Self Study

Session One:

Read “What Is Conservatism” readings by Ronald Reagan, Russell Kirk, Frank Meyer and other top conservative thinkers click here.

Session Two:

The following books are essential for understanding conservatism. The self-study student should begin at the beginning and read them all. Since you have read the liberal classics at your college, you will know twice as much as everyone else on campus. You may obtain the following books from your library for self-study or order the books by clicking on the titles below. Most of the books listed here, and several others, are synopsized in the Summary of Classics section of the Online Classroom or by visiting http://www.firstprinciples.us.

F.A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty

Frank Meyer, In Defense of Freedom

Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

John Chamberlain, The Roots of Capitalism

Charles Murray, In Pursuit of Happiness and Good Government

Richard Cornuelle, Reclaiming the American Dream

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Richard Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences

Russell Kirk, Roots of American Order

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, The Federalist Papers

Wilhelm Ropke, A Humane Economy

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

Lord Acton, Essays in The History of Liberty

Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom

Friedrich A. von Hayek, The Road to Serfdom

John Locke, Second Treatise on Civil Government

Session Three: Types of Conservatism

Conservatism:

• The Future of Government Bureaucracy
• Republican Party for Small Government?
• Will, Medicare and the Return of Tory Conservatism
• Resisting Conservative Label at The Wall Street Journal
• Republicans Now Party of the “Welfare State”?
• Conservative Media Bias
• Old Federalism has Worldwide Answers
• What To Do About the Quiet Judicial Revolution by Hon. John Hostettler
• Iraqi Democracy?
• Federal Debt Impacts Families
• The State of the Conservative Movement
• Ronald Reagan’s Conservative Legacy

Paleoconservatism:

• Conservativism, Chronicles and Paleoconservativism
• How Chronicles’ Paleoconservatism Differs by Daniel Larison
• The American Conservative
• Frank Meyer Debate By Daniel Larison and Editor
• More Tradition Debate by Daniel Larison and Editor
• Meyer and Medievalism
• Who Is Afraid of the Voltaire Wolf?
• Paleoconservatism and Universalism

Neoconservatism:

• Neoconservative End to Evil
• Weekly Standard National Greatness?
• All Big Government Conservatives Now

Foreign Policy:

• What President Bush Must Do in Iraq
• Critical Stage in the Middle East
• Iraqi Democracy?
• Mission to Baghdad
• Embattled Secretary of Defense
• The Post-Westphalian State System and the Universal Challenge
• Unfriendly Turf for Democracy
• Bold Military Rollout
• Well-timed Pentagon briefing
• Bush Iraq Timetable on Track?

Libertarianism:

• The Problem With Pure Libertarianism