Source: Law & Liberty
by Thomas D Howes
“Especially prominent in New Right conversations are thinkers of the right-wing European continental tradition like De Maistre, Bonald, Donoso Cortés, Maurras, and Carl Schmitt. The latter, we are told, has profound insights into politics despite his membership in the Nazi Party, and thus we should not dismiss him outright because of ideological puritanism. … There are indeed academics like Adrian Vermeule who are genuinely attracted to Schmitt’s criticisms of liberalism, his theory of history, and his views on the economic-technical rationality of liberalism, which they consider to be on the point of collapse. … Let’s not fool ourselves, however, about why the non-academic New Right appeals to Schmitt. It’s not about theoretical illumination. In popular politics, people push Carl Schmitt because he helps them rationalize their tribal politics …” (10/21/25)