Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'lord acton'

July 08, 2026

America Is Exceptional Because It Is Not Radical

“A republic, if you can keep it” was Ben Franklin’s famous answer when asked what kind of government the framers created at the Constitutional Convention. The founders were men of ideas, but they also took history, democratic practice, politics, and the reality of the human person seriously. Continue Reading...
June 24, 2026

In Grand Rapids, Acton Makes Liberty Larger Than the Self

At Acton, I learned that faith and freedom were not rival loyalties after all. A few weeks into the Acton Institute’s Emerging Leaders Program in Grand Rapids, I wrote something on LinkedIn that captured my state of mind more honestly than I knew at the time: “I Am in Grand Rapids, Caught Between the Architecture of Ideas and the Reality of Nigeria.” Continue Reading...
June 29, 2022

The ground is shifting under Francis Fukuyama’s feet

In Liberalism and Its Discontents, Francis Fukuyama aims to defend liberal political ideas and institutions against rising and now entrenched detractors from the postliberal left and the right. As he notes, “liberalism is under severe threat around the world … its virtues need to be clearly articulated and celebrated once again.” Continue Reading...
January 10, 2022

Today is Lord Acton’s 188th birthday. His philosophy should guide our next two centuries

Today, January 10, 2022, is Lord Acton’s 188th birthday. This difficult era of a global pandemic, a crisis in institutions, and civil unrest seems a strange time to look back on the life and legacy of a Victorian historian of ideas—but, as Lord Acton himself remarked, “if the Past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and surest emancipation.” Continue Reading...
January 10, 2021

Today is Lord Acton’s 187th birthday. His philosophy should guide our next two centuries

Sunday January 10, 2021, is Lord Acton’s 187th birthday. This difficult era of a global pandemic, a crisis in institutions, and civil unrest seem strange times indeed to look back on the life and legacy of a Victorian historian of ideas – but, as Lord Acton himself remarked, “if the Past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and surest emancipation.” Continue Reading...
April 16, 2020

Lord Acton, Sohrab Ahmari, and the fragility of faith

People have been making some drastic changes to their lives to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have taken this challenge as an opportunity to grow in wisdom. Others have been called to learn new skills, and still others are doing whatever they can to keep their bearings in a time of crisis. Continue Reading...
November 25, 2019

Hong Kong demands freedom in landslide election

The citizens of Hong Kong expanded their democratic revolution to the ballot box on Sunday, as pro-democracy parties won control of virtually every local government from pro-Beijing functionaries. Yesterday’s district council elections – the largest in history, with an estimated 71 percent of all registered voters (or 2.94 million of 4.13 million) participating – proved voters’ overwhelming support for the traditional rights enjoyed by the former British protectorate. Continue Reading...
November 18, 2019

The 101 greatest philosophers of liberty (and Lord Acton is #70)

The Acton Institute’s namesake, Lord Acton, finds himself honored in a new book about the philosophers who cultivated the intellectual seeds that blossomed into Western civilization. Lord John Dalberg-Acton ranks at number 70, not because he had less influence on liberty than 69 others, but because the new collection unfolds in chronological order. Continue Reading...