More

Political Scientist, Par Excellence

– "Political Scientist, Par Excellence," Weekly Standard, 12 March 2012.
Excerpt: James Q. Wilson, a longtime teacher in the government department at Harvard, and an all-time political scientist, has died. He was a Californian who went to college at the… More

BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok

– “BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok,” Weekly Standard, 18 June 2012.
Excerpt: Actually BS here stands for “benevolent sexism.” An article by two New Zealand psychologists has come my way that deserves to become a classic of social science. The title… 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

Jim Manzi on Science, Knowledge and Freedom

– Discussion with Jim Manzi hosted by Prof. Harvey Mansfield, Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 30 November 2012.
How do we know which social and economic policies work, which should be continued, and which should be changed? Jim Manzi argues that throughout history, various methods have been… More

Essays

Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist

– Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist, by C. Randolph Benson, and Thomas Jefferson: A Well-Tempered Mind, by Carl Binger, American Political Science Review, vol. 67 (1973): 982-84.

A Medley of ‘Mediology’

– "A Medley of ‘Mediology,'" review of Le Pouvoir Intellectuel en France, by Regis Debray, Government and Opposition, vol. 16 (1981): 254-57.

Machiavelli’s The Prince

– A new translation with introduction, University of Chicago Press, 1985; second edition, with corrections and a glossary, 1998.

Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy

– "Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy," The Public Interest, No. 86 (Winter 1987), pp. 53-64.
Excerpt: ALTHOUGH modern democracy is unhappy with the word “soul,” it has one nonetheless; and its soul is not healthy today. The disease is widely known as “dependeney,” the… More

Social Science and the Constitution

– "Social Science and the Constitution," Confronting the Constitution, Allan Bloom, ed., American Enterprise Institute Press, 1990, pp. 411-436.

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

The Tragedy of Weber

– "The Tragedy of Weber: John Patrick Diggins, Max Weber," review of Max Weber: Politics and the Spirit of Tragedy, by John Patrick Diggins, Weekly Standard, 8 December 1996.
Excerpt: John Patrick Diggins, a provocative academic who writes primarily on American politics, has the happy faculty of raising your interest without entirely satisfying it. His latest… More

Machiavelli’s Virtue

– University Of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (March 25, 1998)
Excerpt: Machiavelli’s political science has not received the attention it deserves. All commentators are attracted, with a force they often seem not to understand, by the question of… More

A Student’s Guide to Political Philosophy

– Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2001.
Excerpt: Political Philosophy is found in great books—those by Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau and others of the highest rank—and in books by professors. You should spend much more… More

Manliness

– Yale University Press, 2006.  Italian trans., Virilità, Rizzoli, 2006.
Excerpt: Today the very word manliness seems quaint and obsolete. We are in the process of making the English language gender-neutral, and manliness, the quality of one gender, or rather,… More

Democracy and Greatness

– "Democracy and Greatness: The Education Americans Need," Weekly Standard, 11 December 2006.
Excerpt: We sometimes hear of the place of the great books in a democratic education (not, unfortunately, at Harvard). When it is spoken of approvingly, that place is at the center or in… 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

How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science

– "How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science," 2007 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.
Excerpt: You may think I have some nerve coming from a university to Washington to tell you how to understand politics. Well, I mean how to understand, not how to practice. In any event the… More

How to Understand Politics

– "How to Understand Politics," revised version of 2007 Jefferson Lecture, First Things, August/September 2007.
Excerpt: For some time we have taken political science for granted, as if it did not require some nerve to come out of a university to tell everyone else how to understand politics. In my… More

Anger and Self-Importance

– "Anger and Self-Importance," lecture delivered at the Hoover Institution, 29 October 2007.
Harvey Mansfield: Anger and Self-Importance from The Hoover Institution and The Hoover Institution on FORA.tv

When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists

– "When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists," Weekly Standard, 14 Jan 2008.
Excerpt: The wrappings are off and the Christmas gifts stand exposed to the light of day. Did you get what you wanted? Christmas is under attack not only for materialism, not only for… More

A Question for the Economists

– "A Question for the Economists," Weekly Standard, 13 April 2009.
Excerpt: One group of those involved in the present financial crisis has so far escaped notice–the economists. They are masters in the science of prediction, but as a group, if not to… More

Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?

