Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz and the Sophocratic Project of Neoconservatives

Abstract

This article aims at exploring the connections between neoconservatism and American politics in the last half century. The specific focus on Irving Kristol and Norman Podhoretz sheds light on a crucial phase of U.S. history: the cultural and social changes that polarized the nation in the 1960s. One of the most lasting legacies of the decade was the rise of neoconservative intellectuals, who took the offensive in the public debate. They pointed with alarm at the elephantine proportions of bureaucracies and government programs. Yet they did not disavow the principle of elitism and technocracy. Instead their aim was to offer a basis for rethinking the ways in which elites could shape and manage the masses’ patriotic sentiments.