The Latest from Chait - Liberalism and Big Ideas

My efforts to shadow the writings of Jonathan Chait continue. His latest article is a rebuttal to the notion that "big ideas" will save liberalism from its current crisis. According to Chait, the efforts of some liberal thinkers to re-introduce sweeping vision to the liberal cause is doomed to futility, even though such an approach worked wonders for the conservative movement 30 years ago. Chait writes:

[F]ormulat[ing] sweeping principles...is inherently a losing game for liberals. Here is the problem: Conservatism and liberalism are not really mirror images of each other. Conservatives venerate the free market and see smaller government as an end in itself. Liberals do not venerate government in the same way, and we do not see larger government as an end in and of itself. For us, everything works on a case-by-case basis. Should government provide everybody's education? Yes. Should government manufacture everybody's blue jeans? No. And so on...

[N]obody knows what Democrats stand for because you cannot, and should not, formulate sweeping dogmas when you're operating on a case-by-case basis...Any debate that takes place at the level of ideological generality, then, inherently favors the right. [emphasis added]

If Chait's right, then liberalism (at least in the economic sphere) can be reduced to simple managerialism. Bereft of broad ideology, Chait's liberalism is simply the pragmatism that's left when conservatism's ideals are proven hollow.

But he's not right.

Chait's argument rests on one key assumption. He assumes that the only ideological principles a political movement can advance are principles about the size of government.

The idea that conservatives see smaller government as inherently good while liberals see government size as value-neutral is possibly Chait's favorite talking point. It's probably true. Liberals, in general, don't care if they cut spending or raise it, as long as the result benefits the people.

But - pardon me for stating the obvious - aren't there ideologies that deal with topics other than the level of government spending? The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence don't say a thing about spending levels, and those are pretty ideological documents. Does Chait really believe that, because they're pragmatists on one issue, liberals are pragmatists always? Please tell me that's not what he's saying.

It was liberalism that promoted the idea in the mid-20th century that marginalized groups - women, racial and religious minorities, and gays - should be given social equality. It was liberalism that first advanced the cause of human rights. Universal public education was another liberal triumph. Liberals in the early-20th century pushed to restrict harmful working conditions. And so on.

Chait seems to have allowed conservatives to define the terms of debate. He appears to have bought into the right-wing canard that the only "big ideas" that matter are ideas about the "size of government" (a ridiculous conceit in itself, since conservatives favor increased defense spending, corporate welfare, and fewer privacy rights). Chait's liberalism is stuck in a holding pattern, conceding that the realm of political philosophy is the exclusive domain of his opponents, much as conservatism did in the 1950s. This is not a recipe for success.

The fact is that liberalism contains more than one "big idea" that could propel it back to relevance. With real wages falling and income mobility decreasing, liberals can promote the idea of greater economic opportunity. With the world increasingly turned against the U.S., John F. Kennedy's idea of national prestige is looking more important by the minute. And, of course, gay marriage remains central to the ongoing march of social equality. And beneath all of these ideas lies the philosophical bedrock of liberalism - beliefs about the dignity of humankind, the potential of the individual, and the power of rationality that date back to the Enlightenment.

These big ideological principles that have nothing to do with the size of government. They are "big ideas" that will help liberalism to win, if only we trumpet them loudly and intelligently enough. Mr Chait, kindly chew on that.