Washington, D.C., July 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States turns 250 this year with its institutions of self-government under visible strain. When a political order doesn’t deliver, people lose trust and reach for the nearest fix, and often the nearest fix is an illiberal one, one that promises to settle things for good.
Liberalism is the one order that refuses to settle the answers in advance. It treats disagreement as the permanent condition of a free people and builds room for revision. That openness is what lets a free society keep learning, correcting its mistakes and discovering better ways to live, in a way no rival arrangement of power can.
Liberalism.org exists for those conversations. The public forum, launched by the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS), explores and renews the liberal intellectual tradition as a living body of thought, still being shaped. Drawing on the IHS scholar network, the largest community of classical liberal academics in the world, its premise is that liberalism does its best thinking out in the open, tested against real disagreement.
That is what brings the platform to LibCon2026. The conference, convened by the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism (ISMA) under the theme “Liberalism for the 21st Century,” runs July 16–17 at The Watergate Hotel and gathers scholars, journalists, and policymakers to debate where liberal democracy goes next. Liberalism.org is a sponsor.
“Liberalism is at its best when it argues with itself in public,” said Aaron Ross Powell, who directs Liberalism.org. “LibCon brings together people who disagree well and take the open questions of a free society seriously. That’s the conversation our readers come to us for, and we’re glad to help convene it.”
Liberalism.org will host a booth throughout the two-day conference, where attendees can meet the team and see the platform’s work. The team will also tape a live episode of The Liberalism.org Show, the platform's weekly podcast, on site, featuring New York Times columnists Jamelle Bouie and David French and Harvard political philosopher Danielle Allen. Printed copies of select Liberalism.org essays will be on hand for attendees and press.
Essays and the podcast are at Liberalism.org. Full conference details are at conference.ismaglobal.org.
About Liberalism.org
Liberalism.org is the Institute for Humane Studies’ public forum for the liberal tradition, a place where serious thinkers engage with each other about the ideas that are shaping the future of liberalism. Through weekly essays, commentary from IHS Fellows, the podcast The Liberalism.org Show, and a slate of public events coming soon, it invites readers to join the conversation and the community. More at Liberalism.org.
About the Institute for Humane Studies
We’re America’s fastest-growing nonpartisan network grounded in the classical liberal tradition, advancing human freedom and flourishing through evidence-based ideas, research, and a shared belief that every person deserves the opportunity to build a life of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.
Josh Eakle Institute for Humane Studies 8653181508 media@ihs.gmu.edu
