Benedict XVI – Madisonian?

Interesting, but to be read with some skepticism since Michael Novak is a shameless apologist for the spiritual glories of capitalism and the idea that the ideals of the American founding are in perfect sync with Christianity (I like capitalism – in a Churchillian ‘least bad of the available options’ sense – and the principles of the American founding too, but I at least expect there to be some tension there!).

Anyway, here’s Novak on the political philosophy of the new pope:

One of Cardinal Ratzinger’s central, and most misunderstood, notions is his conception of liberty, and he is very jealous in thinking deeply about it, pointing often to Tocqueville. He is a strong foe of socialism, statism and authoritarianism, but he also worries that democracy, despite its great promise, is exceedingly vulnerable to the tyranny of the majority, to “the new soft despotism” of the all-mothering state, and to the common belief that liberty means doing whatever you please. Following Lord Acton and James Madison, Cardinal Ratzinger has written of the need of humans to practice self-government over their passions in private life.