Patrick Deneen | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1964-07-21)July 21, 1964 (age 60) |
| Spouse | Inge Deneen |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BA,PhD) University of Chicago |
| Thesis | The Odyssey of Political Theory (1995) |
| Doctoral advisor | Wilson Carey McWilliams |
| Other advisors | Benjamin Barber |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Political science |
| Sub-discipline | |
| School or tradition | |
| Institutions | |
| Notable works | Why Liberalism Failed (2018) |
| Website | patrickjdeneen |
Patrick J. Deneen (born 1964) is an Americanpolitical theorist and author, known for his critical examination ofliberalism and its effect on contemporary society. He is a professor ofpolitical science at theUniversity of Notre Dame, where his work emphasizes the interrelations of political philosophy, culture, and religion.[1]
Deneen's most notable book,Why Liberalism Failed, argues that the principles of liberalism have caused societal fragmentation and the erosion of communal bonds. His scholarship often explores the philosophical underpinnings ofmodern political thought and advocates for more traditional and localized forms of governance. His 2023 book,Regime Change: Towards a Postliberal Future, extends his critique of liberalism and develops a broader view of apostliberal politics.
Patrick J. Deneen was born on July 21, 1964, the son of an insurance executive.[2] He grew up in a Catholic household inWindsor, Connecticut.[3][4] Deneen is of Irish ancestry.[5][6]Deneen was educated atRutgers University, earning a BA in English literature in 1986. He began his doctoral work in political science at theUniversity of Chicago'sCommittee on Social Thought, studying there for one year before returning to Rutgers in 1995. His dissertation, "The Odyssey of Political Theory", was awarded the 1995 American Political Science Association Leo Strauss Award for Best Dissertation in Political Philosophy.[7]
From 1995 to 1997, Deneen was a speechwriter and special advisor toJoseph Duffey, the director of theUnited States Information Agency, appointed by PresidentClinton.[8]
He taught atPrinceton University from 1997 to 2005 as an assistant professor. Deneen joined the faculty atGeorgetown University in 2005 and was the Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Associate Professor of Government until 2012.[9] Deneen was founding director of the Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy housed in the Government Department atGeorgetown University from 2006 to 2012. The Tocqueville Forum was founded in 2006 "to promote civic knowledge and promote inquiry".[10]
He joined the faculty at Notre Dame in 2012, and was promoted to full professor in 2018.[11][12]
Deneen is a scholar of democracy, liberalism, classical and modern political thought, and American political thought. He has been considered as being among prominent conservative intellectuals, particularly for his argument that liberalism—in both its modern and Enlightenment expressions—has failed America.[13]
He is the author of five monographs, co-editor of three volumes, and author of numerous academic articles. He has written for publications such asFirst Things,The American Conservative,The New Atlantis, andFront Porch Republic. Deneen's 2018 bookWhy Liberalism Failed was recommended by former PresidentBarack Obama as part of his summer reading list.[14] Obama wrote that "I found[Why Liberalism Failed] thought-provoking. I don’t agree with most of the author’s conclusions, but the book offers cogent insights into the loss of meaning and community that many in the West feel, issues that liberal democracies ignore at their own peril."[15] Deneen's 2023 bookRegime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future, discusses how liberalism can be replaced with a form of post-liberal conservatism that strives for the "common good".[16]
Deneen was a founding editor of the internet magazineFront Porch Republic, for which he continues to serve as a contributing editor.[17][18] The journal drew inspiration from the writings ofWendell Berry, represented by its motto: "Place. Limits. Liberty." Deneen wrote first posting of the website, published March 2, 2009, entitled "A Republic of Front Porches", which was later re-published in revised form in the 2018 bookLocalism in the Mass Age: A Front Porch Republic Manifesto.[19][20]David Brooks in 2012 classifiedFront Porch Republic as a "paleoconservative" publication influencing the future of conservatism. He described its authors as "suspicious of bigness: big corporations, big government, a big military, concentrated power and concentrated wealth. Writers at that Web site, and at the temperamentally aligned Front Porch Republic, treasure tight communities and local bonds. They're alert to the ways capitalism can erode community. Dispositionally, they are moreWalker Percy than Pat Robertson."[21]
Deneen has cited a number of influences for his form of Catholiccommunitarianism, including his doctoral advisor Wilson Carey McWilliams,[22] Wendell Berry,Christopher Lasch, andAlexis de Tocqueville.[23]
Deneen was a featured speaker at the 2019National Conservatism Conference in Washington, DC. In his address, he was in part critical ofnational conservatism, arguing that American nationalism had been a major objective and achievement of progressives such asWoodrow Wilson,Theodore Roosevelt, andHerbert Croly. He endorsed a nation that promoted more local forms of association: "The nation should be above all devoted to efforts to sustain, foster and support the communities that comprise it, and to combat, where necessary and possible, the modern forces that have proven to be so destructive of those constitutive communities."[24]
In September 2019 Deneen lectured on "The Crisis of Democracy" in theSenate of the Czech Republic as part of an international conference arranged by the voting reform groupInstitute H21.[25] In November 2019, Deneen met Hungarian Prime MinisterViktor Orbán as part of a visit to Budapest to discuss the Hungarian translation ofWhy Liberalism Failed in theHungarian Academy of Sciences.[26][27]
In June 2020, Deneen responded to charges by libertarians of lack of loyalty to American liberal founding principles. Accused of hostility to the individualism of American founding principles byGeorge Will, he pointed to a non-liberal, more communitarian strand in the American tradition.[28]
In July 2020, Deneen engaged in two public debates with libertarian conservatives. At the websiteThe American Compass, Deneen debated with formerCKE Restaurants CEOAndrew Puzder on the social responsibilities of corporations, in which Deneen argued for greater civic, consumer, and environmental corporate responsibility.[29] He also debated conservative columnistJonah Goldberg on the consequences of liberalism, arguing that liberalism had increased social isolation, political fragmentation, andeconomic inequality.[30]
In November 2020 he joined theAmerican Solidarity Party Board of Advisors.[31]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Naval Academy Discussion on Liberalism's Past and Present | |
| Regime Change |
