Progressivism, Partisanship, and the End of Politics

Harvey Manfield provides an astute analysis of the Progressive claim to transcend partisanship which ultimately turns out to a dream about the decisive end of politics itself. Peter has made a compelling case on our blog that we’re stuck with virtue and the corollary to this view is that we’re stuck with politics (and parties) as well. Also, it often turns out that the pretense of ideologically neutral bipartisanship is little more than a thinly disguised version of ideologically laden political committments that are peremptorily insulated from public debate. I discuss Obama’s bi-partisanship and the stubborness of party here .