Democrats and Republicans are competing over which party is the true defender of freedom in American life, but the claims of both have become muddy. What the debate really illuminates is how far the parties have drifted from decades of consensus about liberty in American economic and social life, without yet articulating where they are headed, if they know.

       As evidence of their commitment to freedom, Republicans fall back on gun rights, while Democrats point to abortion rights. But their fights over how history should be taught, what words people should use and which behaviours and investments the government should demand from industry reveal rising anxiety about how Americans’ use their freedoms and a new, shared willingness to inject the state into those choices.

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