Yuval Levin
Verified- Editor, National Affairs
- Senior Editor, The New Atlantis
- Contributing Editor, National Review
Washington, D.C.
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Yuval Levin
A Worthwhile Package of Senate Reforms
Two senators have proposed a series of modest but significant reforms of Senate rules to allow broadly bipartisan bills to move faster in that chamber.
Are We Really on the Path to AGI?
Sometimes, a curious amateur’s eye can discern tensions in the work of professionals that the intensity of their focused labor keeps them from seeing clearly themselves. Such amateurs point to questions more than answers, but innocent questions sometimes clear a path toward answers, too. This is the spirit in which what follows is put forward.
Are We Really on the Path to AGI?
Sign in or Subscribe Now for audio version Sometimes, a curious amateur’s eye can discern tensions in the work of professionals that the intensity of their focused labor keeps them from seeing clearly themselves. Such amateurs point to questions more than answers, but innocent questions sometimes clear a path toward answers, too. This is the spirit in which what follows is put forward.
Want to Shrink the Presidency? Start Here.
Phases of intense dysfunction and frustration in American public life have tended to be followed by periods of reform, when some of the rules that govern our institutions are adjusted. But these phases of reform do not just happen on their own. The greatest obstacle to launching them is often the inertia of fatalism.
Want to Shrink the Presidency? Start Here.
Phases of intense dysfunction and frustration in American public life have tended to be followed by periods of reform, when some of the rules that govern our institutions are adjusted. But these phases of reform do not just happen on their own. The greatest obstacle to launching them is often the inertia of fatalism.
The Constitution of 1789: A Book Event with Ilan Wurman
Much scholarship has considered how the Constitution protects the rights and representation of US citizens, but that scholarship sometimes overlooks how the Constitution is deliberately structured to preserve the nation and its fundamental institutions.
DOGE and the Doomers
Maybe artificial intelligence will kill us all in the next few years. Count me dubious, but who knows? We’re certainly doing our best to deserve it. But whether we are doomed or not, the tone and substance of the warnings on that front from Silicon Valley, which have picked up this month, strike me as both familiar and revealing. In some ways, what we’re seeing now feels like a mirror image of the more flamboyant rhetoric that surrounded DOGE early in Donald Trump’s second term.
Doomsday Warnings About AI Reveal a Simplistic Conception of Human Affairs
The forebodings of doom we hear about AI by intelligent and accomplished Silicon Valley people reveal a bizarrely simplistic conception of human affairs.
What Citizenship Requires with Yuval Levin
The youngest generation of Americans are increasingly without the kind of formation that shapes children into adults and allows them to develop the muscles of good citizenry, as the institutions and systems that once helped their elders fall short today. This not only sets young people up for failure, but erodes social cohesion and a democratic politics. Yuval Levin joins Oren and Chris to try to define what a better path of formation and true citizenship could look like.
Constitution Archives
Commentary Executive Functions OLC’s Strange Opinion on Private Advisers Commentary National Review Public Schools Shouldn’t Be Fiefdoms of Government Speech Commentary Law & Liberty Against Decline Podcast Stubborn Things What our founders would love… and what they’d loathe in 2026 Multimedia Commentary SCOTUS Bog Commentary National Catholic Register America 250 Years Later: A Conversation With Robert George Podcast Stubborn Things Gordon Wood and the History of the Founding at 250...
A Conversation with Ben Sasse about Politics, Virtue, and Gratitude
Editors’ Pick September 14, 2026 The making of a conservative. Speaking with Ben Sasse and Chris Stirewalt, Yuval Levin—perhaps the wisest policy analyst in Washington—discusses his career and the forces that shaped his worldview and preoccupations. Levin cites Judaism as the source of his appreciation for the importance of gratitude, which he considers the virtue at the root of his ideas of politics and conservatism.
Yuval Levin
World renowned for his beauty and his above-average thoughtfulness, Yuval Levin joins the guys. Why does he describe his work as gratitude for America? Why can’t you script a career path? Why do we overcomplicate questions of virtue? Is it true that Ben once sheared a sheep with Yuval in western Nebraska? All this and so much more.
