The State of the American Idea

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Charles Cook of the National Review, Melody Barnes of the University of Virginia, and Sean Wilentz of Princeton University explore the debate about the core values of the American Idea—liberty, equality, democracy, and federalism—throughout American history and model the way in which Americans of different perspectives can come together in the spirit of civil dialogue. This program was recorded live on February 9, 2024. Resources: Sean Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln (2008) Sean Wilentz, The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics (2016) Charles Cooke, The Conservatarian Manifesto: Libertarians, Conservatives, and the Fight for the Right’s Future Charles Cooke, “The American System Works, and It Will Work If Trump Wins Again” (2023) Melody Barnes, Corey D.B. Walker and Thad M. Williamson, “Introduction: can we make American democracy work?” In Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy (2020) Melody Barnes (and others), “Hate-fueled violence is ripping apart our cities and nation. We need to stop it.,” USA Today (2022) Melody Barnes and Caroline Janney, “Opinion: In a civil war, accountability must precede healing,” The Washington Post (2021) Melody Barnes, “Opinion: It’s time for Sally Hemings to show us the unvarnished Thomas Jefferson,” The Washington Post (2018) Stay Connected and Learn More: Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].  Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.  Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library. Donate

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National
0:06.7	Constitution Center and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of
0:10.1	constitutional debate. The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan
0:13.8	nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the
0:18.2	Constitution among the American people. In this episode of We the People, I am delighted to share a great dinner conversation about
0:26.1	the American idea with Charles Cook of the National Review, Melody Barnes of the University
0:31.0	of Virginia, and Sean Millett's of Princeton University.
0:34.3	We discuss the core principles of the American idea, liberty, equality, democracy, and
0:39.0	federalism and explore the ways they've been contested and embraced throughout American history.
0:44.4	Enjoy the conversation.
0:46.4	Let's begin our conversation in a spirit of openness and learning, a willingness to listen to perspectives we may disagree
0:56.8	with the possibility of changing our minds but always a commitment to opening our minds which requires learning and deliberation and
1:07.9	growth. It's especially meaningful to talk with this group of special friends about the American idea because the American idea is under siege.
1:20.0	On the left and the right, extremists are questioning the basic ideals of the Declaration and the Constitution,
1:28.0	embodied in ideals like liberty, equality, democracy, federalism, separation of powers, the rule of law.
1:37.0	And there are some who wonder if the American experiment will succeed.
1:43.4	And indeed we meet in a fraught time
1:45.8	for our politics and our culture.
1:48.7	And no one should underestimate the seriousness
1:51.5	of the challenges that we face.
1:54.0	But the National Constitution Center is built on a radical premise,
1:59.0	namely a premise of faith in the American idea,
	...

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