In advance of this week's much anticipated First Things lecture by Notre Dame professor and author Patrick Deneen on Aristopopulism, and Dan McCarthy's magisterial essay proposing what could be considered a variation on the theme, let's take a look at some context behind the term, which I popularized in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about why conservatives should be wary of big business.
The phrase describes a two-fold disposition towards preserving what is both beautiful and common within the American experience—a marriage of grit and brains, democratic manners and liberal learning. Imagine Edmund Burke meeting Rooster Cogburn. This synthesis, which served as the backbone of Tocqueville's America, also happens to be a winning temperament for Republicans wanting to hold Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania and conservatives looking to build a new political program that protects jobs, supports families, and strengthens the middle class.
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