National Affairs

07/07/2026

Gregory M. Collins on why contemporary economists could learn a lot from the teachings of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, adding depth to a discipline that has grown too shallow:

Modern economics often reduces the human actor to a utility-maximizing agent driven by self-interest. But the teachings of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas offer a powerful corrective, portraying man as a political and rational animal who pursues the...

07/05/2026

Andrew Koppelman on the deeper case that John Milton and John Stuart Mill made for free speech: that a regime of free discourse makes us into better people, cultivating the moral courage to weigh alternatives and choose well.

Today's free-speech debates tend to focus on its social utility. But John Milton and John Stuart Mill made a deeper case: that a regime of free discourse makes us into better people, cultivating the moral courage to weigh alternatives and choose well...

07/04/2026

The Declaration of Independence at 250: Michael P. Zuckert writes that while the Declaration was issued to justify a violent revolution, its text reveals a deep commitment to the rule of law:

The Declaration of Independence was issued to justify a violent revolution, yet its text reveals a deep commitment to legality. The bulk of its grievances accuse the king of violating his own obligations. In our own moment, when the executive's relat...

07/03/2026

John Yoo joined our latest podcast to discuss the purpose of the founders in writing the Declaration of Independence: The document didn’t just proclaim natural rights; it founded a nation.

The National Affairs Podcast, Episode 68: On the Declaration at 250. ...

07/01/2026

The federal government has a habit of imposing mandates on itself that it would never impose on the private sector. Judge G***k writes that these mandates deform the relationship between the public and the government and undermine American public administration:

State-capacity reformers have rightly targeted the procedural barriers that make government inefficient. But they should not ignore the federal government's habit of imposing mandates on itself — from Buy American requirements to affirmative-action g...

06/29/2026

Henry Olsen on Trump's GOP and the future of the right:

The conservative coalition that brought Donald Trump back to power looks increasingly unstable. But this turbulence may be a sign of vitality rather than decline. Once Trump leaves office, this new coalition can only thrive through compromise and pol...

06/26/2026

The American Enterprise Institute's Diana Schaub, one of the nation's foremost Lincoln scholars, wrote for us about Lincoln's masterful campaign of classical rhetoric to prepare the nation for black freedom and citizenship:

Abraham Lincoln's public statements on race during his presidency have often been seen as concessions to political necessity. But a close reading of his speeches, letters, and remarks from the critical years of 1862 to 1864 reveals a masterful campai...

06/25/2026

In our Summer issue, Robert P. Beschel, Jr., writes that presidents of both parties have been increasingly corrupt in their use of the pardon power. Constitutional reform of the federal pardon power is both feasible and overdue:

Recent presidents have drawn criticism for their increasingly liberal (and increasingly corrupt) use of the pardon power. That power is virtually unchecked at the federal level, but many states have found workable ways to limit their governors' cleme...

06/23/2026

Daniel Handel on the Trump administration's demolition of USAID and building a better foreign-aid system: https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/reforming-foreign-assistance

06/22/2026

Leading off our new Summer issue, Benjamin Storey & Jenna Silber Storey consider how to revitalize America's great universities: https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/does-legacy-higher-ed-have-future