The founders' epistemological assertion : they knew what can be known -- The progressives' revision : an emancipation (from natural rights) proclamation -- Progressivism's institutional consequences : the presidency triumphant, the administrative state rampant, Congress dormant -- The judicial supervision of democracy : difficulties with the "counter-majoritarian difficulty" -- Political economy : rescuing the great enrichment from the fatal conceit -- Culture and opportunity : the scissors that shredded old convictions -- The aims of education : talents for praising and for pessimism -- Going abroad : a creedal nation in a world on probation -- Welcoming whirl : conservatism without theism -- Borne back : the quest for a useable past.

Outlines revolutionary perspectives on American conservatism that reveal how the Founders' beliefs in natural rights established a political tradition under threat in today's world.