Liberalism 101

I don’t know what’s more confounding: that Trump won in 2016, that America hasn’t fallen apart since, or that he might yet be re-elected. Certainly, his administration has been a time of widespread hand-­wringing, soul-­searching, and finger pointing. It has also been a great time for reading about politics. Now Adam Gopnik has added to the reading list with a book-length note to his university-­age daughter. The tone, patronizing at times: Don’t freak out. There’s no need to get emotional. Stay calm and carry on. Let me teach you about liberalism.

Gopnik’s left-­leaning daughter isn’t the only one who could use an explainer: liberalism is a highly contested and often misused term, with a contested and complex history. We certainly hear the word a lot these days, and although it aligns most closely with the federal capital‑L Liberal Party, it is an older and more varied concept than that connection suggests. Its origins are in the Enlightenment...