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Why Liberalism: A Series By Persuasion

Liberalism As Mob Boss
How to respond to conservative critiques of actually existing liberal societies.
 • Alexandre Lefebvre
An Open Society Requires Constant Vigilance
Liberalism is built on paradoxes—but we have a duty to defend it.
 • Roger Partridge
Bringing Human Nature Back In
Francis Fukuyama in the latest of our series “Why Liberalism.”
 • Francis Fukuyama
The Woke Right Stands At the Door
Whence comes this uncanniest of all guests?
 • Jonathan Rauch
Gradual Change is F***ing Awesome—And Liberalism Knows It
On Darwin, abuse, and Costanza politics.
 • Wayne Karol
A People’s History of Free Speech
On the Greek origins of the First Amendment, and what we lose when we lose the inclination to speak truth to power.
 • Teresa M. Bejan
The Enduring Wisdom of America's Founding Documents
A liberal reading of the Declaration of Independence.
 • William Galston
Equality Is Good, Actually
Contrary to popular critiques, the liberal value of equality doesn’t make you weak or nihilistic.
 • Jeffery Tyler Syck
Why You Should Feel Good About Liberalism
We need to get better at standing up for the greatest social technology ever devised.
 • Jonathan Rauch
Illiberal Liberalism
Progressives who advocate for illiberal policies aren't Marxists or postmodernists. They turn liberalism's tools against itself.
 • Joseph Heath
How Liberal Societies Learn
The first essay in our new series "Why Liberalism."
 • Emily Chamlee-Wright
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