Commentary
Across Civitas Outlook and the broader media landscape, our scholars provide timely insights into issues of national significance.

Ignore the Bluster – Donald Trump Is Not an Imperialist
MAGA foreign policy is driven by a haunting sense of America’s vulnerability and decline.
Content

The American Dream Is Not a Coin Flip, and Wages Have Not Stagnated
This paper challenges the prevailing narrative that stagnant wages are causing the American dream to fade. It contrasts subjective public opinion with revised objective intergenerational mobility measures.

Political Economy and the Rise of Commercial Humanism
Western attitudes toward commerce have transformed from early moral condemnation to a modern appreciation that sees trade as socially beneficial.

Rational Nondelegation
The nondelegation doctrine, which forbids Congress from transferring excessive power to the executive branch, has risen from the dead.
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Liberal Democracy Reexamined: Leo Strauss on Alexis de Tocqueville
This article explores Leo Strauss’s thoughts on Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1954 “Natural Right” course transcript.

Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road To Four-Year College Success
Despite a relatively rich literature on the community college pathway, the research base on the quality differences between these institutions has been decidedly thin.


How Federal Lands Can Be Used to Ease the Housing Crisis
ESG Would Rain on Spring Break
In Southern L.A., These Cities Are Making a Comeback
Jewish Geography
The Democrats’ Coming Civil War
Trump’s Worthy Effort to Rein In ‘Independent’ Agencies