National Institute for Civil Discourse

Liberalism is no longer under attack only from the political extremes. Its most serious critics now come from within its own intellectual house. Before turning to those critiques, it is worth recalling what liberalism actually is: a political and moral framework built on the primacy of individual rights, the rule of law, constitutional limits on power, and the belief that free people—protected in their conscience, speech, property, and personal choices—can coexist peacefully despite deep differences. At its core, liberalism seeks to create a society where individuals are free to pursue their own conception of the good life, so long as they respect the equal freedom of others.

Yet it is precisely this vision of the liberal individual that today’s critics challenge. The unsettling argument they raise is this: liberalism may be failing not because it fell short, but because it succeeded too completely.