A quietly conservative liberal: Ronald Dworkin and the American politico-legal tradition

Richard Mullender

Chapter 7 in The Conservative Critique of Liberalism, 2026, pp 158-184 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: While commentators regularly identify Ronald Dworkin as a liberal, his contribution to legal and political philosophy also exhibits a conservative component. This component is apparent in, for example, his identification of ‘institutional history’ as a constraint on the exercise of judicial discretion. This chapter probes the conservatism at work in Dworkin's thinking by reference to Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay ‘The Conservative’. The upshot is an analysis that makes it possible to embed Dworkin's contribution in the USA's complex politico-legal tradition. This tradition presents us with what Cass Sunstein calls a ‘useable past’. Those who make use of this past can find in it, as Dworkin's writings illustrate, support for movement towards an ideal end-state. However, it also yields resources relevant to the task of keeping the ship of state afloat in non-ideal circumstances. This chapter finds support for this conclusion in the writings of Martin Loughlin and Luuk van Middelaar.

Keywords: Dworkin; Liberalism; Conservatism; Emerson; Ideal theory; Non-ideal theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309214
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