Civitas Outlook

Civitas Outlook, the online journal of the Civitas Institute, publishes original writing about the ideas that create flourishing societies.

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The Failed Lower Court Revolt

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

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

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

All topics

Civitas Outlook seeks understanding from a variety of authors, ideas, and disciplines. Choose a specific topic above or explore our full library.

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The Failed Lower Court Revolt
Josh Blackman
Constitutionalism
Sep 2, 2025
Not-So-Beautiful Losers: How Conservatism Won the Cold War – and Lost the Peace
Michael Lucchese
Politics
Sep 1, 2025
What Evil Can and Cannot Teach Us
Nathaniel Peters
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 29, 2025
Why Israel May Sue the New York Times
Richard Epstein
Politics
Aug 28, 2025
Creating Affordable Housing Requires Just One Simple Legislative Change
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Lee E. Ohanian
Economic Dynamism
Aug 28, 2025
The “Baneful Practice of Secessions” Returns to Texas
Joseph Postell
Constitutionalism
Aug 27, 2025

Economic Dynamism

We consider the principles, policies, and culture that supports free market capitalism

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Creating Affordable Housing Requires Just One Simple Legislative Change
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Lee E. Ohanian
Economic Dynamism
Aug 28, 2025
Will California Reform Its Broken Housing Policies?
Julia R. Cartwright
Economic Dynamism
Aug 26, 2025
Reindustrialization Doesn’t Mean Romanticizing the Past—It Means Facing Hard Truths
Veronique de Rugy
Economic Dynamism
Aug 26, 2025
Civitas Conversations: Vero de Rugy on Tariffs and the Economists
Veronique de Rugy, Richard M. Reinsch II
Economic Dynamism
Aug 22, 2025
The Tariff Symposium
Richard Epstein, Samuel Gregg, G. Dirk Mateer, Dominic Pino, Veronique de Rugy
Economic Dynamism
Aug 20, 2025
Words That Open Markets
Samuel Gregg
Economic Dynamism
Aug 20, 2025

Politics

We investigate what it means to be a constitutional people who remain tethered to the rule of law.

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Not-So-Beautiful Losers: How Conservatism Won the Cold War – and Lost the Peace
Michael Lucchese
Politics
Sep 1, 2025
Why Israel May Sue the New York Times
Richard Epstein
Politics
Aug 28, 2025
The Constitutional Questions Swirling Around the District of Columbia’s Disorder
Zack Smith
Politics
Aug 25, 2025
Chicago: The First Domino to Fall?
Thomas Savidge
Politics
Aug 14, 2025
The Truth That Frank Meyer Knew
Brian C. Anderson
Politics
Aug 13, 2025
Rise of the Silicon Valley Patriots?
Richard M. Reinsch II
Politics
Aug 12, 2025

Constitutionalism

We discuss the political thought that undergirds a society of freedom and virtue.

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The Failed Lower Court Revolt
Josh Blackman
Constitutionalism
Sep 2, 2025
The “Baneful Practice of Secessions” Returns to Texas
Joseph Postell
Constitutionalism
Aug 27, 2025
Why Issues of Birthright Citizenship Are So Difficult
Robert G. Natelson
Constitutionalism
Aug 19, 2025
Making Sense of the Court's Establishment Clause Doctrine
Kevin C. Walsh
Constitutionalism
Aug 18, 2025
Civitas Conversations: Is the Court Appeasing the Trump Administration?
Jonathan H. Adler, Richard M. Reinsch II
Constitutionalism
Aug 6, 2025
States Should Protect Religious Liberty Like It Is 1993
Mark David Hall, Paul Mueller
Constitutionalism
Jul 31, 2025

Pursuit of Happiness

We explore how citizens, neighbors, workers, families, and communities shape the future of American society.

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What Evil Can and Cannot Teach Us
Nathaniel Peters
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 29, 2025
The French Origins of Urban Renewal
Tyler Turman
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 22, 2025
Diversity, Real and Imposed
Gregory M. Collins
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 21, 2025
The Education of David Mamet
Emina Melonic
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 15, 2025
Ed Feulner, Movement Man
Samuel Gregg
Pursuit of Happiness
Jul 25, 2025
Beyond the Melting Point: Exodus, the Sequel
Juliana Geran Pilon
Pursuit of Happiness
Jul 25, 2025

Technology & Innovation

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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.

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