– "Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?" In Character, Winter 2009.
Excerpt: Courage is not solely for men, but it is mainly for men. The Greek word for courage is andreia, which comes from he-man and also means manliness. The Greek philosopher Aristotle… 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 Truly American Scholar

– "A Truly American Scholar: James Q. Wilson Was Able to Make Students Enthusiastic over Prudence, While Other Teachers Gained Applause Only with Displays of Liberalism or Extremism," Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2012.
Excerpt: Scholar James Q. Wilson, who died last week at the age of 80, hated to be praised. He was truly modest. Now that he has departed he can do no more, and it is up to those he left… More

Political Scientist, Par Excellence

– "Political Scientist, Par Excellence," Weekly Standard, 12 March 2012.
Excerpt: James Q. Wilson, a longtime teacher in the government department at Harvard, and an all-time political scientist, has died. He was a Californian who went to college at the… More

BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok

– “BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok,” Weekly Standard, 18 June 2012.
Excerpt: Actually BS here stands for “benevolent sexism.” An article by two New Zealand psychologists has come my way that deserves to become a classic of social science. The title… 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

Jim Manzi on Science, Knowledge and Freedom

– Discussion with Jim Manzi hosted by Prof. Harvey Mansfield, Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 30 November 2012.
How do we know which social and economic policies work, which should be continued, and which should be changed? Jim Manzi argues that throughout history, various methods have been… More

Commentary

Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist

– Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist, by C. Randolph Benson, and Thomas Jefferson: A Well-Tempered Mind, by Carl Binger, American Political Science Review, vol. 67 (1973): 982-84.

A Medley of ‘Mediology’

– "A Medley of ‘Mediology,'" review of Le Pouvoir Intellectuel en France, by Regis Debray, Government and Opposition, vol. 16 (1981): 254-57.

Machiavelli’s The Prince

– A new translation with introduction, University of Chicago Press, 1985; second edition, with corrections and a glossary, 1998.

Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy

– "Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy," The Public Interest, No. 86 (Winter 1987), pp. 53-64.
Excerpt: ALTHOUGH modern democracy is unhappy with the word “soul,” it has one nonetheless; and its soul is not healthy today. The disease is widely known as “dependeney,” the… More

Social Science and the Constitution

– "Social Science and the Constitution," Confronting the Constitution, Allan Bloom, ed., American Enterprise Institute Press, 1990, pp. 411-436.

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

The Tragedy of Weber

– "The Tragedy of Weber: John Patrick Diggins, Max Weber," review of Max Weber: Politics and the Spirit of Tragedy, by John Patrick Diggins, Weekly Standard, 8 December 1996.
Excerpt: John Patrick Diggins, a provocative academic who writes primarily on American politics, has the happy faculty of raising your interest without entirely satisfying it. His latest… More

Machiavelli’s Virtue

– University Of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (March 25, 1998)
Excerpt: Machiavelli’s political science has not received the attention it deserves. All commentators are attracted, with a force they often seem not to understand, by the question of… More

A Student’s Guide to Political Philosophy

– Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2001.
Excerpt: Political Philosophy is found in great books—those by Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau and others of the highest rank—and in books by professors. You should spend much more… More

Manliness

– Yale University Press, 2006.  Italian trans., Virilità, Rizzoli, 2006.
Excerpt: Today the very word manliness seems quaint and obsolete. We are in the process of making the English language gender-neutral, and manliness, the quality of one gender, or rather,… More

Democracy and Greatness

– "Democracy and Greatness: The Education Americans Need," Weekly Standard, 11 December 2006.
Excerpt: We sometimes hear of the place of the great books in a democratic education (not, unfortunately, at Harvard). When it is spoken of approvingly, that place is at the center or in… 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

How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science

– "How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science," 2007 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.
Excerpt: You may think I have some nerve coming from a university to Washington to tell you how to understand politics. Well, I mean how to understand, not how to practice. In any event the… More

