Conservatives and libertarians have seen their marriage of convenience wax and wane over the decades. The “fusionism” of National Review’s Frank Meyer sought to harness the limited-government energies of the libertarian right with the religious and moral vision of mainstream conservatives, and racked up meaningful political victories. In the early 2010s, some predicted a “libertarian moment” was going to permanently shift the political right.  

Instead, the pivot has gone in the opposite direction. A post-2016 political right has become much more interested in using state power to advance its ideals and ideas, breaking decisively away from the goal of making government small enough to “drown it in a bathtub.” Conservatives, who tend to prize social stability and tradition, now seem as apt to lob rhetorical bombs towards libertarians who seek to maximize individual autonomy and dynamism as towards their traditional adversaries on the left. 

These divides play out in a new report on pro-family policy from the Cato Institute, which lays bare real fault lines between a conservative and libertarian approach to supporting families. But it also highlights areas where the well-worn “fusionist” approach can still, within limits, meaningfully make life better for parents.