Fusionism

The philosophy of "fusionism" was developed at National Review magazine during the 1950s under the editorship of William F. Buckley Jr. and is most identified with his associate editor Frank Meyer. He identified Meyer's synthesis as the most likely best solution of defining conservatism. In his most influential book, In Defense of Freedom, Meyer defined freedom in what Isaiah Berlin would label "negative" terms as the minimization of the use of coercion by the state in its essential role of preventing one person's freedom from intruding upon another's. The state should protect freedom but otherwise leave virtue to individuals. The state has only three legitimate functions – police, military, and operating a legal system, all necessary to control coercion, which is immoral if not restricted. Virtue is critical for society, and freedom must be balanced by responsibility, but both are inherently individual in form. Coerced values cannot be virtuous. Freedom by itself has no goal, no intrinsic end. Freedom is not abstract or utopian, as with the utilitarians, who also make freedom an end rather than a means. In a real society, traditional order and freedom can only exist together. The solution is a philosophical synthesis of both freedom and tradition; the solution to the dilemma is "grasping it by both horns" and accepting the tension between the two. Fusionism found a strong advocate in Ronald Reagan, an early admirer of National Review and an associate of both editors. On assuming the presidency in 1981, he met with conservative leaders around the country in Washington and reminded them of their intellectual roots. After listing "intellectual leaders like Russell Kirk, Friedrich Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, Milton Friedman, James Burnham, [and] Ludwig von Mises" as the ones who "shaped so much of our thoughts," he discussed only one of these influences at length: As he recalled him, the new president outlined the ideas Meyer synthesized as the principles for this new conservative movement. The Meyerian synthesis of freedom and virtue has increasingly faced intellectual competition from a post-liberal school of thought. This perspective, represented by thinkers such as Adrian Vermeule and Sohrab Ahmari, marks a deliberate break from the fusionist tradition by repudiating the (procedural liberalism) associated with the Reagan era. Instead of the state maintaining neutrality toward moral outcomes, this framework posits that the government should function as a vital tool for (nudging) society toward traditional norms and a substantive (Common Good). This shift replaces Meyer’s reliance on individual freedom as the sole path to virtue with a (Schmittian) view of politics, where the state is seen as an active participant in an existential struggle between competing cultural and moral visions. ==Political history==

was able to unite various factions of the American right behind him. Fusionism saw its height during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who had brought together the divided factions after Gerald Ford's loss in the 1976 election. In the immediate aftermath of the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, fusionism was also at its height. The social conservative element of the Republican Party was seen on the ascent (at least with respect to domestic politics) during the presidency of George W. Bush. Increased spending angered traditional conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and libertarians. In addition, the long-standing tensions between neoconservatives and paleoconservatives bubbled over in the wake of the Iraq War. The results of the 2008 elections and the 2008 financial crisis have brought renewed tension between the libertarians and the social conservatives with centrist economic views. Long-term shifts in American conservative thinking following the election of Trump have been described as a "new fusionism" of traditional conservative ideology and right-wing populist themes. protectionism, cultural conservatism, a more realist foreign policy, a conspiracist sub-culture, a repudiation of neoconservatism, reduced efforts to roll back entitlement programs, and a disdain for traditional checks and balances. Beyond these ideological shifts, some analysts argue that the current era represents a move toward (Aristopopulism), a strategic framework that seeks to transcend traditional populist rhetoric. As noted by Julian Blum, this approach—heavily influenced by post-liberal thinkers like Patrick Deneen—emphasizes the creation of a new, (virtuous) elite to occupy strategic positions within the government. This strategy marks a departure from the fusionist goal of dismantling the state; instead, it advocates for the use of administrative power to promote national-conservative ends. A primary example of this is Project 2025, which proposes a systematic overhaul of the federal bureaucracy to ensure it is staffed by cadres loyal to this renewed conservative vision, effectively sidelining the libertarian-conservative neutrality of the past. Accompanying this administrative shift is a fundamental realignment of the movement's economic priorities. While fusionism was historically anchored in a commitment to unfettered free trade and deregulation, a nationalist-conservative faction has increasingly contested this consensus. Think tanks such as American Compass have championed an (industrial policy) that prioritizes domestic labor and national sovereignty over the libertarian emphasis on global market efficiency. This economic reorientation finds significant support among a new generation of tech-entrepreneurs, including Peter Thiel, who view the traditional fusionist obsession with market neutrality as a catalyst for national stagnation. By advocating for a state-led approach to technological development, these actors represent a definitive break from the minimal-government ethos that defined the American Right for over half a century. ==Criticism==

In a polemic, the traditional conservative philosopher Russell Kirk, quoting T. S. Eliot's expression, called libertarians "chirping sectaries". He added that although conservatives and libertarians share opposition to collectivism, the totalist state and bureaucracy, they have otherwise nothing in common. He called the libertarian movement "an ideological clique forever splitting into sects still smaller and odder, but rarely conjugating". Asserting a division between believers in "some sort of transcendent moral order" and "utilitarians admitting no transcendent sanctions for conduct", he included libertarians in the latter category. Kirk had questioned fusionism between libertarians and traditional conservatives that marked much of post-World War II conservatism in the United States. Kirk also berated libertarians for holding up capitalism as an absolute good, arguing that economic self-interest was inadequate to hold an economic system together, and even less adequate to preserve order. He stated that by glorifying the individual, the free market, and the dog-eat-dog struggle for material success, libertarianism weakened community, promoted materialism, and undermined appreciation of tradition, love, learning, and aesthetics, all of which he believed were essential components of true community. Libertarian activist Jerome Tuccille wrote: "Libertarianism is basically Aristotelian (reason, objectivity, individual self-sufficiency) while conservatism is just fundamentally Platonic (privileged elitism, mysticism, collective order)." Author Carl Bogus stated that there were fundamental differences between libertarians and traditional conservatives: Libertarians wanted the market to be unregulated as possible while traditional conservatives believed that big business, if unconstrained, could impoverish national life and threaten freedom. Libertarians also believed that a strong state would threaten freedom, while traditional conservatives believed that a strong state, properly constructed to ensure that not too much power accumulated in any one branch, was necessary to ensure freedom. Fusionism has come under significant attack since 2014, especially by Catholic integralists and postliberals. In 2018, these critiques have also been taken up by mainstream conservative commentators. List of critics • L. Brent Bozell Jr. – traditionalist Catholic political author; Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) alum • Ayn Rand – novelist and founder of Objectivism, who clashed with traditional conservatives and with libertarians • Murray Rothbard – libertarian author and economist; YAF alum • Patrick Buchanan – political commentator and prominent paleoconservative; YAF alum • Sohrab Ahmari – opinion editor of The New York Post ==See also==