Daniel Wiser
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@NationalAffairs senior associate editor, reader, writer. Email: dwiser@nationalaffairs.com
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Articles by Daniel Wiser
The Declaration of Independence Didn’t Just Proclaim Natural Rights. It Founded a Nation.
July 02, 2026 In this 250thanniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, we are rightly celebrating its proclamation of natural rights. But the document's other core purpose — founding a nation — deserves equal attention. Indeed, the Declaration was in its way a kind of constitution. In its indictment of King George III, it implicitly laid out the structural blueprint for a new government.
Public Libraries and America's Reading Crisis
April 16, 2026 Americans are reading less than ever. Policymakers know this is a problem, but they rarely look to public libraries for solutions. Instead, libraries have embraced an agenda of redundancy, morphing into technology centers, daytime homeless shelters, and all-purpose community centers. It's time for libraries to return to their traditional mission: offering Americans serious books and a place for quiet study.
AI Chatbots and the Future of Free Speech
March 05, 2026 In an era of accelerating digital technologies, the jurisprudence of free speech has been utterly transformed. Our ideas about what the right to speech amounts to, what counts as speech, and whether all forms of speech are equally protected are all in flux. The resulting inflation of free-speech law has made it impossible to hold tech companies accountable for obvious misconduct.
Federal Agencies and the Future of Presidential Power
November 20, 2025 In principle, federal agency missions are set when agencies are created, and so remain rooted in the ambitions of the president and the Congress who decided they were necessary. But in reality, political change tends to transform agencies' missions in both subject and scope. Understanding how this occurs can clarify the nature of presidential power and the character of constitutional evolution.
Civic Education: A Path to Unity
October 23, 2025 Higher education has a civic mission. The public knows that, but faculty and administrators seem to have lost sight of it. Instead of transmitting shared civic principles, universities often frame civics through polarized partisan lenses. Restoring civic education to its unifying role would require teaching democratic practices and constitutional ideals in ways that encourage pluralism rather than entrench division.
The Golem, Frankenstein's Monster, and AI: Applying Ancient Wisdom to Modern Tech
August 04, 2025 Has artificial intelligence advanced to the point where robots possess creative abilities and impulses? If so, or if that moment comes, what could it mean for humanity, and what would it demand of us? These are questions at the cutting edge of innovation. Yet to best address them, we need to look to the deepest roots of our society's moral wisdom. Guest Michael Rosen joins us to discuss how Jewish tradition and legend can inform our approach to technology.
Russell Kirk and the American Revolution
July 02, 2025 As the American republic approaches the 250th anniversary of her birth, conservatives face a serious paradox: How can we ever hope to preserve a revolutionary foundation? The thought of Russell Kirk offers an especially rich source of insight regarding that peculiar paradox. Kirk saw the Revolution as compelling the founders to remember their great inheritance — just as we should today.
The Forgotten History of the GOP: Is It Time to Bring Back Fusion Voting?
May 22, 2025 Whether it's foreign-policy hawks on the right, cultural conservatives on the left, or fiscal conservatives anywhere, the reductive binary of today's electoral options can be deeply frustrating for intraparty minority groups. Considering how various 19th-century movements combined to form the Republican Party offers some paths out of that frustration. Guest Jennifer Dresden joins us to discuss the forgotten history of fusion voting and how it might serve disaffected voters today.
The Left’s Embrace of Minority Rule
Media April 13, 2025 The left in America has long accused the right of advancing minority rule and rejecting the principles of democracy. Though there is some truth to that charge, it applies as much to the left itself as it does to the right. A closer look at housing and infrastructure regulations, public-employee unions, professional licensing, and the governance of higher education suggests that "minoritarianism" pervades our politics.
Putting Families First: Why Conservatives Need a New Technology Agenda
February 16, 2025 Technology is a force for change in the world, both positive and negative. Its ability to rapidly transform our way of life poses an inherent challenge to families. If conservatives wish to restore the family as the foundation of our civilizational order, they must develop a comprehensive theory of technological change. Without it, new technologies will continue to heap disaster on the American family.
Martin Luther King, Conservative?
January 19, 2025 At first glance, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Russell Kirk do not have all that much in common. Yet it is striking that King and Kirk converged on certain first principles that rightfully mark King himself as part of a broader tradition of philosophical conservatism in America — one from which today's left and right could both stand to learn. Guest John Wood, Jr., joins us to discuss how both King and Kirk's philosophical conservatism transcended ideology.
Culture of Death: The Troubling Rise of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
September 29, 2024 In a disturbing development, assisted suicide and euthanasia have become more prevalent across the West in recent decades. Government and health authorities are encouraging voluntary death, even for patients who do not suffer from a terminal illness but are afflicted by disabilities, poverty, or loneliness. Guest Aaron Rothstein joins us to discuss the radical assumptions about life, death, and human nature that underlie the practice of euthanasia.
