American Conservative Thought: The Demise of “Fusionism”

Beyond Your News Feed: Understanding Contemporary Politics

This episode explores the tension within American conservative thought between Traditional Burkean conservatism and classical liberalism. Host William Hudson discusses this tension with Providence College Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Savannah Johnston. Her recent scholarly work suggests that the “fusion” between these theoretical tendencies worked out in the National Review in the early 1960s may be unraveling. She argues that the fundamental contradictions between how each theoretical tradition views human nature, the purpose of government, the role of the individual – particularly as a source of morality, and the role of reason in organizing society make an on-going fusion untenable. Many contemporary conservatives seem to be shedding the classical liberal strand and turning to the more traditional “illiberal” conservatism.