The Conscience of a Conservative

Barry Goldwater's defense of conservatism is less a campaign for a new ideology than a warning that America has drifted from principles it already knows. He argues that conservatism rests on timeless truths about human nature, God, moral order, and individual responsibility, and that it speaks to the whole person, not merely to economics. Against critics who call it outdated, he presents conservatism as the practical answer to modern political problems: preserving liberty, dignity, and spiritual integrity in an age of expanding state power. At the heart of the book is a forceful case for limited government. Goldwater contends that the Constitution was designed to restrain federal authority, yet both major parties have accepted the idea that Washington may do whatever seems "needed." He traces the growth of spending, taxation, regulation, and centralized control, warning that democratic societies can surrender freedom gradually. From states' rights and federal matching funds to unions, taxation, and property rights, he argues that power must be dispersed, not concentrated, if constitutional liberty is to survive. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.