policies than by the subsidies we hate them and that is the philosophy they put out. when.

>> host: you're watching booktv on c-span2 we're on location at the hoover institution talking with professors and scholars about their work joining us now is peter berkowitz author of constitutional conservatism. doctor, what is on the cover? >> this is a depiction a double detection of the federal capital building 1869. >> host: you write a lot about edmund burke and when did he live in? >> he was one of the

greatest british statesman died 1797 and a member of the wake party. he is most known for that in france ended is an angry attack on the french revolutionaries and denounce them. of course, which is undertaken and in regards is a great threat to freedom so is the defense of freedom properly understood? it is also a classic statement of modern conservative principles. >> who is wrestle kirk? >> a very important american thinker who publish the book

in 1953 called the conservative mind. this was part of up of a renaissance thinking after world war ii. there were two huge strides that jilted a new kind of conservatism. one was the massive expansion of the state the other was the rise of soviets communism this is the greatest representative his books the conservative mind goes from knoll of america but the modern era from great britain in the shows how active and

influential this spirit has been in the making of the modern mind. >> host: one other piece, the federalist, you describe it as the masterpiece of american political fault? >> guest: originally it is 85 newspaper articles the brain trauma of alexander hamilton shortly after the philadelphia convention 1787 had concluded with a proposal of a new constitution, hamilton said it will be sent to the states for ratification and it would be a close battle he listed madison and john jay to write a series of newspaper articles with practical intervention to persuade voters of the york to ratify the new document to come up with the new constitution. the federalist had a practical aim to win

ratification, each one appeared in the new york newspapers. but at the same time time, hamilton of -- they clearly thought part of persuading their fellow citizens to ratify the constitution involved helping them to understand the concept and put into practice universal practice of self government so looking to persuade their citizens hamilton and madison and jay give us a remarkably incisive account both of the principles of self-government and why this particular translation. >> host: we have the three latest tool with feathery. [laughter] how does the current

conservative movement or republican party look when you look at this three legged stool? >> it looks like this. here you can see a little bit of. here you see devotion to a part of the constitution tradition here you can see something of the impact of edmund burke. when i try to show in the book is we need all three. there is wisdom in edmund burke also in the constitutional founding and wisdom in the high points of post-world war two conservativism so to emphasize it takes people back that central to this conservative tradition is political moderation. the book seeks to show

political moderation is a conservative virtue. i am perfectly weld where it is of the very essence of conservatism you are left out of their room, they are extremists stand obstructionists and absolutist and i am perfectly well aware if you gather a roof fall of concern richest the political moderation is the essence you will be greeted with sony's -- stony stairs it would be declared, no, no, no. what needed is not moderation but unwavering devotion and unbending principal. i am aware of what needs to be recovered is not regarded

as a virtue by many thank you could say with this polarized page one things that people do agree upon is moderation is a conservative virtue. so i find support in the post-world war two america system. back in 1790 with their revolution of france for crates i am zero weird defenders of schemes of liberty so pretty limited will be accused of lackingof liberty so pretty limited will be accused of lacking fidelity to their cause because they soberly limit the claims of the government. i am aware moderation will be stigmatized as a virtue of catchwords and compromises stigmatized as the prudent of traders.

so were the 200 years ago so it was an today moderation and my guess 200 years from now it will be easy to malign this virtue. so i guessul at that i also don't understand the virtue of the way it is commonly understood. if i interested moderation to be sticking to the middle-of-the-road or compromising for the sake of compromise then i might agree it could be contemptible but the moderation that i talk about with the american founding is the commitment to recognizing principles and working to accommodate imbalance and calibrate to do as much justice as possible with these principles.

>> host: peter berkowitz in your view, who has done a good job with your political moderation today? >> guest: this book grew out of a concern that very few people were doing a good job. i began to think of this late 2008 and early 2009 as candidate obama has was becoming clear was going to win a historic victory you could see the social conservatives on one side expressing their impatience with libertarian or limited government it you could see or hear limited government conservatives discuss patients with social conservatives.

i begin to wonder, how healthy is this correct cyclically concluded it was quite an unhealthy. around the same time of february 2009 prominent writers wyche said the yorker in "washington post" and "the new york times" began to declare conservatism is dead for 40 years at least. i began to wonder was there way to bring together libertarianism? was there a principal or a set of which social conservatives were devoted with limited government devoted to principles of limitation? i saw the tea party movement in one of the things that was interesting was it

contained a disproportionate number of social conservatives. there are focused on the meeting government. then finally with the run up of campaign 2012 those candidates party's nomination seeking week after week to stake out the most extreme and incendiary positions of the spectrum. all of this compels me to return to the sources so it was a dissatisfaction. but today i do see promising developments. a younger generation of republicans like paul ryan, marco rubio, eric

cantor that seems much more easily to embody said genuine and proper tradition of morality along with the genuine and proper concern with limited government or individual liberty. i should add this is a real challenge. this concern with liberty on one hand and tradition on the other goes back to edward. back to france that liberty depends to get proper respect with order and virtue it is the traditional way to maintain a low order through the cultivation of virtues that we form individuals that are capable of maintaining freedom and a free society and. understood there were never less intentions it means to do as you wish or that it is

what you ought to do. sometimes what you wish to do or which profession you wish to enter it differs. the tensions, they meet each other. but today however, again commend they understand there are claims of tradition, liberty and they are trying to put together policies of a reform agenda to reflect liberty and tradition is also to the attention. >> host: what you think of rand paul? >> i like his energy. i it meyer his focus on limited government. i worry that rand paul will take his focus on limited

government too far in not fully appreciate the claims of tradition, order and virtue. >> host: finally, why do you have the word constitution? >> guest: because it is our american tradition in the principles of the brigade that are so important are inscribed in our constitution. i think these are excellent principles. i would argue for them on the philosophical ground but were also argue because they are part of the tradition that has inscribed these principles and that gives another ground for being grateful to them to defend them to have the reform agenda. >> host: and constitutional conservatism written by peter berkowitz