The Conscience of a Conservative was ghostwritten by L. Brent Bozell Jr They had co-authored the controversial book, McCarthy and His Enemies, in 1955. Bozell had been Goldwater's speechwriter in the 1950s, and was familiar with many of his ideals. The book covers such topics as education, labor unions and policies, civil rights, agricultural policy and farm subsidies, social welfare programs, and income taxation. The book is considered to be a significant statement of politically and economically John Dean in “Conservatives without Conscience,” he observes that under the Bush-Cheney administration, there has been a “striking shift toward a very un-American type of authoritarianism,” in all branches of the federal government. Their followers are blindly submissive to authority, which can lead them to do harm to others if they believe such behavior is sanctioned. In addition, the followers also “accept the traditional norms of society and tend to be fundamentalist in religion and reject moral relativism.” Al Olsen The Conservative has No conscience.