How to Understand Politics

– "How to Understand Politics," revised version of 2007 Jefferson Lecture, First Things, August/September 2007.
Excerpt: For some time we have taken political science for granted, as if it did not require some nerve to come out of a university to tell everyone else how to understand politics. In my… More

Anger and Self-Importance

– "Anger and Self-Importance," lecture delivered at the Hoover Institution, 29 October 2007.
Harvey Mansfield: Anger and Self-Importance from The Hoover Institution and The Hoover Institution on FORA.tv

When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists

– "When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists," Weekly Standard, 14 Jan 2008.
Excerpt: The wrappings are off and the Christmas gifts stand exposed to the light of day. Did you get what you wanted? Christmas is under attack not only for materialism, not only for… More

A Question for the Economists

– "A Question for the Economists," Weekly Standard, 13 April 2009.
Excerpt: One group of those involved in the present financial crisis has so far escaped notice–the economists. They are masters in the science of prediction, but as a group, if not to… More

Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?

– "Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?" In Character, Winter 2009.
Excerpt: Courage is not solely for men, but it is mainly for men. The Greek word for courage is andreia, which comes from he-man and also means manliness. The Greek philosopher Aristotle… 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 Truly American Scholar

– "A Truly American Scholar: James Q. Wilson Was Able to Make Students Enthusiastic over Prudence, While Other Teachers Gained Applause Only with Displays of Liberalism or Extremism," Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2012.
Excerpt: Scholar James Q. Wilson, who died last week at the age of 80, hated to be praised. He was truly modest. Now that he has departed he can do no more, and it is up to those he left… More

Political Scientist, Par Excellence

– "Political Scientist, Par Excellence," Weekly Standard, 12 March 2012.
Excerpt: James Q. Wilson, a longtime teacher in the government department at Harvard, and an all-time political scientist, has died. He was a Californian who went to college at the… More

BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok

– “BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok,” Weekly Standard, 18 June 2012.
Excerpt: Actually BS here stands for “benevolent sexism.” An article by two New Zealand psychologists has come my way that deserves to become a classic of social science. The title… 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

Jim Manzi on Science, Knowledge and Freedom

– Discussion with Jim Manzi hosted by Prof. Harvey Mansfield, Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 30 November 2012.
How do we know which social and economic policies work, which should be continued, and which should be changed? Jim Manzi argues that throughout history, various methods have been… More

Multimedia

Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist

– Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist, by C. Randolph Benson, and Thomas Jefferson: A Well-Tempered Mind, by Carl Binger, American Political Science Review, vol. 67 (1973): 982-84.

A Medley of ‘Mediology’

– "A Medley of ‘Mediology,'" review of Le Pouvoir Intellectuel en France, by Regis Debray, Government and Opposition, vol. 16 (1981): 254-57.

Machiavelli’s The Prince

– A new translation with introduction, University of Chicago Press, 1985; second edition, with corrections and a glossary, 1998.

Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy

– "Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy," The Public Interest, No. 86 (Winter 1987), pp. 53-64.
Excerpt: ALTHOUGH modern democracy is unhappy with the word “soul,” it has one nonetheless; and its soul is not healthy today. The disease is widely known as “dependeney,” the… More

Social Science and the Constitution

– "Social Science and the Constitution," Confronting the Constitution, Allan Bloom, ed., American Enterprise Institute Press, 1990, pp. 411-436.

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

The Tragedy of Weber

– "The Tragedy of Weber: John Patrick Diggins, Max Weber," review of Max Weber: Politics and the Spirit of Tragedy, by John Patrick Diggins, Weekly Standard, 8 December 1996.
Excerpt: John Patrick Diggins, a provocative academic who writes primarily on American politics, has the happy faculty of raising your interest without entirely satisfying it. His latest… More

Machiavelli’s Virtue

– University Of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (March 25, 1998)
Excerpt: Machiavelli’s political science has not received the attention it deserves. All commentators are attracted, with a force they often seem not to understand, by the question of… More

A Student’s Guide to Political Philosophy

– Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2001.
Excerpt: Political Philosophy is found in great books—those by Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau and others of the highest rank—and in books by professors. You should spend much more… More

Manliness

– Yale University Press, 2006.  Italian trans., Virilità, Rizzoli, 2006.
Excerpt: Today the very word manliness seems quaint and obsolete. We are in the process of making the English language gender-neutral, and manliness, the quality of one gender, or rather,… More

Democracy and Greatness

– "Democracy and Greatness: The Education Americans Need," Weekly Standard, 11 December 2006.
Excerpt: We sometimes hear of the place of the great books in a democratic education (not, unfortunately, at Harvard). When it is spoken of approvingly, that place is at the center or in… 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

How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science

– "How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science," 2007 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.
Excerpt: You may think I have some nerve coming from a university to Washington to tell you how to understand politics. Well, I mean how to understand, not how to practice. In any event the… More

How to Understand Politics

– "How to Understand Politics," revised version of 2007 Jefferson Lecture, First Things, August/September 2007.
Excerpt: For some time we have taken political science for granted, as if it did not require some nerve to come out of a university to tell everyone else how to understand politics. In my… More

Anger and Self-Importance

– "Anger and Self-Importance," lecture delivered at the Hoover Institution, 29 October 2007.
Harvey Mansfield: Anger and Self-Importance from The Hoover Institution and The Hoover Institution on FORA.tv

When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists

– "When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists," Weekly Standard, 14 Jan 2008.
Excerpt: The wrappings are off and the Christmas gifts stand exposed to the light of day. Did you get what you wanted? Christmas is under attack not only for materialism, not only for… More

A Question for the Economists

– "A Question for the Economists," Weekly Standard, 13 April 2009.
Excerpt: One group of those involved in the present financial crisis has so far escaped notice–the economists. They are masters in the science of prediction, but as a group, if not to… More

Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?

– "Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?" In Character, Winter 2009.
Excerpt: Courage is not solely for men, but it is mainly for men. The Greek word for courage is andreia, which comes from he-man and also means manliness. The Greek philosopher Aristotle… 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 Truly American Scholar

– "A Truly American Scholar: James Q. Wilson Was Able to Make Students Enthusiastic over Prudence, While Other Teachers Gained Applause Only with Displays of Liberalism or Extremism," Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2012.
Excerpt: Scholar James Q. Wilson, who died last week at the age of 80, hated to be praised. He was truly modest. Now that he has departed he can do no more, and it is up to those he left… More

Political Scientist, Par Excellence

– "Political Scientist, Par Excellence," Weekly Standard, 12 March 2012.
Excerpt: James Q. Wilson, a longtime teacher in the government department at Harvard, and an all-time political scientist, has died. He was a Californian who went to college at the… More

BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok

– “BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok,” Weekly Standard, 18 June 2012.
Excerpt: Actually BS here stands for “benevolent sexism.” An article by two New Zealand psychologists has come my way that deserves to become a classic of social science. The title… 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

Jim Manzi on Science, Knowledge and Freedom

– Discussion with Jim Manzi hosted by Prof. Harvey Mansfield, Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 30 November 2012.
How do we know which social and economic policies work, which should be continued, and which should be changed? Jim Manzi argues that throughout history, various methods have been… More

Teaching

Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist

– Review of Thomas Jefferson as Social Scientist, by C. Randolph Benson, and Thomas Jefferson: A Well-Tempered Mind, by Carl Binger, American Political Science Review, vol. 67 (1973): 982-84.

A Medley of ‘Mediology’

– "A Medley of ‘Mediology,'" review of Le Pouvoir Intellectuel en France, by Regis Debray, Government and Opposition, vol. 16 (1981): 254-57.

Machiavelli’s The Prince

– A new translation with introduction, University of Chicago Press, 1985; second edition, with corrections and a glossary, 1998.

Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy

– "Constitutional Government: The Soul of Modern Democracy," The Public Interest, No. 86 (Winter 1987), pp. 53-64.
Excerpt: ALTHOUGH modern democracy is unhappy with the word “soul,” it has one nonetheless; and its soul is not healthy today. The disease is widely known as “dependeney,” the… More

Social Science and the Constitution

– "Social Science and the Constitution," Confronting the Constitution, Allan Bloom, ed., American Enterprise Institute Press, 1990, pp. 411-436.

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

The Tragedy of Weber

– "The Tragedy of Weber: John Patrick Diggins, Max Weber," review of Max Weber: Politics and the Spirit of Tragedy, by John Patrick Diggins, Weekly Standard, 8 December 1996.
Excerpt: John Patrick Diggins, a provocative academic who writes primarily on American politics, has the happy faculty of raising your interest without entirely satisfying it. His latest… More

Machiavelli’s Virtue

– University Of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (March 25, 1998)
Excerpt: Machiavelli’s political science has not received the attention it deserves. All commentators are attracted, with a force they often seem not to understand, by the question of… More

A Student’s Guide to Political Philosophy

– Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2001.
Excerpt: Political Philosophy is found in great books—those by Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau and others of the highest rank—and in books by professors. You should spend much more… More

Manliness

– Yale University Press, 2006.  Italian trans., Virilità, Rizzoli, 2006.
Excerpt: Today the very word manliness seems quaint and obsolete. We are in the process of making the English language gender-neutral, and manliness, the quality of one gender, or rather,… More

Democracy and Greatness

– "Democracy and Greatness: The Education Americans Need," Weekly Standard, 11 December 2006.
Excerpt: We sometimes hear of the place of the great books in a democratic education (not, unfortunately, at Harvard). When it is spoken of approvingly, that place is at the center or in… 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

How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science

– "How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science," 2007 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2007.
Excerpt: You may think I have some nerve coming from a university to Washington to tell you how to understand politics. Well, I mean how to understand, not how to practice. In any event the… More

How to Understand Politics

– "How to Understand Politics," revised version of 2007 Jefferson Lecture, First Things, August/September 2007.
Excerpt: For some time we have taken political science for granted, as if it did not require some nerve to come out of a university to tell everyone else how to understand politics. In my… More

Anger and Self-Importance

– "Anger and Self-Importance," lecture delivered at the Hoover Institution, 29 October 2007.
Harvey Mansfield: Anger and Self-Importance from The Hoover Institution and The Hoover Institution on FORA.tv

When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists

– "When the Giving is Good: Saving Christmas from the Economists," Weekly Standard, 14 Jan 2008.
Excerpt: The wrappings are off and the Christmas gifts stand exposed to the light of day. Did you get what you wanted? Christmas is under attack not only for materialism, not only for… More

A Question for the Economists

– "A Question for the Economists," Weekly Standard, 13 April 2009.
Excerpt: One group of those involved in the present financial crisis has so far escaped notice–the economists. They are masters in the science of prediction, but as a group, if not to… More

Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?

– "Is Courage a Masculine Virtue?" In Character, Winter 2009.
Excerpt: Courage is not solely for men, but it is mainly for men. The Greek word for courage is andreia, which comes from he-man and also means manliness. The Greek philosopher Aristotle… 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 Truly American Scholar

– "A Truly American Scholar: James Q. Wilson Was Able to Make Students Enthusiastic over Prudence, While Other Teachers Gained Applause Only with Displays of Liberalism or Extremism," Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2012.
Excerpt: Scholar James Q. Wilson, who died last week at the age of 80, hated to be praised. He was truly modest. Now that he has departed he can do no more, and it is up to those he left… More

Political Scientist, Par Excellence

– "Political Scientist, Par Excellence," Weekly Standard, 12 March 2012.
Excerpt: James Q. Wilson, a longtime teacher in the government department at Harvard, and an all-time political scientist, has died. He was a Californian who went to college at the… More

BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok

– “BS in New Zealand: Social Science Run Amok,” Weekly Standard, 18 June 2012.
Excerpt: Actually BS here stands for “benevolent sexism.” An article by two New Zealand psychologists has come my way that deserves to become a classic of social science. The title… 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

Jim Manzi on Science, Knowledge and Freedom

– Discussion with Jim Manzi hosted by Prof. Harvey Mansfield, Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 30 November 2012.
How do we know which social and economic policies work, which should be continued, and which should be changed? Jim Manzi argues that throughout history, various methods have been… More