By I. Boone Posted August 25, 2005

As political controversies arise over our policy in Iraq, the future of the Supreme Court, and partisan choices on a range of issues, the scholars who study these things respond (if at all) in the arcane, irrelevant, and misleading language of social science, often disguising a pre-ordained agenda. For 25 years the Claremont Institute has sought to counter the political science orthodoxy with its sponsorship of panels at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.

This year, in Washington, DC, September 1-3, the Claremont Institute presents nine panels on a wide variety of current policy and timeless issues, all illuminated by the Institute's focus on the eternal truths of the American Founding. We will feature panels on the Supreme Court, foreign policy, blogging and self-government, Social Security reform, conservative principles, the origins of liberalism, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Hobbes, and Alexis de Tocqueville.

Participants include the Powerline bloggers Scott Johnson and Paul Mirrengoff, National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru, Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo, foreign policy analyst Michael Ledeen, the Washington Times' Bill Gertz, other numerous established and emerging scholars, as well as Institute Fellows and staff.

Our panels can be viewed online, at http://www.claremont.org/writings/05apsa.html. We include an excerpt from Institute Distinguished Fellow Harry V. Jaffa's critique of the Supreme Court. It turns out that even some conservative members of the Court reject the principles of the American Founding, as thoroughly as the liberals do. We are a long way from a jurisprudence that takes its bearings by the highest standards of statesmanship and constitutionalism. Forty-one years ago, Professor Jaffa coauthored with then-Phoenix attorney William H. Rehnquist the APSA address of one Senator (and then-presidential nominee) Barry Goldwater, who critiqued the Supreme Court. That speech and a link to APSA President Herman Pritchett's response are also posted on our website.

Because of their focus on the fundamental principles of American politics and their current political relevance, our panels have won a following from serious scholars who are tired of establishment scholarship. A series of papers presented at one conference has now been published as a book, co-edited by John Marini and Ken Masugi, The Progressive Revolution in Politics and Political Science. Numerous scholarly publications have resulted from our meetings. Moreover, we have set a standard of excellence for both conservatism and scholarship that is unmatched.

For more information on the APSA Annual Meeting, visit its website, at www.apsanet.org. In the past, people have attended panels without displaying a membership badge, though registration is recommended.