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Author: Cass R. Sunstein

The author presents his forthcoming title, "On Liberalism." Registration required for the Zoom webinar.

About the book (from the publisher):

"On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom"

A much-needed defense of liberalism—what it is, why it is under threat, and why we need it more than ever—from one of our most important political thinkers today.

More than at any time since World War II, liberalism is under pressure, even siege. On the right, some have given up on liberalism. They hold it responsible for the collapse of the family and traditional values, rampant criminality, disrespect for authority, and widespread immorality. On the left, some are turning their backs on liberalism. They think that it lacks the resources to handle the problems posed by entrenched inequalities, racism, sexism, corporate power, and environmental degradation. But those opposed to liberalism do not depict it accurately; they offer a caricature, and they neglect its history.

In "On Liberalism," former advisor to Presidents Obama and Biden and New York Times–bestselling author Cass Sunstein offers a timely and clear understanding of liberalism—of its core commitments, of its breadth, of its internal debates, of its evolving character, of its promise—and why we need it more than ever. He also shows how and why liberalism has been, and should be, appealing to both the left and the right.

The book begins with a manifesto on behalf of liberalism, and then goes on to explore the central idea of “experiments of living,” to which a liberal constitutional order gives pride of place. From there, it discusses John Stuart Mill and Friedrich Hayek, defining liberal thinkers; the rule of law as liberals understand it; freedom of speech (including the place of lies and falsehoods within that freedom); free markets, economic liberty, and regulation; Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights, with its social and economic guarantees; and finally, the concept of opportunity.

Never more urgently needed, "On Liberalism" moves the conversation well beyond the reductive and inflammatory political sound bites of our moment and advances a compelling argument on behalf of liberalism as the foundation of freedom and self-government.

About the Author:

Cass R. Sunstein is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. He is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. In 2018, he received the Holberg Prize from the government of Norway, sometimes described as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for law and the humanities. In 2020, the World Health Organization appointed him as Chair of its technical advisory group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and after that, he served on the President’s Review Board on Intelligence and Communications Technologies and on the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board. Mr. Sunstein has testified before congressional committees on many subjects, and he has advised officials at the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Bank, and many nations on issues of law and public policy. He has served as an adviser to the Behavioural Insights Team in the United Kingdom. Mr. Sunstein is author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including "Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness" (with Richard H. Thaler, 2008), "Simpler: The Future of Government" (2013), "The Ethics of Influence" (2015), "#Republic" (2017), "Impeachment: A Citizen’s Guide" (2017), "The Cost-Benefit Revolution" (2018), "On Freedom" (2019), "Conformity" (2019), "How Change Happens" (2019), and "Too Much Information" (2020). He is now working on a variety of projects involving the regulatory state, “sludge” (defined to include paperwork and similar burdens), fake news, and freedom of speech. He served as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security during the Biden Administration, where he focused on resilience against weather-related risks (such as flooding and extreme heat) and on reduction of administration burdens; he was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Department’s highest civilian honor, in 2024.

Presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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