Leo Strauss and Anglo-American Democracy

Leo Strauss and Anglo-American Democracy critically interprets Strauss's political philosophy from a conservative perspective. Most mainstream readers of Strauss have either condemned him from the Left as an extreme right-wing opponent of liberal democracy or celebrated him from the Right as a traditional defender of Western civilization. Rejecting both portrayals, Grant N. Havers shifts the debate beyond the conventional parameters stating that Strauss was neither a man of the Far Right nor a conservative but. in fact a secular Cold War liberal.

In Leo Strauss and Anglo-American Democracy Havers contends that the most troubling implication of Straussianism is that it provides an ideological rationale for the aggressive spread of democratic values on a global basis while ignoring the preconditions that make these values possible. Concepts such as the rule of law, constitutional government, Christian morality, and the separation of church and state are not easily transplanted beyond the historic confines of Anglo-American civilization, as recent wars to spread democracy have demonstrated.

Grant N. Havers is Chair of the Department of Philosophy, with a cross-appointment in Political Studies, at Trinity Western University, in British Columbia, Canada. He is the author of Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love.

One of the most thorough critiques to date of the political uses and abuses of Strauss's thought.

In any revelatory study, there is always the moment when the reader thinks 'That's true. I should have seen that.' For me, that moment came with Havers's account—learned, subtle, and occasionally surprising—of Strauss's liberalism.

Grant Havers' conservative-oriented critique of Leo Strauss' work is brave, counter-intuitive, and ultimately persuasive.

Paul Gottfried, author of Leo Strauss and the Conservative Movement in America:

Grant Havers's study of Leo Strauss is a beautifully written, and judiciously argued study of Leo Strauss and the school of thought that this scholar founded. Although Havers raises critical points about Strauss's slighting of the Christian tradition in interpreting Western political theory and the American founding, this book manages to treat its subjects with appropriate respect even while suggesting their shortcomings. Havers's study richly deserves a honored place in the critical literature on Strauss and his impact on American politics and culture.

Samuel Moyn, Columbia University:

This book is extremely creative, impressively learned, and fluently written.

Travis Smith, Concordia University:

Havers's approach to the analysis of Strauss is distinctive, and he sets forth several important case studies in order to advance his argument. This is a significant contribution to the growing literature on the thought and legacy of Leo Strauss.