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ISMA Hosts its Second Annual 'Liberalism for the 21st Century' Conference
The UnPopulist's publisher will build on last year's highly successful event and once again bring together thinkers and advocates fighting…
 • 
Shikha Dalmia
The Administration’s Contempt for the Rule of Law Has Roots in the Pre-Civil Rights Era
Defenders of liberal democracy cannot succumb to Donald Trump's attempts to scare them into inaction
 • 
Steve Chapman
3
MAGA Pundits Are Triggered That Superman Is an Immigrant
But he is an embodiment of America’s essential goodness and promise
 • 
Jacob Grier
6
The Truth Is, There Are No Legal Limits on an American President’s Warmaking
And the public no longer really cares about distant wars whose bill won’t come due for a while
 • 
Trevor Burrus
2
Trump Is Gutting Every Source of America's Greatness
His attacks on the country's painstakingly built diplomatic, scientific, and human capital will turn it into a second-rate power
 • 
Larry Diamond
14
Most Popular
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The War on the Woke Trumps the Truth for Many Heterodox Thinkers
 • Radley Balko
105
There Is No Piecing Back Our Badly Shattered Constitutional Order
 • Andy Craig
55
Trump's America Is in a Free Fall—Not a Slippery Slope—to Tyranny
 • Larry Diamond
28
The Free Press' Passage Into the Dark Side
 • Matt Johnson
123

The UnPopulist Presents:

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Ben Franklin Declared His Independence from his Inheritance of Nasty Superstitions and Became an Enlightenment Man
A Fourth of July revisiting of a Founding Father’s family connection to the Salem Witch Trials
 • 
Andy Craig
3
Crypto Is the Perfect Currency for Trump's Corrupt Pay-to-Play Presidency
He is using this digital medium in unprecedented ways to monetize his power and personally enrich himself
 • 
Robert Tracinski
10
Can an Israeli State Poised for Constant Violence Deliver True Peace to Jews?
The Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran might be a military success but the deteriorating plight of the Palestinians may well produce more future conflict
 • 
Michael G. Holzman
26
The Supreme Court's Ban on Universal Injunctions Will Kneecap Americans Fighting for their Rights
The conservative justices have issued a sweeping and ideological ruling that'll allow the president and government at all levels to get away with…
 • 
Anthony Sanders
7
Astonishingly, the DOJ is Suing the Entire Maryland Federal Bench After its Judges Stopped Trump's Lawless Deportations: An Executive Watch…
Our late-June selection of the president's latest and greatest assaults on the rule of law
 • 
Robert Tracinski
6
Free Trade Is Flourishing, Just Not in America
The aggressive protectionism of Trump 2.0 will make the country poorer, more corrupt, and globally isolated, warns trade policy expert Scott Lincicome
 • 
Shikha Dalmia
The Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism Hosts its Second Annual 'Liberalism for the 21st Century' Conference
The UnPopulist's publisher will build on last year's highly successful event and bring together intellectuals and advocates fighting authoritarianism…
 • 
Shikha Dalmia
Iran’s Islamic Regime Is a Menace to Its Own People
But Iranians themselves need to change it, not outside powers
 • 
Mohamad Machine-Chian
13
Trump's Iran Strike Shows the Urgent Need for Congress to Claw Back its War Powers
The president's unprovoked, unilateral attack builds on the terrible and unconstitutional precedent set by his predecessors
 • 
Ben Raderstorf
9
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The latest from
Shikha Dalmia
ISMA Hosts its Second Annual 'Liberalism for the 21st Century' Conference
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Berny Belvedere
Musk Might be the First Domino to Fall in Trump’s Unwieldy MAGA Coalition
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Aaron Ross Powell
How America Created an Enormous and Abusive Surveillance State: A Conversation with Patrick Eddington
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Thomas Shull
The UnPopulist Staff’s 2024 Holiday Recommendations
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Musk Might be the First Domino to Fall in Trump’s Unwieldy MAGA Coalition
Now that Trump has to govern, his massive political vulnerabilities are becoming apparent
 • 
Berny Belvedere
7
Three Postliberal Paths to Autocracy: A Video Roundup
Our late-June collection of clips on where tech monarchists, NatCons, and Catholic integralists want to take America
 • 
Landry Ayres
3
Abraham Lincoln Wasn't Born an Abolitionist, He Became One
We live in polarized times when freedom is threatened but this Juneteenth we should remind ourselves that we have overcome far worse
 • 
Manisha Sinha
18
Free Trade Has Stronger Intellectual Roots in the Left than the Right
Before the Cold War, free market liberals and Marxists both saw commerce as a force for global peace and equitable prosperity, a historian shows
 • 
Matthew McManus
1
Trump Commandeers the National Guard to Militarize the Immigration Police State: An Executive Watch Roundup
Our mid-June selection of the president's latest and greatest assaults on the rule of law
 • 
Robert Tracinski
5