Barking Up the Wrong Amendment
Earlier this week, journalist Jesse Singal joined the growing chorus of voices on the left pointing to President Trump’s frankly unhinged tweets and saying this is what the 25th Amendment to the Constitution is for: Not to be that guy and I know it's not going to happen, but what is the 25th for if not this? Our president is posting fake videos of a fake bombing of a country we're at real war with? Outta words and have been for awhile.
Barking Up the Wrong Amendment | National Review
We should be grateful that our republic is, in a few important ways, a democracy of the dead as well as of the living.
How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt: A Book Event with Governor Spencer Cox
This event will not accept walk-ins. If you intend to attend in-person, please register in advance. We live in a time of deep political polarization, both locally and in the federal government. But for our democracy to properly function, we must compromise, moderate, and recognize the shared values of those on the other side. The necessary project of coalition building ought not to appear so far-fetched. In his new book, Off Ramp: How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt, Utah Governor Spencer J.
Making Meritocrats Moral
America’s elite universities are both a tremendous asset and a menace to our country. They can be both these things at once because we ask a lot of them.
2026 Walter Berns Constitution Day Lecture: Steven B. Smith on Statesmanship
In the 15th annual Walter Berns Constitution Day Address, Yale Professor Steven B. Smith will examine the neglected concept of the statesman—a leader far different than either a demagogue or technocrat. Statesmen are educators who exercise their authority through the power of example and language, shaping a nation’s civic understanding and taking people where they need to go while hardly seeming to lead them at all.
Decline Narratives Archives
Op-Ed Law & Liberty It is an honor to respond to Wilfred McClay’s profound reflection on the anniversary of our founding. Having done more than perhaps any living historian to contribute to the civic education of the rising generation of Americans,... BY Yuval Levin ON 22 Jul 26
Live From the American Enterprise Institute! | Interview: Yuval Levin
What does it mean to be an American? What is government for? What reforms will fix our political system? Join Jonah Goldberg, Yuval Levin, and 100 little policy gnomes at the American Enterprise Institute to find out! Jonah and Yuval cover America at 250 and reflect on the Bicentennial.
Against Decline
It is an honor to respond to Wilfred McClay’s profound reflection on the anniversary of our founding. Having done more than perhaps any living historian to contribute to the civic education of the rising generation of Americans, McClay is ideally positioned to help us learn about our past and reflect upon our future. His essay illuminates the challenges we face, and also helps us see why we should face them with confidence and hope.
Live From the American Enterprise Institute! | Interview: Yuval Levin
What does it mean to be an American? What is government for? What reforms will fix our political system? Join Jonah Goldberg, Yuval Levin, and 100 little policy gnomes at the American Enterprise Institute to find out! Jonah and Yuval cover America at 250 and reflect on the Bicentennial.
Is the president too powerful? A constitutional scholar weighs in.
Is the president too powerful? A constitutional scholar weighs in. (washingtonpost.com) Is the president too powerful? A constitutional scholar weighs in. By Damir Marusic; Yuval Levin 2026070919460100 How did Congress become weaker and what does that mean for U.S. government today?
Is the President Too Powerful? A Constitutional Scholar Weighs In.
How did Congress become weaker and what does that mean for U.S. government today? In this episode of “Make It Make Sense,” host Damir Marusic talks with American Enterprise Institute scholar Yuval Levin about Congress’s decline, recent Supreme Court decisions and how technology and polarization are reshaping American politics. Op-Ed The New Atlantis Idols of the Valley Multimedia Does the Constitution Still Work? Op-Ed The Atlantic The Missing Branch
Discussing America 250: Levin on C-SPAN’s ‘Washington Journal’
Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies Yuval Levin discusses America 250 on C-SPAN’s ‘Washington Journal.’
What the Declaration Declared
John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, depicts the five-man drafting committee presenting its work to the Continental Congress. Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Two hundred and fifty years ago, John Adams could barely contain his excitement.
