In the fourth installment of our summer series on “What Is the Right?,” Peter explores the traditionalist wing of conservatism.
At a quick glance, you might describe Traditionalist Conservatives as the social conservatives in the postwar coalition that culminated in the Reaganism of the ’80s. But that’s probably a little bit simplistic. On the landscape of the Right, the Traditionalists can be found on the opposite end of the spectrum from Libertarians. Order, virtue, and continuity with the past are of greater concern to the Traditionalists than unleashing the free market or ensuring government sticks to protecting life, liberty, and property. Conserving the principles of the American Founding is buttressed by the preservation of the Western Tradition and its tension between freedom and order.
The episode features Daniel McCarthy and Luke Sheahan. Daniel is Vice President for Publications at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and Editor of ISI’s Modern Age, which was launched by Russell Kirk and Henry Regnery in 1957 as a forum for conservatives of various stripes to debate their ideas. Luke is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Duquesne University, and a nonresident scholar in the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also editor of The University Bookman, the online journal of book reviews published by the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal.
Conserving the Inheritance of the West
For Traditionalists, the American Founding wasn’t a break from the past, but rather a conscious effort to preserve a much older cultural and political inheritance. “What’s being preserved in the American constitutional order is a tradition of self-government,” as Luke puts it. “Conservatives have seen 1776 not as a massive break, but as a preservation.”
Daniel builds on this point, emphasizing that the values that Americans hold dear such as separation of powers and community are not new ideals but the product of a long civilizational development. “We are the inheritors of a tradition which has developed over centuries,” he explains. “We don’t simply draw our political ideas from abstract philosophy, but we draw them from an experience that is built up over the course of many centuries.” This vision of conservatism is less about rigid ideology and more about stewardship and handing down the moral, political, and cultural wisdom of the Western tradition.
Political Action Grounded in Principle
While Traditionalists are politically engaged, they resist making politics the central focus of their worldview. For Daniel and Luke, what matters most isn’t who wins the next election, it’s the deeper question of what kind of civilization we’re cultivating.
“Politics itself is of secondary concern to civilization and to education and to the human soul,” says Daniel. A culture overly obsessed with power, he warns, risks losing sight of the moral and spiritual foundations upon which good politics depends. “If you devote yourself too much as a society to politics, you’re probably going to lose touch with the deeper and more important elements of our civilization and our humanity.”
Luke agrees, noting that Traditionalists often show more flexibility in policymaking because their priorities lie beyond ideology. “Traditionalists are more willing to compromise,” he explains. Their aim isn’t to implement doctrines but to protect enduring values beginning with the family, and extending outward to institutions like church, school, and community—a task that requires prudence rather than a political program.
Ultimately, Traditionalists remind us that not everything hinges on winning the next election, politics is secondary to the human soul, and real influence begins at the local level with a continuity of values grounded in our history.
If you’re interested in hearing more about how Traditionalist Conservatives are shaping the Right, listen to the full conversation with Daniel McCarthy and Luke Sheahan on Giving Ventures, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
