In the latest installment of our “What is the Right?” series, Peter explores Fusionism.
As the name implies, Fusionism melds together different strands of conservatism into a single winning coalition. You’ve probably heard reference to the three-legged stool of conservatism, bringing together traditionalist conservatives, libertarians, and anti-communists into a coalition that ended the Cold War. But Fusionism is more than a mere coalition; it’s a philosophy.
This episode features two great thinkers in the Fusionist movement, Stephanie Slade and Tim Chapman. Stephanie is a Senior Editor with Reason Magazine, as well as a fellow in liberal studies at the Acton Institute. Tim Chapman is President of Advancing American Freedom. He also co-founded Heritage Action, the activism arm of Heritage Foundation, where he worked closely with Jim DeMint, and also ran Nikki Haley’s Stand for America organization.
Liberty and Virtue
The heart of Fusionism is a simple idea: liberty and virtue go hand-in-hand and are both necessary for human flourishing. Stephanie argues that by neglecting one, you risk losing both. “A truly good society has to be one that’s both virtuous and free,” she remarks.
Frank Meyer, the mid-century thinker who sketched out the philosophy of Fusionism, believed that the American Founders were themselves Fusionists. They combined a commitment to conserving limited government, individual rights, and the rule of law—rooted in a moral order from the Judeo-Christian tradition. “What it means to be a conservative in the American context,” Stephanie says, “is to preserve and pass on this Fusionist legacy that the Founders bequeathed to us.”
While Fusionist values are “eternal,” as Stephanie says, what may change is how the principles apply to the problems of today. “I’m much more focused on rebuilding the intellectual foundation,” Stephanie says of her own work on Fusionism: “Reminding people of what do we believe and why. Once you get those principles, that philosophical grounding, then you can move along to putting together a policy agenda… to trying to win elections… to the hard work and important work of messaging.”
Stephanie also challenges the idea that today’s political landscape leaves conservatives with only two choices: full-throat support for the Republican Party, or join with the Democrats. “There’s not just a binary choice here,” she asserts. “It is possible to be a principled conservative, or a Fusionist libertarian in my case, and object to the things that we see, whether they’re coming from the Left or the Right, on principled grounds.”
A Movement Worth Fighting For
While Stephanie offers the intellectual insight, Tim Chapman brings a strategic and political lens, viewing Fusionism as a governing model that has shaped policy for decades. Tim acknowledges that Fusionism has taken a hit in recent years. He points to the failure of Republican leaders to fulfill their promises. The result is a frustrated conservative base that has opened the door to a more populist approach. For Tim, that’s all the more cause to champion Fusionist ideas: “The conservative movement and the principles we care about are worth fighting for,” he says. “If you take your ball and go home, you don’t get to shape what comes next.”
This translates to the work Tim is doing at Advancing American Freedom, where he is filling a space that he believes the Right has neglected: “principled conservative organizations that are willing to call balls and strikes on public policy” regardless of who’s in power. He warns listeners against letting conservative institutions drift towards top-down imposed order. “We already have one political pole pushing for imposed equality of outcomes,” he says. “We don’t need two. Fusionism is still the best way to keep the conservative movement grounded in liberty and virtue.”
Rather than deepening the divide on the Right, both Stephanie and Tim are working towards broadening the tent, reminding us that Fusionism is less a faction and more a guiding philosophy. By holding to both virtue and liberty, Fusionism has served as a unifying force among conservatives for 70 years. Whether or not a new Fusionism emerges in today’s shifting political moment, its core insight that freedom and moral order must stand together remain as relevant as ever.
If you’re interested in how Fusionism continues to shape the Right and what its future might hold, listen to the full conversation with Stephanie Slade and Tim Chapman on Giving Ventures, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
