Toward a 'human-centered' vision of the Republican future

With Donald Trump emerging as the last man standing in the Republican race for president, the divided party has left many – particularly staunch conservatives and the GOP's younger faction – wondering what can rise from the ashes of the 2016 campaign. Where should the party, or conservatism more broadly, go?

Given that neither the Democratic nor Republican presumptive nominees have an ounce of inclination toward limiting government, is a call for "limited government" really what people want in a time when things feel fragile? In a world where people feel powerless, rather than simply slashing government, the path forward for conservatism must involve empathy instead of just ideology, and focus on shifting power out of centralized and bureaucratic institutions, back into the realms where humans are most genuinely connected.

Two books — one by a former adviser to the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, another by a leader of the American "reformicon" movement – shed light on exactly what that might look like. Steve Hilton's More Human, drawn from his experiences working with government during his time advising Britain's prime minister, focuses on addressing the ways that people have become less empowered as more and more problems are being "solved" badly by large, unwieldy bureaucracies.

"Empathy is not a word you hear very much in government. But to understand a problem and imagine a solution requires an understanding of the people affected," writes Hilton, noting that good design starts with an end user of a product or system in mind. Too often, government "solutions" focus on preserving systems or are not built to serve people and are not constructed with human observation and understanding at the core.

Hilton tackles everything from creating a more "human-centered" healthcare system to the education system. Not all of Hilton's ideas would necessarily be warmly welcomed by the GOP or even the "reformicons"; he is critical of the Earned Income Tax Credit as a means to help the working poor, for instance. But Hilton's outside-the-box thinking is a refreshing counter to the idea-free zone of our current political climate.