The Cost of America’s Illegal-Immigration Surge
August 11, 2024 The chaos at the border in recent years has cast into stark relief one of the central issues surrounding illegal immigration: its fiscal costs. Unfortunately, most discussions on the subject tend to be filled with misconceptions, half-truths, and even outright falsehoods. The evidence indicates that illegal immigrants are almost certainly a net drain on our public fisc — but not for the reasons many activists put forth.
Can Pro-family Policy Unite the Right?
June 23, 2024 Politics requires building coalitions in order to win elections. For those on the right, this means there is no alternative but to pursue some kind of fusionism among its competing elements. A revitalized fusionism would not look quite like the right's prior successful coalitions, however: It would need to account for 21st-century realities, which means it will need to put family policy at the forefront of its agenda.
How to Worry, Not Panic, about Artificial Intelligence
April 28, 2024 The emergence of generative artificial intelligence in the last few years has drawn a growing chorus of advocates offering proposals for how to regulate this new technology. Many of them want to treat AI as an entirely new kind of challenge that calls for entirely new regulatory tools. But starting from scratch is unlikely to lead us to effective regulation. Instead, regulators should begin from our existing tools and take the time to see what new modes of regulation might be needed.
The American Founding Has Gone Missing from High-school History Classes
March 17, 2024 The textbooks most commonly used in high-school history classes are badly deficient. These books, which shape the rising generation’s perception of the country they are inheriting, often leave out the core ideas that defined the American founding and the nation’s ideals. To recover America’s sense of itself, it’s crucial to teach high-school students the connection between ideas and events.
How to Think about Voting in 2024
February 18, 2024 Voting should be straightforward: Figure out which candidate or party best fits one's political views or interests, and vote accordingly. But the last few elections have shown many Americans that it's not nearly that simple. We could benefit from a new framework for thinking about voting, and not just for elections in which we find ourselves especially bewildered. Guest Bryan McGraw joins us to discuss a new philosophy of voting and how to apply it in this year's elections.
The Uniquely American Classical-Education Movement
December 10, 2023 Classical schools are distinctly American. Just as our country was founded both as a modern engineering project and as a recollection of ancient political philosophy and the traditional rights of Englishmen, the contemporary classical-education movement is an act of construction — one might say an invented tradition — seeking to revivify and participate in something that once lived, and perhaps could again.
America’s Party System and the Problem of Union
November 05, 2023 What type of party system best suits the American regime? What can we do to cultivate such a party system? Amid the current tumult and polarization of our politics, much of it the result of the degradation of our parties, it behooves us to seek answers to these questions, and to learn from past efforts to give shape to the American party system. Guest Daniel Stid joins us to discuss reforms to the party system that could restore coalition building and union to American politics.
Drugs Are Killing More Americans than Ever Before. How Should Policymakers Respond?
September 10, 2023 Almost nobody is taking America's drug crisis seriously. We talk about it plenty, but that talk rarely acknowledges what distinguishes today's drug epidemic from past ones: Those earlier crises inflicted many more or less equally weighty harms — to users' health, to families, to communities. In this crisis, one problem dwarfs all others: death. Drugs have changed, probably for good. They now kill their users.
Biden’s Student-loan Entitlement
August 13, 2023 As his term has progressed, President Joe Biden has acted more aggressively on student-loan forgiveness than anyone might have expected. And even now, the scope of what he proposes is not obvious to many. Little-noticed changes to income-driven repayment rules could dwarf the more familiar loan-forgiveness agenda, transforming the federal student-loan system and, over time, rendering it unsustainable.
The Complex Legacy of Slavery and the Constitution
June 12, 2023 Slavery's relation to the American Constitution has always been a point of great contention. The debate has never been resolved because the reality is complex: The Constitution did lend legal support to the practice of slavery, but it did not lend the institution legitimacy. The difference has a lot to tell us about the American political tradition. Guest Michael Zuckert joins us to discuss why the Constitution was "admittedly imperfect, but not evil.
A Class-based Approach to College Admissions
May 21, 2023 If the Supreme Court curtails racial preferences in college admissions, Americans should celebrate the triumph of the truth that people should be treated as individuals rather than as members of racial groups. But we should also recognize that good-faith efforts to uplift economically disadvantaged students of all races help fulfill another cherished American goal: facilitating social mobility.
What the Federalist Papers Can Teach Us Today
March 05, 2023 The Federalist was written more than two centuries ago with a particular purpose: persuading Americans to back the Constitution. Yet far from being a period piece, it initiated nothing less than a revolution in political thought — one that fundamentally redefined how we understand popular government. Grasping this point could help today’s Americans make better sense of our society’s contemporary challenges.
