The Case for Conservatism

Conservative and liberal political impulses have contended throughout the history of the United States, although there are no major Conservative or Liberal parties in the United States. Instead, the terms signify general inclinations and prejudices encouraged to some degree within all major political parties. As Russell Kirk notes in his introduction, throughout the nineteenth century, public men generally professed conservative assumptions, whatever their practical policies. Only with the ascent of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and continuing to recent years did liberalism begin to predominate in morals and politics.
Francis Wilson’s slim volume was an expression of intellectual renewal of conservative ideas in the post-World War II period. Initially published in 1951, it gave expression to the body of common belief that then and now constitutes the essence of conservatism. Lucid and temperate he outlines the principles to which conservatives subscribe and how they have changed. Published in Russell Kirk’s Library of Conservative Thought series, The Case for Conservatism has continuing relevance to those who would understand the intellectual roots of the contemporary revival of conservative public policies.