Michael Novak

Michael Novak

Michael Novak holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. His research focuses on the three systems of the free society--the free polity, the free economy, and the culture of liberty--and their springs in religion and philosophy. Twice the U.S. ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission, and once to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He directs social and political studies for the AEI and is the author of twenty-five influential books published in every major Western language (as well as Bengali, Korean, Japanese). He is the recipient of the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion; the Antony Fisher Prize for The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism presented by Margaret Thatcher; the Weber Award for contributions to Catholic Social Thought in Essen, Germany; the Cezanne Medal from the City of Provence, and the Catholic Culture Medal of Bassano del Grappa in Italy; the highest civilian award from the Slovak Republic in 1996; the Masaryk Medal, presented by Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, in 2000. An online archive of Michael Novak's writings can be found here.

Relevant Articles / Interviews

Understanding Novak: Introductory Resources

• American and Catholic: Michael Novak's Achievement, by George Weigel. City Journal Winter 2014.
• The Novak Achievement, by Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus. First Things 36 (October 1993).
• Controversial Engagements. First Things 92 (April 1999): 21-29. Novak gives an account of his career and development of thought in response to Eugene McCarraher.
• The Debate We Have To Have: Michael Novak, Christianity, and Capitalism, by Samuel Gregg. The Adelaide Review June 1999.
  

On Democracy, Religion & 'The American Experiment'

Michael Novak on the "Hunger for Liberty" -- an interview with Zenit.org. May 11, 2005.

1. Part 1: On the Need for Morality to Safeguard Freedom
2. Part 2: The Clash of Civilizations
3. Part 3: On Europe's Lost Desire for Freedom

• The Universal Hunger for Liberty: Why the Clash of Civilizations Is Not Inevitable. Online discussion with Joanne Myers, Director of Merrill House Programs, and Q&A with readers. Sponsored by the Carnegie Council.
  
• The Truth About Religious Freedom First Things 161 (March 2006): 17-20.
  
• Religion and the Founders, by Christopher Levenick & Michael Novak. National Review March 7, 2005.
  
• On "The Amerian Experiment" with Peter and Helen Evans. August 4, 2003.
  
• Michael Novak's Recipe for a Civilization of Love. Zenit.org. July 17, 2003.
  
• The Faith of the Founding. First Things 132 (April 2003): 27-32.
  
• Democracy & Religion in America: Tocqueville's surprising linkage. National Review Online, October 2, 2002
  
• The Judeo-Christian Foundation of Human Dignity, Personal Liberty, and the Concept of the Person Markets & Morality Vol. 1, No. 2. Fall 1998.
  
• The Future of Civil Society. CRISIS Magazine, 14 no. 8. September 1996.
  
• Aquinas and the Heretics First Things 58 (December 1995): 33-38.
  

On Economics & Social Thought

• Wealth & Virtue: The moral case for capitalism. National Review Online. Feb. 18, 2004.
  
• Michael Novak's Recipe for a Civilization of Love. Interview w/ Zenit.org. July 17, 2003.
• Human Dignity, Personal Liberty: Themes from Abraham Kuyper and Leo XIII. Journal of Markets & Morality Volume 5, Number 1. Spring 2002.
  
• Defining Social Justice. First Things 108 (December 2000): 11-13.
• Capitalism and the Human Spirit. The Public Interest April 15, 2000.
  
• The International Vocation of American Business. Religion & Liberty. The Acton Institute. July-August, 1999.
  
• God, Man & Money Catholic Dossier May / June 1999.
  
• Controversial Engagements - an account of his career and development of political thought. First Things 92 (April 1999).
  
• Economics as Humanism. First Things 76 (October 1997): 18-19.
  
• The Future of Civil Society. Crisis 14 no. 8 (September 1996).
  • Michael Novak and Yves R. Simon on the common good and Capitalism, by Thomas R. Rourke. Review of Politics, Spring 1996, Vol. 58 Issue 2, p229, 30p;
  • A `Catholic Whig' replies, by Michael Novak. Review of Politics, Spring 1996, Vol. 58 Issue 2, p259, 6p.
  • Response to a `Catholic Whig', by Thomas R. Rourke. Review of Politics, Spring 1996, Vol. 58 Issue 2, p265, 3p.
• The Free Market & Public Morality. Interview with Michael Novak. Religion & Liberty May-June 1994.
  
• Capitalism Rightly Understood: The View of Christian Humanism. Faith & Reason, April 1991.
  --Centesimus Annus: Maintaining the Continuity of Catholic Social Teaching. Response by Stephen M. Krason. Faith & Reason Winter 1991.
• A Salute to Jacques Maritain. The Catholic Writer: The Proceedings of the Wethersfield Institute. 2 (1989): 65-82.
• Michael Novak's Portrait of Democratic Capitalism, by Edward W. Younkins. Markets & Morality. Vol. 2, No. 1 Spring 1999.

See Also:

• Michael Novak: American and Catholic, by George Weigel. City Journal 02/05/14.
• Collected Articles by Michael Novak.
• Michael Novak's Official Homepage.

Relevant Writings

• List of Major Works by Michael Novak [.pdf format]
• Extended Summaries of Novak's Writing [.pdf format]