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About Civitas Outlook

Civitas Outlook is the online journal of the Civitas Institute. The journal represents a community of scholars and thinkers who write about the core ideas of freedom and virtue, constitutionalism, economic growth, and dynamism crucial to citizenship and flourishing as human persons in a free society.

The opinions expressed in Civitas Outlook are solely those of the writers and do not reflect those of the Civitas Institute or the University of Texas at Austin.

Richard M. Reinsch II

Editor-in-chief of Civitas Outlook

Richard M. Reinsch II is editor in chief of the Civitas Institute’s Civitas Outlook. He was the founding editor of the online magazine Law & Liberty.

Immediately before joining Civitas, he was the editor in chief and director of publications of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) where he introduced the Institute’s white paper program, helped launch two new podcasts, Qualified Opinions and Econception, and led AIER’s online journal, The Daily Economy.

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Contributing Editors

Jonathan H. Adler
Jonathan H. Adler
Inaugural Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law and the founding Director of the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Josh Blackman
Josh Blackman
Professor of Law and Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law at South Texas College of Law Houston.
Samuel Gregg
Samuel Gregg
Friedrich Hayek Chair in Economics and Economic History at the American Institute for Economic Research.
Yuval Levin
Yuval Levin
Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he also holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy. He is the founder and editor of National Affairs.
Joseph Postell
Joseph Postell
Associate Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College.
Veronique de Rugy
Veronique de Rugy
George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a nationally syndicated columnist.
Scott Winship
Scott Winship
Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Steven F. Hayward
Steven F. Hayward
Steven F. Hayward is the Edward Gaylord distinguished visiting professor at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy.
The latest from

Civitas Outlook

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The Failed Lower Court Revolt

As Justice Gorsuch explained, “Lower court judges may sometimes disagree with this Court’s decisions, but they are never free to defy them.” 

Josh Blackman
Constitutionalism
Sep 2, 2025

Not-So-Beautiful Losers: How Conservatism Won the Cold War – and Lost the Peace

Buchanan's populism, unlike Reagan's appeals, wasn't anchored in the spiritual realities at the heart of the American Founding. Much of the same is evident in Buchanan's latter-day disciples.

Michael Lucchese
Politics
Sep 1, 2025

What Evil Can and Cannot Teach Us

Reading Andrew Klavan's "The Kingdom of Cain," a meditation on how we learn about love and creation from evil.

Nathaniel Peters
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 29, 2025

Why Israel May Sue the New York Times

Jed Rubenfeld was wrong to argue that Israel could not bring a civil action against the New York Times in a New York court.

Richard Epstein
Politics
Aug 28, 2025

Creating Affordable Housing Requires Just One Simple Legislative Change

For nearly 50 years, federal, state, and local governments have tried to improve housing affordability without addressing the core issue of high construction costs.

Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Lee E. Ohanian
Economic Dynamism
Aug 28, 2025
Who we are

We are a community of scholars exploring the ideas and institutions that create flourishing societies.

The Civitas Institute is part of the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin.

Independent thought, civil discourse, reasoned deliberation and intellectual curiosity are central to our ethos.

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