The American (magazine)
Encyclopedia
The American is an online magazine
published by the American Enterprise Institute
(AEI), a conservative think tank
in Washington, D.C.
The magazine's primary focus is the intersection of economics and politics. Previously known as The American: A Magazine of Ideas, it was published six times annually from November 2006 to December 2008.
, the former president of The Atlantic Monthly
and former publisher of The New Republic
, as an AEI project. It replaced the previous public-affairs magazine published by AEI, The American Enterprise
.
Publication of the first issue was delayed until after the November 2006 election
to include election results.
In late 2007, Glassman left The American to serve as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy in the George W. Bush administration
; he was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Nick Schulz, who had served as a senior editor of the young magazine since its founding; the first issue edited by Schulz was labeled March/April 2008. (Glassman and Schulz had previously collaborated on TCS Daily
.) Schulz is also the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at AEI.
In November 2008, AEI ended the print version of the glossy magazine due to its "'hemorrhaging' cash."
), and, since May 2009, the Enterprise Blog, which features contributions from AEI scholars and staff members.
, free-market economics." Glassman said in 2006 that he believed "the three major business magazines"—that is, Forbes
, Fortune
, and BusinessWeek
—"have, in an attempt to get a broader audience, gone downscale," creating a "big opening" for an intellectual magazine about business that is "absolutely not partisan or ideological—mainly a reported magazine rather than a magazine of opinion."
Liberal writer Jonathan Chait
remarked in The New Republic
(which Glassman had published from 1981 to 1984) that The American, in replacing The American Enterprise
, "seems less dewy-eyed about the virtues of democracy and far more dewy-eyed about the virtues of the bottom line. Out is the conservatism of Paul Wolfowitz
. In is the conservatism of Montgomery Burns
."
who spent time in a minimum-security prison, which stated that minimum-security prisons were no longer "country-club prisons,"
prompted criticism by Peter Carlson in a column in the Washington Post.
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
published by the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
(AEI), a conservative think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The magazine's primary focus is the intersection of economics and politics. Previously known as The American: A Magazine of Ideas, it was published six times annually from November 2006 to December 2008.
Origins and editorship
The American was founded in November 2006 by James K. GlassmanJames K. Glassman
James K. Glassman is an American conservative editorialist, journalist, diplomat and author. He is currently the host of the television program Ideas in Action, which airs on PBS member stations across the country. On December 11, 2007 Glassman was nominated by President George W...
, the former president of The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
and former publisher of The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, as an AEI project. It replaced the previous public-affairs magazine published by AEI, The American Enterprise
The American Enterprise
The American Enterprise was a public policy magazine published by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. Its editorial stance was politically conservative, generally advocating free-market economics and a neoconservative U.S. foreign policy.The magazine was published approximately...
.
Publication of the first issue was delayed until after the November 2006 election
United States general elections, 2006
The 2006 United States midterm elections were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. All United States House of Representatives seats and one third of the United States Senate seats were contested in this election, as well as 36 state governorships, many state legislatures, four territorial...
to include election results.
In late 2007, Glassman left The American to serve as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy in the George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
; he was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Nick Schulz, who had served as a senior editor of the young magazine since its founding; the first issue edited by Schulz was labeled March/April 2008. (Glassman and Schulz had previously collaborated on TCS Daily
TCS Daily
TCS Daily is an online magazine with commentary and analysis on current news from a free-market perspective.TCS is an initialism that now stands for "Technology, Commerce, Society"; when the Web site was founded in 2000, those three letters stood for its original name, "Tech Central Station." The...
.) Schulz is also the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at AEI.
In November 2008, AEI ended the print version of the glossy magazine due to its "'hemorrhaging' cash."
Content
The magazine published articles and book reviews—some topical, some reported, some analytical—on subjects at the intersection of economics, business, politics, and American public policy. Current online content includes articles similar to those in the print version, traditional op-eds, "DataPoints" on public opinion (compiled by Karlyn BowmanKarlyn Bowman
Karlyn H. Bowman, formerly known as Karlyn H. Keene, is an American editor and public opinion analyst. She is currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. She was the managing editor of Public Opinion from 1979 to 1990 and the founding editor of The American Enterprise from 1990...
