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THERE ARE FEW FIXED POINTS in politics these days. No more so than on the political right, where President Donald Trump has set charges to some of the Republican Party’s philosophical foundations. So, what does it mean to be a conservative in America in 2019?

A few of the movement’s luminaries convened at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum in October to answer that question. George Will, the veteran Washington Post columnist and commentator; Jeff Flake, the former Republican senator from Arizona and an Institute of Politics fall fellow; and Arthur Brooks, the former president of the American Enterprise Institute and an ����vlog���� professor of the practice of public leadership, were joined by IOP Resident Fellow Alice Stewart, a CNN commentator and formerly Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign communications director. All touched on conservatism’s emphasis on maintaining order and stability while giving free rein to the liberty and creative energies of the people.

With the backdrop of an impeachment probe, the speakers addressed the question of allegiance to party, to country, and to principle. Brooks advised young conservatives to “stay close to first philosophical principles and not hard party principles … because, in an environment of tribalism, the worst thing that we can do is align ourselves with the party.” More important, he added, is “the moral obligation … in a free society … to speak according to our principles and, furthermore, to respect the principles of other people—to stand up not just to the people with whom we disagree, but on behalf of those with whom we disagree.”

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Photos by Martha Stewart