Liberalism & Religion

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The Faithless Are the More Reliable Liberals
Enlightenment rationalists who rejected revealed dogma in favor of scientific inquiry paved the way for open, tolerant societies
 • 
Robert Tracinski
41
Contrary to Western Understanding, Islam Is a Liberal Faith
No religion can be properly understood based on its most extreme proponents
 • 
Hassan Abbas
 and 
Zahra Hassan
42
An Illiberal Hinduism Is a Contradiction in Terms
Hindu fundamentalists are destroying everything that makes their faith unique and profound
 • 
Shashi Tharoor
11
Liberalism and Catholicism: Friends Not Foes
Both traditions are rooted in a belief in universal human dignity
 • 
James M. Patterson
10
Buddhism and Liberalism Are Mutually Reinforcing
The faith’s emphasis on accepting impermanence offers an ethical framework for a dynamic, open society
 • 
Aaron Ross Powell
9
Liberal Individualism Has Deep Roots in Protestantism
Illiberalism cannot be reconciled with the core tenets of the faith
 • 
Rachel Ferguson
3
Liberal Ideals Can Strengthen, Not Weaken, Judaism
And the Jewish faith’s emphasis on mitzvah is an antidote to self-absorbed individualism
 • 
Elliott Malamet
1

Fireproofing the Presidency

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America Desperately Needs a National Anti-SLAPP Law to Stop Censorship by Bad Political Actors
It’ll help prevent the weaponization of frivolous lawsuits against critics and opponents
 • 
Ken White
12
State Constitutions Are Far Better at Constraining Executive Power and Defending Rights than the Federal One
Committed liberals should look to them for guidance on structural reforms to stop Uncle Sam’s attacks on American liberties
 • 
Anthony Sanders
Trump Will Drive His Dubious Appointments Through the Vacancies Act's Many Loopholes
Congress and courts can still plug some of them to prevent him from stacking the federal government with deep partisans and loyalists
 • 
Thomas A. Berry
2
How to Stop President-Elect Trump’s Potentially Abusive Domestic Deployments of the Military
Current law unfortunately allows him wide latitude to call in soldiers but they can’t run roughshod over the rights of Americans
 • 
Scott R. Anderson
13
Congress Should Curb the Illicit Use of Pardon Powers by a Rogue President
Reforming lobbying laws and FOIA can check the worst abuses despite the Supreme Court’s ill-considered immunity ruling
 • 
Kim Wehle
9
Act Now to Prevent Trump From Weaponizing the FCC Against Political Opponents
If reelected, Trump will be even more dangerous because previous presidents have left a bad precedent of regulatory abuses that he'll turbocharge
 • 
Paul Matzko
4
Trump’s Schedule F Will Create a Civil Service that Serves His Whim Not the Rule of Law
We urgently need reforms to prevent an executive from issuing executive orders to turn bureaucrats into loyal foot soldiers
 • 
Don Moynihan
38
How We Can Stiffen the Spine of DOJ Prosecutors Who Donald Trump Would Need to Prosecute his Political Enemies
The Supreme Court’s immunity ruling weakened oversight over the abuse of executive authority but we can salvage some constitutional guardrails
 • 
Conor Gaffney
 and 
Genevieve Nadeau
4

ISMA Conference

View all
The Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism Hosts its Second Annual 'Liberalism for the 21st Century' Conference
The UnPopulist's publisher will build on last year's highly successful event and bring together intellectuals and advocates fighting authoritarianism…
 • 
Shikha Dalmia
In the Age of Social Media, Can We Use the Marketplace of Ideas to Serve Truth Not Lies?
Without content moderation, sites would be unusable and yet that opens them to attacks by aggrieved but powerful political players
3
Are There Better Foreign Policy Alternatives to Liberal Internationalism?
Despite its internal contradictions and hypocrisy, ditching it will lead to a more cynical and grim world
2
What Kind of Electoral Reforms Would Stop America's Slide Toward Authoritarianism?
Replacing its winner-take-all system with proportional representation would help but it'll have to be engineered carefully
8
Climate Catastrophism Leads to Illiberalism but Doesn’t Solve the Problem
There are liberal solutions available but the right’s denialism and the left’s alarmism are getting in the way
2

World

View all
Can an Israeli State Poised for Constant Violence Deliver True Peace to Jews?
The Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran might be a military success but the deteriorating plight of the Palestinians may well produce more future conflict
 • 
Michael G. Holzman
26
Iran’s Islamic Regime Is a Menace to Its Own People
But Iranians themselves need to change it, not outside powers
 • 
Mohamad Machine-Chian
13
Trump's Iran Strike Shows the Urgent Need for Congress to Claw Back its War Powers
The president's unprovoked, unilateral attack builds on the terrible and unconstitutional precedent set by his predecessors
 • 
Ben Raderstorf
9
South Africans of All Hues Are Laughing at Trump’s Ridiculous Claims of ‘White Genocide’
But that cannot stop the damage he is doing to their economy and psyche
 • 
Eve Fairbanks
4
U.K.’s Labour Government and Tories Are Both Abandoning Liberal Pluralism in the Wake of Nigel Farage’s Victory
Instead of fighting right-wing populism and nativism, they are surrendering to it
 • 
Alan Elrod
1
Addressing Cultural Fears Could Renew Public Support for Immigration
A multi-national survey found that requiring immigrants to integrate overcomes much of the opposition to opening the door to them
 • 
Morris Levy
 and 
Matthew Wright
6
A Liberal Victory Does Not Mean Populist Furies Are Dead in Canada
For that, the party will have to correct its abysmal governing failure and deliver economic results
 • 
Janet Bufton
4
The World Shouldn't Ignore that Hamas Terrorizes Innocents in Gaza, Too
Lumping every Gazan with this brutal outfit is morally wrong and is leading to catastrophe
 • 
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar
 and 
Ahmed Alrayyis
19
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