), and, since May 2009, the Enterprise Blog, which features contributions from AEI scholars and staff members.
Editorial stance
"Our perspective," Glassman said at the magazine's launch, "is not partisan, but it is rooted in liberalClassical liberalism
Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets....
, free-market economics." Glassman said in 2006 that he believed "the three major business magazines"—that is, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
, and BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek
Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
—"have, in an attempt to get a broader audience, gone downscale," creating a "big opening" for an intellectual magazine about business that is "absolutely not partisan or ideological—mainly a reported magazine rather than a magazine of opinion."
Liberal writer Jonathan Chait
Jonathan Chait
Jonathan Chait is a writer for New York magazine. He was previously a senior editor at The New Republic and a former assistant editor of The American Prospect. He also writes a periodic column in the Los Angeles Times.- Personal life :...
remarked in The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
(which Glassman had published from 1981 to 1984) that The American, in replacing The American Enterprise
The American Enterprise
The American Enterprise was a public policy magazine published by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. Its editorial stance was politically conservative, generally advocating free-market economics and a neoconservative U.S. foreign policy.The magazine was published approximately...
, "seems less dewy-eyed about the virtues of democracy and far more dewy-eyed about the virtues of the bottom line. Out is the conservatism of Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
. In is the conservatism of Montgomery Burns
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
."
Contributors
Among the noteworthy contributors to The American have been :- Michael BaroneMichael Barone (pundit)Michael Barone is a conservative American political analyst, pundit and journalist. He is best known for being the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, a reference work concerning US governors and federal politicians, and published biennially by National Journal...
- Gary BeckerGary BeckerGary Stanley Becker is an American economist. He is a professor of economics, sociology at the University of Chicago and a professor at the Booth School of Business. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992, and received the United States' Presidential Medal of Freedom...
- Tom BethellTom BethellTom Bethell is a journalist who writes mainly on economic and scientific issues, and is known for his support of the market economy, political conservatism, and fringe science. He says that neither evolution nor intelligent design is falsifiable....
- Arthur C. BrooksArthur C. BrooksArthur C. Brooks is an American social scientist and musician. He is the president of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Brooks is best known for his work on the junctions between culture, economics, and politics...
- Daniel DreznerDaniel DreznerDaniel W. Drezner is currently a professor of international politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, the author of several books, the author of many Op-Ed pieces in major publications, a blogger, and a commentator.In 2005, he was denied tenure by the University of...
- John FundJohn FundJohn H. Fund is an American political journalist and conservative columnist. Currently a senior editor of The American Spectator,...
- Victor Davis HansonVictor Davis HansonVictor Davis Hanson is an American military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets...
- Michael LedeenMichael LedeenMichael Arthur Ledeen is an American specialist on foreign policy. His research areas have included state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, the Middle East, Europe , U.S.-China relations, intelligence, and Africa and is a leading neoconservative...
- Stephen Moore
- Kevin M. MurphyKevin M. MurphyKevin Miles Murphy is the George J. Stigler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution....
- Charles MurrayCharles MurrayCharles Murray is the name of:*Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore *Charles Augustus Murray , British author diplomat*Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore *Charles James Murray , British politician...
- Norman J. OrnsteinNorman J. OrnsteinNorman J. Ornstein is a political scientist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute , a conservative-leaning Washington D.C. think tank. Ornstein was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 1948 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1974. He is married to Judith L...
- Henry PetroskiHenry PetroskiHenry Petroski is an American engineer specializing in failure analysis. A professor both of civil engineering and history at Duke University, he is also a prolific author...
- Amity ShlaesAmity ShlaesAmity Ruth Shlaes is an American author and columnist from New York, who writes about politics and economics.-Education and career:...
Notable stories
Luke Mullins's interview of a white-collar criminalWhite-collar crime
Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...
who spent time in a minimum-security prison, which stated that minimum-security prisons were no longer "country-club prisons,"
prompted criticism by Peter Carlson in a column in the Washington Post.