monarchy

August 22, 2017

Reading ‘Democracy in America’ (Part 4): The long shadow of the French Revolution

This is the fourth part in a series on how to read Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Read the Introduction and follow the entire series here. In the previous installment, we considered feudalism as a class system of mutual responsibilities centered on land. Continue Reading...

April 10, 2014

Lessons in creative destruction from ‘Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel’

Creative destruction can be a painful thing, particularly when you’re the one being destroyed. I’ve been-there done-that, and when things hit, I can’t say that I cared too much about Joseph Schumpeter and his fancy ideas. Continue Reading...

November 06, 2013

The Need for Counter-Majoritarian Makeweights

Drawing on some themes I explore about the role of the church in providing material assistance in Get Your Hands Dirty, today at Political Theology Today I look at the first parliamentary speech of the new Dutch King Willem-Alexander. Continue Reading...

June 15, 2010

Lewis on the Free Society

Last week Acton research fellow Jonathan Witt treated the topic of Tolkien and the free society at the June “Acton on Tap.” I was reminded of this theme when I finished reading C. Continue Reading...

March 20, 2009

Aquinas on Kings

I caught last week’s premiere episode of NBC’s Kings. I was curious to see how the biblical parallels between the Old Testament and the contemporary Saul and David story would play out. Continue Reading...

April 22, 2008

Bullinger on democracy

A statement of the reformer Heinrich Bullinger, an influential second-generation leader in Zurich, on his preferred form of government: God had established through Moses in His law the most excellent, the most admirable and convenient form of republic, depending on the wisest, most powerful and most merciful king of all, God, on the best and fairest senators and not at all on extravagant and arrogant ones, and finally on the people; to which He added the judge, whenever it was necessary. Continue Reading...

September 21, 2007

OT Israel: Constitutional Monarchy?

I did a brief interview yesterday with Greg Allen of The Right Balance and have a couple more scheduled for next week. It’s kept me thinking about some of the issues surrounding the debate about Christianity, democracy, and Iraq. Continue Reading...