The Public Interest
Encyclopedia
The Public Interest was a quarterly public policy journal founded by established New York intellectuals Daniel Bell
and Irving Kristol
in 1965. It was a leading neoconservative
journal on political economy and culture, aimed at a readership of journalists, scholars, and policy makers. Its varied content included, e.g., the performance of the Great Society, the fate of social security, the character of Generation X
, crime and punishment, love and courtship, the culture wars, the tax wars, the state of the underclass, the salaries of the overclass
. It eschewed foreign and defense policy.
The magazine published such prominent writers and scholars as Seymour Martin Lipset
, James Q. Wilson
, Peter Drucker
, Charles Murray
, James S. Coleman, Anthony Downs
, Aaron Wildavsky
, Mancur Olson, Jr., Michael Novak
, Samuel P. Huntington
, Gertrude Himmelfarb
, Martin Feldstein
, Leon Kass
, Irwin M. Stelzer
, Daniel P. Moynihan, Nathan Glazer
, Glenn C. Loury, Stephan Thernstrom
, Abigail Thernstrom
, Charles Krauthammer
, Francis Fukuyama
, and David Brooks
.
Editor Irving Kristol was the dominant personality, especially after Daniel Bell relocated to Harvard in 1969. Bell, troubled by what he perceived to be an excessively conservative slant, withdrew in 1973, and was replaced as co-editor by the sociologist Nathan Glazer. Kristol continued on, and the magazine become known as the principal house organ of neoconservatism
, a hostile label which Kristol embraced. The magazine's sub-editors were considered apprentices, and were seeded into high journalism, academia, and government staff posts. Many policies forwarded by the magazine were absorbed into the mainstream of public policy.
Kristol relocated to Washington and took the magazine with him. In the early 21st century, Kristol was aging; there was no obvious strong successor; and foundation support was flagging. Its last issue was printed in spring 2005. Towards the end its readership had declined significantly, most likely because demand for quarterlies had fallen as the pace of news and information technology had increased. Kristol wrote on the history of the journal in his article "Forty Good Years" in the final issue.
Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor emeritus at Harvard University, best known for his seminal contributions to the study of post-industrialism...
and Irving Kristol
Irving Kristol
Irving Kristol was an American columnist, journalist, and writer who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism"...
in 1965. It was a leading neoconservative
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
journal on political economy and culture, aimed at a readership of journalists, scholars, and policy makers. Its varied content included, e.g., the performance of the Great Society, the fate of social security, the character of Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
, crime and punishment, love and courtship, the culture wars, the tax wars, the state of the underclass, the salaries of the overclass
Overclass
Overclass is a recent and pejorative term for the most powerful group in a social hierarchy. Users of the term generally imply excessive and unjust privilege and exploitation of the rest of society...
. It eschewed foreign and defense policy.
The magazine published such prominent writers and scholars as Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset was an American political sociologist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and the Hazel Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. His major work was in the fields of political sociology, trade union organization, social stratification, public opinion, and...
, James Q. Wilson
James Q. Wilson
James Q. Wilson is an American academic political scientist and an authority on public administration. He is a professor and senior fellow at the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College....
, Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker
Peter Ferdinand Drucker was an influential writer, management consultant, and self-described “social ecologist.”-Introduction:...
, Charles Murray
Charles Murray
Charles Murray is the name of:*Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore *Charles Augustus Murray , British author diplomat*Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore *Charles James Murray , British politician...
, James S. Coleman, Anthony Downs
Anthony Downs
Anthony Downs is a scholar in public policy and public administration, and since 1977 is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C..-Education:...
, Aaron Wildavsky
Aaron Wildavsky
Aaron Wildavsky was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management....
, Mancur Olson, Jr., Michael Novak
Michael Novak
Michael Novak is an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than twenty-five books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism...
, Samuel P. Huntington
Samuel P. Huntington
Samuel Phillips Huntington was an influential American political scientist who wrote highly-regarded books in a half-dozen sub-fields of political science, starting in 1957...
, Gertrude Himmelfarb
Gertrude Himmelfarb
Gertrude Himmelfarb , also known as Bea Kristol, is an American historian. She has written extensively on intellectual history, with a focus on Britain and the Victorian era, as well as on contemporary society and culture....
, Martin Feldstein
Martin Feldstein
Martin Stuart "Marty" Feldstein is an economist. He is currently the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research . He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the NBER from 1978 through 2008...
, Leon Kass
Leon Kass
Leon Richard Kass is an American physician, scientist, educator, and public intellectual, best known as proponent of liberal education via the "Great Books," as an opponent of human cloning and euthanasia, as a critic of certain areas of technological progress and embryo research, and for his...
, Irwin M. Stelzer
Irwin Stelzer
Irwin M. Stelzer is an American economist who is the U.S. economic and business columnist for the Sunday Times, the Courier-Mail, the Guardian and a contributing editor of the Weekly Standard. He is also an occasional contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the New Statesman...
, Daniel P. Moynihan, Nathan Glazer
Nathan Glazer
Nathan Glazer is an American sociologist who taught at the University of California, Berkeley and for several decades at Harvard University...
, Glenn C. Loury, Stephan Thernstrom
Stephan Thernstrom
Stephan Thernstrom is the Winthrop Research Professor of History at Harvard University. and was the editor of the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups ....
, Abigail Thernstrom
Abigail Thernstrom
Abigail Thernstrom, a conservative political scientist, is a former Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute in New York, a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education, and vice chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She received her Ph.D...
, Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
, Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama
Yoshihiro Francis Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, and author. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford. Before that he served as a professor and director of the International Development program at the School of...
, and David Brooks
David Brooks (journalist)
David Brooks is a Canadian-born political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the New York Times...
.
Editor Irving Kristol was the dominant personality, especially after Daniel Bell relocated to Harvard in 1969. Bell, troubled by what he perceived to be an excessively conservative slant, withdrew in 1973, and was replaced as co-editor by the sociologist Nathan Glazer. Kristol continued on, and the magazine become known as the principal house organ of neoconservatism
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
, a hostile label which Kristol embraced. The magazine's sub-editors were considered apprentices, and were seeded into high journalism, academia, and government staff posts. Many policies forwarded by the magazine were absorbed into the mainstream of public policy.
Kristol relocated to Washington and took the magazine with him. In the early 21st century, Kristol was aging; there was no obvious strong successor; and foundation support was flagging. Its last issue was printed in spring 2005. Towards the end its readership had declined significantly, most likely because demand for quarterlies had fallen as the pace of news and information technology had increased. Kristol wrote on the history of the journal in his article "Forty Good Years" in the final issue.
See also
- Irving KristolIrving KristolIrving Kristol was an American columnist, journalist, and writer who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism"...
- ConservatismConservatismConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
- National Affairs, Inc.National AffairsNational Affairs, Inc. is a U.S. organization which publishes a public-policy quarterly by the same name. It began publishing National Affairs in September 2009, describing itself as "a quarterly journal of essays about domestic policy, political economy, society, culture, and political thought...
- NeoconservatismNeoconservatismNeoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
- Steven LagerfeldSteven LagerfeldSteven Lagerfeld is the editor of The Wilson Quarterly, the flagship publication of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.- Career :...
External links
- Charles Krauthammer writes on The Public Interest's folding in the Washington Post
- The Public Interest Archives at National AffairsNational AffairsNational Affairs, Inc. is a U.S. organization which publishes a public-policy quarterly by the same name. It began publishing National Affairs in September 2009, describing itself as "a quarterly journal of essays about domestic policy, political economy, society, culture, and political thought...