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Gratitude is one of the most fundamental and complex of the virtues, overlapping with and undergirding many of the others. Is gratitude today a diminishing virtue, less evident than it was in the past? And if so, how much of this decline is due to government or political action and how much to general trends that are operating in the culture at large? These are difficult questions, and it is hard to prove any answer beyond a reasonable doubt. Many thinkers today contend that there has been a steep decline in the ethos of gratitude in modern America, citing as causes failures in civic education and a diminishing influence of religion. In addition, wealth and technology appear to have increased expectations and allowed many people to take much for granted. The relative security of today, in which there have been no wars on a major scale, may also contribute to this decline. Still, the disposition for gratitude can never be eliminated. It resides in the human heart. There will always be occasions, whether born of concerns for one's own well-being and that of their loved ones, or of the safety of the nation, where the power of a gift breaks through the veneer of a sense of control and security and makes people feel grateful. It may be, however, that people are too prone today to search for trends, as if the only reason to validate a concern about a virtue is if conditions are deteriorating. For most enduring human problems, trends occur at the margins, and slight changes, which are usually beyond people's powers to detect, do not really touch the essence of the matter. When it comes to public gratitude, whatever trend may be afoot, people can be certain that sustaining a living history will always prove to be a difficult challenge. The author contends that if people are to be true to the spirit of the gifts of those who created this nation, keeping alive its great memories is something people owe not just to themselves, but to all mankind.

The article presents a discussion of progressivism and politics in the U.S., adapted from the magazine "Weekly Standard." Topics include the impact of modern progressivism on politics since 2009, the three components of progressivism such as ideas from the intellectual movements of the left, theories from original progressives of the 20th century, and the practices and patterns of behavior from the central role of progressivism, and the idea of leader democracy by modern progressives.

The article focuses on the 2012 presidential elections debates in the U.S. It mentions of the efforts of the electoral analysts in order to prepare voter behavior models for the prediction of the outcome of overhanging election. It also focuses on the effect of foreign policy decisions of U.S. president Barack Obama's on his chances at the election.

Alexis de Tocqueville's account of the formation of the American regime identifies two constitutive moments: the Puritan colonization and the Revolution and the Constitution (1775–1789). Contrary to historians of the day, Tocqueville gave as much credit to the Puritans as to the Founders. Yet far from being a pure history, Tocqueville's narrative also had the purpose of promoting a new political foundation that replaced the philosophical doctrine of natural rights with an account based on “Customary History.” Tocqueville's approach was intended to further a great theoretical project inaugurated by Montesquieu that offered an alternative model to the mainstream Enlightenment position for how political philosophy should enter into and influence political life. This article analyzes the two-founding thesis, explores the underlying theoretical project on foundations of Tocqueville and Montesquieu, and presents and assesses the debate on the merits of attempting to change the political foundation of the American regime. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay explores the scope of the Democratic Party's victory in the 2008 elections by comparing it to other U.S. elections since 1896. Three conclusions are drawn from the analysis: (1) that Obama's personal victory, though significant, was far from being massive, or even unusual, by historical standards; (2) that the Democratic congressional victory of 2008, relative to the midterm election of 2006, falls in the upper range of congressional victories in a presidential year; (3) that the Democrats' victory becomes more impressive in light of its reversal of the 2004 election, which represented the high-water mark for Republicans since 1928. The essay also briefly considers whether and in what sense the Democrats' victory might have inaugurated a party realignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a slightly revised version of a speech the author delivered at the John M. Olin Center at the University of Chicago in 2001 for a conference titled "Leo Strauss's Natural Right and History: Contexts and Subtexts." It addresses the question of where Leo Strauss situated his best-known work, "Natural Right and History," in relation to specific problems and issues raised in American political thought. Strauss's work is concerned with political philosophy in general, but he framed the initial questions of the book in terms of how they related to developments in American intellectual life. The practical consequences of certain modern ideas, Strauss argued, were being worked out in their most historically important way inside the United States, and he kept this theme constantly in the background of his analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worries about “the rhetorical presidency” ultimately concern the danger of presidential demagoguery. As such, they echo an important theme of the Founders, who erected several barriers to the emergence of the president as demagogue in chief. In the ancient sources on which the Founders partly drew, the worry was the popular or pseudo-popular leader who seizes on widespread envies, fears, or hopes in the service of his political career—in contrast to the statesman, who pursues the public good and is, therefore, less interested in how to gain office than in how to use it. Later iterations emphasized the “superstitious,” “prejudiced,” or ideological nature of demagogic appeals. When Woodrow Wilson proposed that the president should seize the public-policy initiative in the name of the people, he sought to insulate the presidency from charges of demagoguery by arguing that no leader who spoke falsely on behalf of the people could expect to win the office. True adepts of the “progress” of public opinion, hence of the public good, are non-demagogic by definition. Although one is hard pressed to find an American president who can unambiguously be called demagogic, one does find demagoguery among presidential candidates, especially during their campaigns for party nomination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the status of the Republican Party in the U.S. as of September 2004. History of the political party; Factors that contributed to the dominance of the political party in southern states; Reason behind the creation of foundational principles by the party.

Focuses on the implementation of affirmative action and positive discrimination policies in the U.S. and France. Components and phases of the affirmative action regime; Consequences and costs of the affirmative action policy; Factors that influenced France to use the positive discrimination policy.

Focuses on issues surrounding public philosophy in the United States. Opinion of social and political scholars on public philosophy; Definitions; Criticisms.

Focuses on civic education in the United States. Opposition of educational theorists to civic education; Attacks against the anticivic position; Perspectives on civic education; Conflict between a unitary and a pluralist approach to civic education; Components of civic education; Development of civic republicanism; Evolution toward universal, public-funded education.

Discusses the relationship between political parties and presidential ambition in the United States. Functions of the presidential selection system; Roles of the founders of a political party in the presidential selection; Overview of the political career of legislators Martin Van Buren and Woodrow Wilson.