How a Redistricting Case Could Alter American Democracy
February 05, 2023 This spring, in the case of Moore v. Harper, the Supreme Court will decide whether and when state judges can step in to draw congressional district maps. The case takes up the so-called “independent state legislature” theory. At issue is nothing less than the traditional model of American redistricting, in which the people’s representatives, not partisan activists and courts, craft district maps.
How Political Speech Unites Us
December 11, 2022 Neither free-speech absolutism nor censorship will solve the problems that surround political speech today. Instead, we need a renewed commitment to the citizen’s task of finding common ground, even and especially between factions that seem irreconcilable. We need to relearn how to rule and be ruled in turn. Guests Jenna and Ben Storey join us to discuss how political speech can overcome social division and advance the common good.
Helping the Homemaker
October 23, 2022 Pressuring families to keep both parents in the workforce while their children are young may be beneficial for GDP, but it often harms families. Both policymakers and employers should recognize that many families want one parent to stay home with the kids in their early years, and should find ways to make that possible. Guest Ivana Greco joins us to discuss policy reforms that would encourage and aid families with a breadwinner and a homemaker.
A Principled Approach to Conservative Family Policy
August 07, 2022 The question of the proper role of government once unified the right, but now it divides it. Some conservatives are increasingly open to an assertive role for the state, particularly in supporting family formation. But what rules and standards should define that role? The principle of subsidiarity can be of enormous help in tackling this question and in shaping conservative family policy. Guest Andy Smarick joins us to define subsidiarity and discuss how it might inform policymakers.
John Jay, Conservative Revolutionary
July 06, 2022 What does it mean to be a conservative in a time of profound upheaval, when it is no longer clear what can or even should be conserved? Few Americans have more to teach us on that front than John Jay — a man who modeled throughout his remarkable life and work the vocation of a conservative in a time of disruption.
Saving Kids from Big Tech with Chris Griswold
June 21, 2022 The information revolution has produced the most dramatic economic and social transformations since industrialization. Like that preceding revolution, it has yielded some great benefits but has also generated some unanticipated and unacceptable harms that are particularly acute among one of our nation’s most vulnerable populations: our children.
Originalism and the Supreme Court with Will Haun
June 05, 2022 Constitutionalist court watchers, judges, and scholars are now engaged in an intense debate over how to apply originalism and textualism in practice. The work of late legal scholar Alexander Bickel points toward a tradition-based originalism that could offer a path through that debate. His approach calls on our shared national memory to help us achieve what the conservative judicial critique sought in the first place.
The Case for Dynamism with Ryan Streeter
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , Ryan Streeter & Evan Myers March 06, 2022 The populist turn of the American right has created a policy affinity between nationalist conservatives and mainstream progressives. Both seem to agree that an emphasis on dynamism has undermined our economy’s ability to prioritize workers, families, and communities. But in fact, the trouble facing America’s heartland is more likely the result of a lack of dynamism than an excess of it.
How the Founders Balanced Liberty and Power with Allen Guelzo
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , Allen Guelzo & Evan Myers February 20, 2022 How to balance state and national power was perhaps the single most important and challenging question confronting the early republic. The way the framers took up that question, and the approach they landed on for addressing it, can help us appreciate just how unlikely the emergence of the United States as we now know it really was.
How Conservatives Are Confronting Climate Change with Alex Bozmoski and Nate Hochman
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , Alex Bozmoski , Nate Hochman & Evan Myers January 09, 2022 Conservatives have been on the sidelines of climate-policy debates for several decades now. In recent years, however, a new force has appeared in climate politics: the Eco-right.
Is Bitcoin the Answer to Inflation? (with Avik Roy)
Avik Roy , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Evan Myers December 05, 2021 Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have few fans in Washington, but thanks to increasing worries over the long-term stability of the dollar, they have piqued the interest of some major investors. In an era of rapid growth in deficits and debt and rising inflation, cryptocurrencies may be pointing us toward a new monetary order.
Why Roe Must Go with Carter Snead
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , O. Carter Snead & Evan Myers November 07, 2021 The case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — which the Supreme Court will hear this term — offers the cleanest opportunity since 1973 for the Court to revisit its abortion jurisprudence. A review of that jurisprudence shows that, regardless of anyone’s views of abortion itself, basic fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law demands it be overturned.
Former Representative Keith Rothfus on How to Fix Congress
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , Daniel Kane & Keith Rothfus October 03, 2021 Few would dispute the observation that Congress is now dysfunctional. But why has that happened? Considering the House of Representatives in particular suggests three ways in which Congress has gone off track: substantive, procedural, and structural. Each in turn points to a set of reforms that might help the House recover its central place in our constitutional system.
