Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Just how important is limited government?  In the last quarter century since Ronald Reagan’s promise “to curb the size and influence of the federal establishment” – during which Republicans occupied the White House for 18 years, held a Senate majority for 16½ years and a House majority for 12 years – the federal establishment has grown bigger and more influential.  What seems to be a commitment in theory has turned out to be a failure in practice.  Are conservatives not making the right arguments?  Indeed, is there any constituency for limited government?  How ought conservatives committed to limited government proceed in advancing this cause?  Writing in the Fall 2007 Claremont Review of Books, William Voegeli suggests conservatives need a new strategy. 

William Voegeli is a Visiting Scholar at Claremont McKenna College's Henry Salvatori Center.  He has been working on a forthcoming book, So . . . What Would Be Enough? Liberalism and the Problem of Limits.  Dr. Voegeli was previously a program officer for the John M. Olin Foundation in New York.  He received his Ph.D. in political science from Loyola University in Chicago.  Ramesh Ponnuru is a Senior Editor for National Review.  Ponnuru graduated summa cum laude from Princeton's history department.  He has been a Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London and a Media Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.