Main Street Conservatism

The political right is at an inflection point. The policies that have guided the conservative movement for decades are no longer relevant to the problems we face.

Donald Trump's election exposed the vast chasm between the priorities of the conservative professional class, and those of the voters it purportedly serves. But this chasm existed long before it was exposed in 2016, and as we move further into the post-Trump era, these issues aren't going away. The right must contend with the forces that drove Trump to power.

The American Conservative has been contending with those very forces for two decades. Launched in 2002 to reignite conversations conservatives had neglected for too long, the magazine has emerged as the best explainer of our present discontents—and the distinct “Main Street” conservatism that it forms as the best path forward. Main Street Conservatism: The Future of the Right takes seminal essays from TAC's robust back catalog and presents them in four broad topic areas that are driving our ongoing political realignment: foreign policy, political economy, American culture, and faith & family. TAC's prescience on these issues creates an anthology that is very much relevant to the issues we now face. The magazine was founded in opposition to the Iraq war, and has been a consistent proponent of a foreign policy fit for a republic, not an empire, ever since. Long before the 2008 financial crisis, the magazine warned of the pitfalls of globalization and an over-financialized economy. On immigration, TAC's prescience on these issues creates an anthology that is very much relevant to the issues we now inaugural editorial took seriously the challenge of assimilation, and placed the issue in the context of defending and defining a uniquely American culture. And all the while, the magazine has been mindful to robustly defend the bedrock of our society: faith and family.

With essays from leading conservatives like Patrick J. Buchanan, Sir Roger Scruton, Walter McDougall, Robert W. Merry, Rod Dreher, and many more, Main Street Conservatism: The Future of the Right is far more than a disjointed anthology. The book, like the magazine from which it is taken, is indispensable for understanding American conservatism in our current moment.