What Immigration Can't Do with Steven Camarota
Steven A. Camarota , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane September 05, 2021 The idea that immigration is the solution to the aging of American society has become an article of faith among those arguing for ever-higher levels of new arrivals. It’s not a crazy argument; it just happens to be incorrect. In reality, the impact immigrants can have on population aging is small. Immigration certainly makes our population larger, but not younger.
Does Industrial Policy Work? (with Mike Watson)
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , Daniel Kane & Mike Watson August 08, 2021 In recent years, some on the right have argued that the national interest requires policymakers to coordinate key sectors of the economy, and that this would mark a return to a proud American tradition. But the history of American economic policy provides as much a warning as a guide for these would-be planners, and should leave them wary of attempts to direct the economy from the top down.
The Mystery of Ben Franklin with Ralph Lerner
Ralph Lerner , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane July 04, 2021 Benjamin Franklin presents us with layers of confounding mystery. And that’s how he wanted it. From his earliest creation — a set of letters to the editor of the New-England Courant written under the pseudonym Silence Dogood — he hid himself behind masks that let him speak frankly yet always ambiguously. Both what he said and how are keys to his enduring appeal.
America's Two Educational Traditions with Rita Koganzon
Rita Koganzon , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane June 13, 2021 When we discuss education in America, we almost invariably refer to schools. But Americans have always been ambivalent about whether parents or a formal teaching establishment should ultimately be responsible for the education of the rising generation. That ambivalence itself offers a key to understanding America’s endless education debates.
Restoring Trust in Our Elections with Brad Raffensperger
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , Daniel Kane & Brad Raffensperger May 02, 2021 The crisis in which our country found itself following the 2020 election was in many respects unprecedented. Yet it also built on a years-long pattern by which losing politicians have sown mistrust in our elections. We must now wonder if every candidate who loses a major election will refuse to concede and instead set out to raise money and build support on the back of unfounded claims of corruption.
Home Schooling and the Future of Education with Michael McShane
Michael Q. McShane , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane April 04, 2021 The 2019-2020 school year will be remembered as the year we all became home schoolers. But well before the pandemic, the popularity of home schooling exceeded its actual prevalence, as fiscal and logistical challenges often posed insurmountable obstacles for potential home-school families.
Humility Rightly and Wrongly Understood with Elizabeth Corey
Elizabeth Corey , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane March 07, 2021 “Cultural humility” has recently joined diversity, inclusion, equity, and intersectionality in the social-justice lexicon. An entire social movement is hidden in those two words — one that is far from innocuous. To prevent the concept from undermining our educational institutions, we need to see cultural humility for what it really is and understand the challenge it poses to traditional academic ideals.
Trump's Legacy with Casey Burgat and Matt Glassman
Daniel Wiser, Jr. , Daniel Kane , Casey Burgat & Matt Glassman February 07, 2021 What will be Donald Trump’s lasting effects on American politics? Three conventional wisdoms have arisen in response to that question. In one view, Trump was an aberration, and his imprint will fade as President Biden reverses his executive actions and his sad attempts to remain relevant in retirement prove futile.
Building Bridges to Economic Opportunity with Glenn Hubbard
Glenn Hubbard , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane January 03, 2021 The gains from trade and technological advance in recent decades have been enormous. But the transformation has had some downsides, too. These drawbacks have transformed our politics in recent decades, and the economic disaster accompanying the coronavirus pandemic has only magnified them.
The Future of Our Political Parties with Steven Teles
Steven M. Teles , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane December 06, 2020 As America’s political parties have been increasingly captured by their ideological extremes in recent decades, the space for cross-party coalition building has shrunk. Some reformers argue that only third parties can help, but this solution has never been realistic in our system.
Can We Trust the Polls? (with Karlyn Bowman)
Karlyn Bowman , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane November 01, 2020 Elections in America and around the world in recent years have raised concerns about the reliability of opinion polling. But the challenges facing the industry go beyond simple reliability and predictive power, revealing a chasm between pollsters and the public they observe that poses a threat to the credibility and usefulness of opinion surveys in our democracy.
Should States Declare Bankruptcy? (with David Skeel)
David Skeel , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane October 04, 2020 This year's public-health crisis has ravaged state budgets across the country, as revenues plummet while spending explodes. For some states, this has dramatically worsened pre-existing fiscal problems caused by decades of mismanagement of pension obligations. Guest David Skeel argues that in order to help those states in particular, Congress should create the option of state-government bankruptcy, which current law does not allow.
Reforming Government before the Next Crisis with Philip Wallach
Philip Wallach , Daniel Wiser, Jr. & Daniel Kane September 06, 2020 When we step back and consider America’s 21st-century politics, our responses to crises — in 2001, 2008-09, and this year — vastly exceed “normal” times in terms of importance. This change of perspective should compel us to reject the idea that polarization is the defining feature of our era, and to reassess our understanding of the American political system’s capacities and infirmities.
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