Evening Conversation | Has Liberalism Failed? with David Brooks and Patrick Deneen

Has Liberalism Failed?

On Monday, May 7, 2018, the Trinity Forum and Pepperdine University School of Public Policy hosted an Evening Conversation with New York Times columnist David Brooks and scholar Patrick Deneen at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. There was a thought-provoking discussion surrounding the themes of Deneen’s newly-released book, Why Liberalism Failed.

At a time when civic fracture has alienated citizens and fueled a yearning for a strong leader, some have questioned whether our liberal democratic order has contained the seeds of its own demise. Even as material wealth continues to rise, many people feel bypassed by opportunities, estranged from each other, and unmoored from a sense of spiritual purpose or communal obligation. Deneen and Brooks will discuss the nature of our challenge, the prospects for the future of liberalism, and the hope of a renewed civic flourishing.

David Brooks
is an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, teaches at Yale University, and leads a new Aspen Institute initiative focused on reducing civic fragmentation. He appears regularly on PBS NewsHour, NPR's All Things Considered, and NBC's Meet The Press. He is author of Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There; On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense; and The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement; and most recently, The Road to Character.
Patrick Deneen
is Associate Professor of Political Science and the David A. Potenziani Memorial Chair of Constitutional Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He serves as Acting Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University. Previously, he taught at Princeton and Georgetown Universities. He also served as principal Speechwriter and Special Assistant to the Director of the US Information Agency. He has written and edited several books including The Odyssey of Political Theory, Democratic Faith, and Conserving America?, as well as newly-released Why Liberalism Failed. He also serves on the editorial boards of Perspectives on Political Science and American Political Thought, and is a contributing editor to The American Conservative.
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