Today, you can watch the first-ever episode of GoodFellows recorded before a live public audience; Michael Auslin considers how a royal visit to the United States may help to improve our nation’s democratic political culture; and David Leal explores the rise of populist third parties in the UK and this shift’s implications for the US.
The GoodFellows Live
Last week, for the first time in the show’s six-year run, an episode of GoodFellows was recorded live before a public audience. Senior Fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster discussed the principles behind the US Constitution, why its language has stood the test of time, and whether several provisions within the storied document need updating in a world the Founding Fathers couldn’t imagine. The in-person event was a wonderful convening of the GoodFellows audience and, as you can hear in this episode, featured spirited debate among the show’s stars. As the nation celebrates 250 years of independence, this conversation challenges listeners to bear in mind the values that have made this country unique—and to recognize the civic work required to preserve a republic.
Can you guess which Founding Father each of the GoodFellows would select as a favorite?
US-UK Relations
In a column for The Spectator, Research Fellow Michael Auslin lays out the subtle salutary effects of King Charles III’s visit to the United States. The historian asks, “Is it possible that he can help Americans overcome their differences?” Noting the warm bipartisan reception Charles has received stateside, Auslin argues that “the luster [the king] and [Queen] Camilla bring to the semiquincentennial celebrations may help Americans appreciate what they share in common, and not just what they disagree on.” Auslin also notes that, despite royal controversies in recent years, “the monarchy still represents a pinnacle of civility, something desperately needed in an America where the intolerant fringes are increasingly threatening the public square and the non-radical middle.” Auslin concludes that the king’s visit offers a vital reminder of “just how precious our inheritance is” as a nation.
See why Auslin thinks a monarch’s visit can help revitalize the American republic. [Subscription or registration required.]
British Politics and Institutions
A recent special election suggests a wide array of changes in British politics, argues Hoover Senior Fellow David L. Leal, legal scholar, at Defining Ideas. Leal sees many of those changes having implications for the United States. In this contest, the Green Party won its first such victory, he reports, alongside another first: Neither the Labour nor the Conservative candidate landed in first or even second place. The erosion of support for the Labour government is just the obvious part of the story: another is the “hollowing out” of the center, which means both left and right are feeling new pressure to chase voters. The ballots of a single constituency don’t signify an earthquake in national politics, Leal concludes, but they’re strong evidence that populists of all stripes are becoming much more competitive at the expense of the mainstream parties.
What do political shifts in the UK signal for the United States?
Defending Taiwan
Foreign Policy has published an excerpt from Hoover Fellow Eyck Freymann’s forthcoming book, Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China. This selection deals with the “quadrilemma” of less-than-ideal options for securing US citizens that would confront US policymakers in the event of a Taiwan invasion, blockade, or other crisis. As Freymann notes, “The presence of [more than 800,000] foreign civilians in Taiwan is one of the strongest deterrents against a Chinese surprise attack.” But if deterrence fails, “the United States and its allies are strikingly unprepared” to retrieve their citizens from an embattled Taiwan. “A Taiwan evacuation would unfold over far greater distances and under far less permissive conditions” than similar operations in Saigon 1975, Kabul 2021, or Ukraine 2022, Freymann finds. He concludes that now is the time to “build a plan” to deal with this real, and consequential, contingency in the Pacific.
Learn why evacuating civilians could even strain US-Taiwan bilateral relations during a crisis.
Education Policy
“This season, Major League Baseball has introduced an Automated Ball-Strike [ABS] Challenge System that allows players to challenge umpire decisions in real time and overturn clearly wrong calls,” Hoover Fellow Michael Hartney writes at The 74. Drawing a parallel to education policy, Hartney says that “the ABS system for grading umpires offers a useful lens for revisiting what teacher evaluation reform got right, where it went wrong, and what reformers and critics missed.” The education scholar offers five lessons, including: “Measurement only matters if it carries consequences.” He argues that in baseball, “measurement is not symbolic, it is tied directly to outcomes,” but in education “that link is often missing.” Hartney suggests that baseball shows an important truth for policymakers in education: “Imperfect tools can still improve decision-making when they are used where they are strongest.”
See the full list of lessons from America’s pastime Hartney has drawn for the US education system.
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