The Semiquincentennial Edition (with Yuval Levin)
In a few short days, we’ll be celebrating America’s 250th birthday, but rather than feeling uniformly triumphant and celebratory, America’s Semiquincentennial comes at a time when many worry about the state of our democracy and civic culture. Schools are central to this worry. Many are concerned that civic education in American schools is insufficient or misguided, and that schools are not doing enough to prepare the next generation of Americans for self-governance.
Release: Gary Rosen, Veteran Editor, Joins AEI as a Senior Fellow, and Luke Strange Heads AEI Media Relations
For Immediate Release: Washington, DC (July 1, 2026)—American Enterprise Institute (AEI) President Robert Doar and Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies Yuval Levin announced today that Gary Rosen has joined AEI as a senior fellow. His work will focus on American politics and civil society, political philosophy, constitutionalism, higher education, and media.
Gary Rosen
Bio & Experience Gary Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on American politics and civil society, political philosophy, constitutionalism, higher education, and media. Before joining AEI, Dr. Rosen was the founding editor of the Weekend Review at The Wall Street Journal. He was previously chief external affairs officer of the John Templeton Foundation, managing editor of Commentary, and senior editor of City Journal.
Hollywood’s Golden Era Still Has Lessons for America
Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch (Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Paramount Pictures). Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. There is little doubt that the movies, Hollywood movies specifically, have played a fundamental role in shaping much of our national identity. The only serious debate is how outsized that role has been.
AEI’s “America at 250” Summer Series: We Hold These Truths
acdemAcross the four weeks of AEI’s 2026 Summer Honors Program, contributors to the Institute’s “We Hold These Truths: America at 250” initiative will take students on an intellectual journey through the American Revolution. In this third week of the series, two of the volumes’ editors, AEI’s Yuval Levin and John Yoo, will have a conversation with AEI’s Nicole Penn on the contribution these essays make to our understanding of the Declaration, American Revolution, and the founding.
Does Presidential Character Matter?
George Washington, by Robert Edge Pine. (Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery) Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. In 2000, two psychologists researched the question of character.
Claremont Review of Books
Download When asked who have been the greatest military leaders in Western history, most people would say Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon. Not many would mention Scipio Africanus (235-183 B.C.), who defeated Hannibal at Zama (in modern-day Tunisia) and eventually conquered the Mediterranean world, establishing Rome’s worldwide hegemony.
John Quincy Adams and America’s Tortured Adolescence
John Quincy Adams (1815), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. The 1830s and 1840s are the era I call “America’s tortured adolescence.” The Founding Fathers have ceded the stage to their sons and grandsons.
The Trump-Era GOP’s Dangerous Drift
Midterm elections have long been understood as a referendum on the incumbent president. In our era of bad feelings, they have tended to shift Congress away from that president’s party. That means the Democrats are likely to gain control of at least one chamber in this fall’s contests. Republicans in Washington seem almost resigned to this outcome.
Our Best Stuff on the Democrats’ Platner Problem
Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Hello and happy Saturday. We always knew the 2026 midterms would be dramatic: The Republicans have razor-thin margins in both chambers of Congress, the party in power typically fares poorly, and President Donald Trump has had steadily declining approval ratings.
Is the American Experiment Legitimate?
Is our government legitimate? Although we rarely ask that question quite so bluntly, it actually lies at the bottom of many of our deepest disputes. Those disagreements that really cut to the core of our politics tend to be less about the direction of public policy in one arena or another than about who should have power in our government, by what right, in what way, through what means, and to what ends.
Is the American Experiment Legitimate?
Drafting the Declaration of Independence by Alonzo Chappel (1828–1887). Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Is our government legitimate? Although we rarely ask that question quite so bluntly, it actually lies at the bottom of many of our deepest disputes.
AEI’s “America at 250” Summer Series: Democracy, Freedom, and the Declaration of Independence
Across the four weeks of AEI’s flagship seminar program for undergraduates, contributors to the Institute’s We Hold These Truths: America at 250 initiative will take students on an intellectual journey through the American Revolution. In this second week of the Summer Honors Program, the Hoover Institution’s Peter Berkowitz and AEI’s Yuval Levin will focus on the Declaration of Independence and its revolutionary claims.
