WHAT IS "THE RIGHT"?

Since the end of the Cold War—and especially over the past ten years—the American Right has been divided. While each faction seeks to preserve the ideals of our Founding Fathers, differences in emphasis and strategy have opened into fault lines.

From the Traditionalists and Libertarians to the Freedom Conservatives and the New Right, this series will help you understand the range of thought within the American Right today. By surveying this landscape, we hope you will see more clearly where your own beliefs align.

FreeCons believe in conserving the limited-government ideals of the American Founding and its understanding of classical liberalism through forward thinking. They stand in contrast with the New Right, defending free markets, limited government, and liberty.

Avik Roy is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity

John Hood is President of the John William Pope Foundation, located in Raleigh, North Carolina

A podcast series exploring the scope & diversity of conservatism and libertarianism

Libertarians hold firmly to free-market principles and believe in reducing the size and scope of government in every domain. In contrast to conservatives, libertarians look more to the future freedom will usher in than to a past they wish to preserve.

Katherine Mangu-Ward is Editor-in-Chief of Reason, the nation’s leading and longest-running libertarian magazine

Peter Goettler is President and CEO of the Cato Institute, DC’s foremost libertarian think tank

In contrast to the Reagan-era consensus, New Right thinkers offer a vision that’s centered on family, community, and nation. While they recognize the value of freedom, they emphasize the need for policy outcomes that support social and national stability.

Oren Cass is Founder and chief economist at American Compass and author of The Once and Future Worker

Nick Solheim is Co-founder and CEO of American Moment, a training and credentialing organization on the Right

Traditionalists prioritize order, virtue, and continuity with the past. Their primary concern is for culture and the preservation of the West rather than short-term political victories. Traditionalists look to history in order to shape the future.

Daniel McCarthy is Vice President for Publications at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and Editor of Modern Age

Luke Sheahan is Assistant Professor at Duquesne University and Editor of The University Bookmanl

Fusionism isn’t merely a coalition of libertarians and traditionalists, it’s a philosophy that holds both liberty and virtue as necessary to human flourishing. Fusionists believe in social economic freedom buttressed by the moral order of traditional values.

Stephanie Slade is Senior editor at Reason magazine and fellow in Liberal Studies at the Acton Institute

Tim Chapman is President of Advancing American Freedom, a nonprofit organization founded by Mike Pence

While the labels of American politics don't transfer neatly onto the landscape of Roman Catholicism, the Right is full of engaged and devout Catholics. This episode explores what it means to be a Catholic engaged in public policy on the Right.

Kathryn Jean Lopez directs the Center for Religion, Culture, and Civil Society and is Religion Editor for National Review.

Kris Mauren is President and co-Founder of the Acton Institute, a think tank based on Grand Rapids, Michigan

While many in America's Jewish community lean to the left, there is a natural alliance between Jews and the conservative tradition that values Hebraic thought, considers Israel a strong ally, and is indebted to luminary Jewish thinkers.

Jonathan Silver is Chief Programming Officer & Warren R. Stern Senior Fellow of Jewish Civilization at Tikvah

Tevi Troy is a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute and a Senior Scholar at Yeshiva University’s Straus Center

While Christianity has long played a role in American civic life, religious trends in recent decades have muddied the waters. Church attendance is declining, mainline protestantism is shrinking, and evangelicalism often refers to a political rather than theological movement.

Ralph Reed is founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition and CEO of the public affairs firm Century Strategies

Mark Tooley is President of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, an ecumenical Christian think tank

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