Fusionism

Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right

A compelling and necessary history of how the American conservative movement lost its philosophical compassand a case for why it must be recovered.

In Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right, Stephanie Slade tells the story of a forgotten idea that once defined American conservatism. In the years following World War II, the fusionist philosophywhich united the classical liberal defense of individual freedom with the Judeo-Christian tradition of moral virtuebecame the foundation of the conservative movement.

In an ironic twist, fusionism’s triumph during the Reagan years led to its decline, as its proponents no longer felt the need to explain and defend their beliefs. Today, many on the right embrace an emphatically anti-fusionist, power-oriented approach to politics that marks a sharp break from the principles of the Americ