A Jewish Consideration of the Pope’s View of AI
Editors’ Pick May 29, 2026 The dangers of the new idolatry. On May 15, Pope Leo XIV released an encyclical on artificial intelligence. As someone whose “Jewish moral anthropology” makes him “quite friendly to the general modes of thought of Catholic social teaching,” Yuval Levin approached the document as “a very friendly reader.” He writes: On May 15, Pope Leo XIV released an encyclical on artificial intelligence.
Idols of the Valley
Since the beginning of his papacy a year ago, Pope Leo XIV has held out the promise of offering the world some much-needed wisdom on living well with technology. His very choice of name hearkened back to Leo XIII’s unmatched moral and intellectual leadership in framing the case for human flourishing in the face of the indignities of the industrial age.
Idols of the Valley
Sign in or Subscribe Now for audio version Since the beginning of his papacy a year ago, Pope Leo XIV has held out the promise of offering the world some much-needed wisdom on living well with technology. His very choice of name hearkened back to Leo XIII’s unmatched moral and intellectual leadership in framing the case for human flourishing in the face of the indignities of the industrial age.
Discussing the Declaration and the Constitution: Levin on PBS News’ ‘Firing Line with Margaret Hoover’
VIDEO Senior fellow Yuval Levin joins PBS News’ ‘Firing Line with Margaret Hoover’ alongside Jeffrey Rosen to discuss America’s founding documents, why the ideas behind the Declaration of Independence and Constitution matter 250 years later, and the challenges that lie ahead for the American experiment.
To Solve Its Constitutional Crisis, Israel Needs a Constitution
The following piece was contributed to a symposium in Mosaic and comes in response to an earlier essay by Amiad Cohen and Sagi Barmak. Amiad Cohen and Sagi Barmak have done an enormous favor to the cause of Israeli political reform. By thinking institutionally and practically they have sketched out a plausible path toward not only defusing the explosive potential of the struggle over Israel’s Supreme Court but toward putting Israeli politics on firmer ground for the future.
To Solve Its Constitutional Crisis, Israel Needs a Constitution
The Independence Hall Museum (Jack Guez/APF via Getty Images) Response To April’s Essay April 28, 2026 Why making Israel’s political reform more ambitious would also make it more achievable. By Yuval Levin Amiad Cohen and Sagi Barmak have done an enormous favor to the cause of Israeli political reform.
Clarence Thomas’s Birthday Gift to America
Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has a pretty good claim on the title of the greatest living American. The life he has lived, and the work he has done and continues to do, tell a story of how American ideals can shape an American life and enable a man to rise from oppression into freedom and then commit himself to lifting others too. And Justice Thomas has always been remarkably aware of how his life has been shaped by those ideals, and by his devotion to them.
Claremont Review of Books
Download In 2011, when U.S. Navy Seals blew open the front door of Osama bin Laden’s fortified compound in Pakistan, stormed up the stairs, and shot him dead, they found more than a loaded AK-47 in his room. Bin Laden had been reading the Yale historian Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1987), which told the story of military conflict since the 15th century.
Claremont Review of Books
Download The English-speaking world of the late 18th century was a political biographer’s dream. Great Britain and its American colonies overflowed with fascinating characters—impossibly learned and articulate figures with big personalities, strong opinions, bold ambitions, and a flair for the dramatic. The political arena in which they operated was the scene of a seemingly endless torrent of revolutionary upheaval.
Claremont Review of Books
Download Subscriber Only Subscribe “A central argument of this book,” writes Brown University labor historian Seth Rockman, “is that plantation goods played a key role in nineteenth-century race-making.” “Race-making,” as understood by Rockman and other contemporary academics, is the assignment of meaning to categories of people divided by skin color. In America, that meant the creation of whites as a superior race and blacks as an inferior and subordinate one.
Last Branch Standing: A Book Event with Sarah Isgur
The Supreme Court today is often accused of being a partisan body, with six Republican-appointed justices poised against three appointed by Democrats. But what if that were a simplistic reading of the Court? In Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today’s Supreme Court, The Dispatch’s Sarah Isgur gives readers a deep dive into the inner workings of the nation’s highest judicial body.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Yuval
Contact Yuval, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack