Conservatism is a
cultural,
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
, and
political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...
that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional
institutions, practices, and values.
The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
and
civilization
A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system).
...
in which it appears. In
Western culture
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
, conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as
organized religion,
parliamentary government
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of t ...
, and
property rights
The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...
. Conservatives tend to favor institutions and practices that guarantee stability and evolved gradually.
Adherents of conservatism often oppose modernism and seek a return to traditional values, though different groups of conservatives may choose different traditional values to preserve.
The first established use of the term in a political context originated in 1818 with
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrati ...
during the period of
Bourbon Restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
. Historically associated with
right-wing politics
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, author ...
, the term has since been used to describe
a wide range of views.
There is no single set of policies regarded as conservative because the meaning of conservatism depends on what is considered traditional in a given place and time. Conservative thought has varied considerably as it has adapted itself to existing traditions and national cultures. For example, some conservatives advocate for greater
economic intervention
Economic interventionism, sometimes also called state interventionism, is an economic policy position favouring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare o ...
, while others advocate for a more ''
laissez faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
'' free-market economic system. Thus, conservatives from different parts of the world—each upholding their respective traditions—may disagree on a wide range of issues.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
, an 18th-century politician who opposed the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
but supported the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, is credited as one of the main theorists of conservatism in the 1790s.
Themes
Some political scientists such as
Samuel P. Huntington, see conservatism as situational. Under this definition, conservatives are seen as defending the established institutions of their time. According to
Quintin Hogg, the chairman of the British
Conservative Party in 1959: "Conservatism is not so much a philosophy as an attitude, a constant force, performing a timeless function in the development of a free society, and corresponding to a deep and permanent requirement of human nature itself". Conservatism is often used as a generic term to describe a "right-wing viewpoint occupying the political spectrum between
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
and
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
".
Despite the lack of a universal definition, certain themes can be recognised as common across conservative thought.
Tradition
According to
Michael Oakeshott
Michael Joseph Oakeshott FBA (; 11 December 1901 – 19 December 1990) was an English philosopher and political theorist who wrote about philosophy of history, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of ...
, "To be conservative ... is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss." Such traditionalism may be a reflection of trust in time-tested methods of social organisation, giving 'votes to the dead'. Traditions may also be steeped in a sense of identity.
Hierarchy
In contrast to the tradition-based definition of conservatism, some political theorists such as
Corey Robin Corey Robin (born 1967) is an American political theorist, journalist and professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has written books on the role of fear in political life, ...
define conservatism primarily in terms of a general defense of
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and
economic inequality
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of ...
. In that way right-wing politics supports the view that certain social orders and hierarchies are inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of
natural law
Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
, economics, or tradition. From this perspective, conservatism is less an attempt to uphold old institutions and more "a meditation on—and theoretical rendition of—the felt experience of having power, seeing it threatened, and trying to win it back". Conversely, some conservatives may argue that they are seeking less to protect their own power than they are seeking to protect "inalienable rights" and promote norms and rules that they believe should stand timeless and eternal, applying to each citizen.
Realism
Conservatism has been called a "philosophy of human imperfection" by
Noël O'Sullivan, reflecting among its adherents a negative view of
human nature
Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
and pessimism of the potential to improve it through 'utopian' schemes. The "intellectual godfather of the realist right",
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...
, argued that the
state of nature for humans was "poor, nasty, brutish, and short", requiring centralised authority.
Forms
Liberal conservatism
Liberal conservatism incorporates the
classical liberal
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...
view of minimal government intervention in the economy. Individuals should be free to participate in the market and generate wealth without government interference. However, individuals cannot be thoroughly depended on to act responsibly in other spheres of life; therefore, liberal conservatives believe that a strong state is necessary to ensure law and order and social institutions are needed to nurture a sense of duty and responsibility to the nation. Liberal conservatism is a variant of conservatism that is strongly influenced by
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
stances.
As these latter two terms have had different meanings over time and across countries, liberal conservatism also has a wide variety of meanings. Historically, the term often referred to the combination of
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
, which champions ''
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
'' markets, with the classical conservatism concern for established
tradition
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
, respect for authority and religious values. It contrasted itself with
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econo ...
, which supported
freedom for the individual in both the economic and social spheres.
Over time, the general conservative ideology in many countries adopted fiscally conservative arguments and the term liberal conservatism was replaced with conservatism. This is also the case in countries where liberal economic ideas have been the tradition such as the United States and are thus considered conservative. In other countries where liberal conservative movements have entered the political mainstream, such as
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, the terms liberal and conservative may be synonymous. The liberal conservative tradition in the United States combines the economic
individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
of the classical liberals with a
Burkean form of conservatism (which has also become part of the
American conservative
Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conser ...
tradition, such as in the writings of
Russell Kirk
Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...
).
A secondary meaning for the term liberal conservatism that has developed in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
is a combination of more modern conservative (less traditionalist) views with those of
social liberalism
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
. This has developed as an opposition to the more
collectivist views of
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
. Often this involves stressing conservative views of
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
economics and belief in individual responsibility, with
communitarian views on defence of
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
,
environmentalism
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...
and support for a limited
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...
. In continental Europe, this is sometimes also translated into English as social conservatism.
Libertarian conservatism
Libertarian conservatism
Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ve ...
describes certain political ideologies most prominently within the United States which combine
libertarian economic issues with aspects of conservatism. Its four main branches are
constitutionalism
Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law".
Political organizations are constitutional ...
,
paleolibertarianism
Paleolibertarianism (also known as the "Paleo strategy") is a libertarian political activism strategy aimed at uniting libertarians and paleoconservatives. It was developed by American anarcho-capitalist theorists Murray Rothbard and Lew Rockwe ...
,
small government conservatism and
Christian libertarianism
Christian libertarianism is the synthesis of Christian beliefs with libertarian political philosophy, with a focus on beliefs about free will, human nature, and God-given inalienable rights.
As with some other forms of libertarianism, Christi ...
. They generally differ from
paleoconservatives
Paleoconservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism in the United States stressing American nationalism, Christian ethics, regionalism, and traditionalist conservatism. Paleoconservatism's concerns overlap with those of the ...
, in that they favor more
personal
Personal may refer to:
Aspects of persons' respective individualities
* Privacy
* Personality
* Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship
Companies
* Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...
and
economic freedom
Economic freedom, or economic liberty, is the ability of people of a society to take economic actions. This is a term used in economic and policy debates as well as in the philosophy of economics. One approach to economic freedom comes from the l ...
.
Agorist
Agorism is a social philosophy that advocates creating a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics, engaging with aspects of nonviolent revolution. It was first proposed by American lib ...
s such as
Samuel Edward Konkin III
Samuel Edward Konkin III (8 July 1947 – 23 February 2004), also known as SEK3, was an American libertarian philosopher and Austrian school economist. As the author of the publication '' New Libertarian Manifesto'', he was a proponent of a polit ...
labeled libertarian conservatism
right-libertarianism
Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...
.
In contrast to paleoconservatives, libertarian conservatives support strict ''laissez-faire'' policies such as
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
, opposition to any national bank and opposition to
business regulations. They are vehemently opposed to
environmental regulation
Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the manage ...
s,
corporate welfare
Corporate welfare is a phrase used to describe a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment for corporations.
The definition of corporate welfare is sometimes restricted to direct government subsidie ...
,
subsidies
A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
and other areas of economic intervention.
Many conservatives, especially in the United States, believe that the government should not play a major role in regulating business and managing the economy. They typically oppose efforts to charge high tax rates and to redistribute income to assist the poor. Such efforts, they argue, only serve to exacerbate the scourge of unemployment and poverty by lessening the ability for businesses to hire employees due to higher tax impositions.
Fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is the economic philosophy of prudence in government spending and debt. In his ''
Reflections on the Revolution in France
''Reflections on the Revolution in France'' is a political pamphlet written by the Irish statesman Edmund Burke and published in November 1790. It is fundamentally a contrast of the French Revolution to that time with the unwritten British Const ...
'', Edmund Burke argued that a government does not have the right to run up large debts and then throw the burden on the taxpayer:
is to the property of the citizen, and not to the demands of the creditor of the state, that the first and original faith of civil society is pledged. The claim of the citizen is prior in time, paramount in title, superior in equity. The fortunes of individuals, whether possessed by acquisition or by descent or in virtue of a participation in the goods of some community, were no part of the creditor's security, expressed or implied... e public, whether represented by a monarch or by a senate, can pledge nothing but the public estate; and it can have no public estate except in what it derives from a just and proportioned imposition upon the citizens at large.
National conservatism
National conservatism is a political term used primarily in Europe to describe a variant of conservatism which concentrates more on national interests than standard conservatism as well as upholding cultural and ethnic identity, while not being outspokenly
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
or supporting a
far-right approach. In Europe, national conservatives are usually
eurosceptics
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...
.
National conservatism is heavily oriented towards the traditional
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
and social stability as well as in favour of limiting
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
. As such, national conservatives can be distinguished from economic conservatives, for whom free market economic policies,
deregulation and fiscal conservatism are the main priorities. Some commentators have identified a growing gap between national and economic conservatism: "
st parties of the Right
oday Uday or Odai is a masculine name in Arabic as well as several Indian languages. In many Indian languages it means 'dawn' or 'rise'. The Arabic name (عدي) means 'runner' or 'rising'.
List of people
* Uday Benegal, Indian musician
* Uday Pratap S ...
are run by economic conservatives who, in varying degrees, have marginalized social, cultural, and national conservatives". National conservatism is also related to
traditionalist conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere ...
.
Traditionalist conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism is a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of
natural law
Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
and transcendent moral order,
tradition
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
,
hierarchy and
organic unity
Organic unity is the idea that a thing is made up of interdependent parts. For example, a body is made up of its constituent organs, and a society is made up of its constituent social roles.
Overview
Organic unity was propounded by the philosophe ...
,
agrarianism,
classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...
and
high culture
High culture is a subculture that emphasizes and encompasses the cultural objects of aesthetic value, which a society collectively esteem as exemplary art, and the intellectual works of philosophy, history, art, and literature that a society con ...
as well as the intersecting spheres of loyalty. Some traditionalists have embraced the labels "
reactionary" and "
counterrevolution
A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...
ary", defying the stigma that has attached to these terms since the
Enlightenment. Having a hierarchical view of society, many traditionalist conservatives, including a few Americans (notable examples including
Ralph Adams Cram,
Solange Hertz,
William S. Lind, &
Charles A. Coulombe), defend the
monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
political structure as the most natural and beneficial social arrangement.
Cultural conservatism
Cultural conservatives support the preservation of the heritage of one nation, or of a shared culture that is not defined by national boundaries. The shared culture may be as divergent as
Western culture
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
or
Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
. In the United States, the term "cultural conservative" may imply a conservative position in the
culture war
A culture war is a cultural conflict between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal valu ...
. Cultural conservatives hold fast to traditional ways of thinking even in the face of monumental change. They believe strongly in traditional values and traditional politics and often have an urgent sense of nationalism.
Social conservatism
Social conservatism is distinct from cultural conservatism, although there are some overlaps. Social conservatives may believe that society is built upon a fragile network of relationships which need to be upheld through duty, traditional values and established institutions; and that the government has a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviours. A social conservative wants to preserve traditional morality and social mores, often by opposing what they consider radical policies or
social engineering. Social change is generally regarded as suspect.
Social conservatives today generally favour the
anti-abortion position in the
abortion controversy and oppose human
embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist ...
research (particularly if publicly funded); oppose both
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...
and
human enhancement
Human enhancement (HE) can be described as the natural, artificial, or technological alteration of the human body in order to enhance physical or mental capabilities.
Technologies
Existing technologies
Three forms of human enhancement curre ...
(
transhumanism
Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition.
Transhuma ...
) while supporting
bioconservatism; support a traditional definition of marriage as being one man and one woman; view the
nuclear family model as society's foundational unit; oppose expansion of
civil marriage
A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular.
History
Every country maintaining a pop ...
and
child adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
to couples in
same-sex relationships; promote
public morality
Public morality refers to moral and ethical standards enforced in a society, by law or police work or social pressure, and applied to public life, to the content of the media, and to conduct in public places. A famous remark of Mrs Patrick C ...
and traditional
family values; oppose
atheism, especially militant atheism, and
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
;
support the prohibition of
drugs,
prostitution and
euthanasia; and support the
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
of
pornography and what they consider to be
obscenity or
indecency
Inappropriateness refers to standards or ethics that are typically viewed as being negative in a society. It differs from things that are illicit in that inappropriate behavior does not necessarily have any accompanying legal ramifications.
C ...
.
Religious conservatism
Religious conservatism principally applies the teachings of particular religions to politics: sometimes by merely proclaiming the value of those teachings; at other times, by having those teachings influence laws.
In most democracies, political conservatism seeks to uphold traditional family structures and social values. Religious conservatives typically oppose abortion,
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
behavior (or, in certain cases, identity), drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage. In some cases, conservative values are grounded in religious beliefs, and conservatives seek to increase the role of religion in public life.
Paternalistic conservatism
Paternalistic conservatism is a strand in conservatism which reflects the belief that societies exist and develop organically and that members within them have obligations towards each other. There is particular emphasis on the
paternalistic obligation of those who are
privileged and
wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
y to the
poorer parts of society. Since it is consistent with principles such as
organicism
Organicism is the philosophical position that states that the universe and its various parts (including human societies) ought to be considered alive and naturally ordered, much like a living organism.Gilbert, S. F., and S. Sarkar. 2000. "Embrac ...
,
hierarchy and
duty, it can be seen as an outgrowth of
traditional conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere ...
. Paternal conservatives support neither the
individual nor the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
in principle, but are instead prepared to support either or recommend a balance between the two depending on what is most practical. Paternalistic conservatives historically favor a more
aristocratic
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word' ...
view (as opposed to the more monarchist traditionalist conservatism) and are ideologically related to
High Tories
In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, High Toryism is the old traditionalist conservatism which is in line with the Toryism originating in the 17th century. High Tories and their worldview are sometimes at odds with the modernising elements of the ...
.
In more contemporary times, its proponents stress the importance of a
social safety net
The social safety net (SSN) consists of non-contributory assistance existing to improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals experiencing poverty and destitution. Examples of SSNs are previously-contributory social pensions, in-kind and fo ...
to deal with
poverty, support for limited
redistribution of wealth
Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, confis ...
along with government regulation of markets in the interests of both consumers and producers.
[Patrick Dunleavy, Paul Joseph Kelly, Michael Moran. ''British Political Science: Fifty Years of Political Studies''. Oxford, England, UK; Malden, Massachusetts, US: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. pp. 107–108] Paternalistic conservatism first arose as a distinct ideology in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
under Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli's "
One Nation"
Toryism
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
.
There have been a variety of one nation conservative governments. In the United Kingdom, the Prime Ministers Disraeli,
Stanley Baldwin,
Neville Chamberlain,
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, and
Harold Macmillan were or are one nation conservatives.
In
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, during the 19th-century
German Chancellor
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
Otto von Bismarck adopted policies of state-organized compulsory insurance for workers against sickness, accident, incapacity and old age. Chancellor
Leo von Caprivi
Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli (English: ''Count George Leo of Caprivi, Caprara, and Montecuccoli''; born Georg Leo von Caprivi; 24 February 1831 – 6 February 1899) was a German general and statesman who served as the cha ...
promoted a conservative agenda called the "New Course".
Progressive conservatism
In the United States,
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
has been the main figure identified with
progressive conservatism as a political tradition. Roosevelt stated that he had "always believed that wise progressivism and wise conservatism go hand in hand".
The
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
administration of President
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
was a progressive conservative and he described himself as "a believer in progressive conservatism"
[Jonathan Lurie. William Howard Taft: The Travails of a Progressive Conservative. New York, New York, US: Cambridge University Press, 2012. p.196] and President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
declared himself an advocate of "progressive conservatism".
In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, a variety of conservative governments have been part of the
Red Tory
A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre to centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition, most predominantly in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and Australia. This philosophy tends to fa ...
tradition, with Canada's former major conservative party being named the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
from 1942 to 2003.
[Hugh Segal. The Right Balance. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Douglas & McIntyre, 2011. pp. 113–148] In Canada, the Prime Ministers
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fro ...
,
R. B. Bennett,
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...
,
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
,
Brian Mulroney, and
Kim Campbell
Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and so far only female ...
led Red tory federal governments.
Authoritarian conservatism
Authoritarian conservatism or reactionary conservatism refers to
autocratic
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except per ...
regimes that center their ideology around
conservative nationalism
National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...
, rather than
ethnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...
, though certain racial components such as
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
may exist. Authoritarian conservative movements show strong devotion towards religion, tradition and culture while also expressing fervent nationalism akin to other far-right nationalist movements. Examples of authoritarian conservative leaders include
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the r ...
and
Engelbert Dollfuss
Engelbert Dollfuß (alternatively: ''Dolfuss'', ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ...
. Authoritarian conservative movements were prominent in the same era as fascism, with which it sometimes clashed. Although both ideologies shared core values such as nationalism and had common enemies such as
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
and
materialism, there was nonetheless a contrast between the traditionalist nature of authoritarian conservatism and the revolutionary,
palingenetic and populist nature of fascism—thus it was common for authoritarian conservative regimes to suppress rising fascist and
National Socialist
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
movements. The hostility between the two ideologies is highlighted by the struggle for power for the
National Socialists
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in Austria, which was marked by the assassination of
Engelbert Dollfuss
Engelbert Dollfuß (alternatively: ''Dolfuss'', ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ...
.
Sociologist
Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset ( ; March 18, 1922 – December 31, 2006) was an American sociologist and political scientist (President of the American Political Science Association). His major work was in the fields of political sociology, trade union o ...
has examined the class basis of right-wing extremist politics in the 1920–1960 era. He reports:
Conservative or rightist extremist movements have arisen at different periods in modern history, ranging from the Horthyites in Hungary, the Christian Social Party of Dollfuss in Austria, ''Der Stahlhelm
' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...
'' and other nationalists in pre-Hitler Germany, and Salazar in Portugal, to the pre-1966 Gaullist movements and the monarchists in contemporary France and Italy. The right extremists are conservative, not revolutionary. They seek to change political institutions in order to preserve or restore cultural and economic ones, while extremists of the centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
and left seek to use political means for cultural and social revolution. The ideal of the right extremist is not a totalitarian ruler, but a monarch, or a traditionalist who acts like one. Many such movements in Spain, Austria, Hungary, Germany, and Italy-have been explicitly monarchist... The supporters of these movements differ from those of the centrists, tending to be wealthier, and more religious, which is more important in terms of a potential for mass support.
History
History of conservative thought
In Great Britain, the
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
movement during the
Restoration period (1660–1688) was a precursor to conservatism. Toryism supported a hierarchical society with a monarch who ruled by
divine right. However,
Tories
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
differ from conservatives in that they opposed the idea that sovereignty derived from the people and rejected the authority of parliament and freedom of religion.
Robert Filmer
Sir Robert Filmer (c. 1588 – 26 May 1653) was an English political theorist who defended the divine right of kings. His best known work, '' Patriarcha'', published posthumously in 1680, was the target of numerous Whig attempts at rebuttal ...
's ''Patriarcha: or the Natural Power of Kings'' (published posthumously in 1680, but written before the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
of 1642–1651) became accepted as the statement of their doctrine. However, the
Glorious Revolution of 1688 destroyed this principle to some degree by establishing a constitutional government in England, leading to the hegemony of the Tory-opposed
Whig ideology. Faced with defeat, the Tories reformed their movement. They adopted more conservative positions, such as holding that sovereignty was vested in the three estates of Crown, Lords, and Commons rather than solely in the Crown.
Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford University ...
(1554–1600),
Marquess of Halifax
The title Marquess of Halifax was created in the Peerage of England in 1682 for the George Savile, 1st Earl of Halifax.
He had previously been created Baron Savile, of Elland in the County of York, Viscount Halifax in 1668, and Earl of Halifax i ...
(1633–1695) and
David Hume
David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment phil ...
(1711-1776) were proto-conservatives of the period. Halifax promoted pragmatism in government whilst Hume argued against political rationalism and utopianism.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
(1729–1797) has been widely regarded as the philosophical founder of conservatism. Burke served as the private secretary to the
Marquis of Rockingham and as official pamphleteer to the
Rockingham branch of the Whig party. Together with the Tories, they were the conservatives in the late 18th century United Kingdom. Burke's views were a mixture of conservatism and republicanism. He supported the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
of 1775–1783 but abhorred the violence of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
(1789–1799). He accepted the conservative ideals of private property and the economics of
Adam Smith (1723–1790), but thought that economics should remain subordinate to the conservative social ethic, that capitalism should be subordinate to the medieval social tradition and that the business class should be subordinate to
aristocracy. He insisted on standards of honor derived from the medieval aristocratic tradition and saw the aristocracy as the nation's natural leaders. That meant limits on the powers of the Crown, since he found the institutions of Parliament to be better informed than commissions appointed by the executive. He favored an
established church, but allowed for a degree of
religious toleration
Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
. Burke ultimately justified the social order on the basis of tradition: tradition represented the wisdom of the species and he valued community and social harmony over social reforms.
Another form of conservatism developed in France in parallel to conservatism in Britain. It was influenced by
Counter-Enlightenment
The Counter-Enlightenment refers to a loose collection of intellectual stances that arose during the European Enlightenment in opposition to its mainstream attitudes and ideals. The Counter-Enlightenment is generally seen to have continued from t ...
works by men such as
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (; 1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat who advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Despite his clo ...
(1753–1821) and
Louis de Bonald
Louis Gabriel Ambroise, Vicomte de Bonald (2 October 1754 – 23 November 1840) was a French counter-revolutionary philosopher and politician. He is mainly remembered for developing a theoretical framework from which French sociology would ...
(1754–1840). Many continental conservatives do not support
separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
, with most supporting state recognition of and cooperation with the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, such as had existed in France before the Revolution. Conservatives were also early to embrace nationalism, which was previously associated with liberalism and the Revolution in France. Another early French conservative,
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrati ...
(1768–1848), espoused a
romantic opposition to modernity, contrasting its emptiness with the 'full heart' of traditional faith and loyalty. Elsewhere on the continent, German thinkers
Justus Möser (1720–1794) and
Friedrich von Gentz
Friedrich von Gentz (2 May 1764 – 9 June 1832) was an Austrian diplomat and a writer. With Austrian chancellor Von Metternich he was one of the main forces behind the organisation, management and protocol of the Congress of Vienna.
Early ...
(1764–1832) criticized the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...
that came of the Revolution. Opposition was also expressed by
Adam Müller
Adam Heinrich Müller (30 June 1779 – 17 January 1829; after 1827 Ritter von Nitterdorf) was a German-Austrian conservative philosopher, literary critic, and political economist, working within the romantic tradition.
Biography
Early life
...
(1779–1829) and
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
(1771–1830), the latter inspiring both left and right-wing followers.
Both Burke and Maistre were critical and skeptical of democracy in general, though their reasons differed. Maistre was pessimistic about humans being able to follow rules, while Burke was skeptical about humans' innate ability to make rules. For Maistre, rules had a divine origin, while Burke believed they arose from custom. The lack of custom for Burke, and the lack of divine guidance for Maistre, meant that people would act in terrible ways. Both also believed that liberty of the wrong kindled to bewilderment and political breakdown. Their ideas would together flow into a stream of anti-rationalist, romantic conservatism, but would still stay separate. Whereas Burke was more open to argumentation and disagreement, Maistre wanted faith and authority, leading to a more illiberal strain of thought.
History of conservative parties and movements
Conservative political parties vary widely from country to country in the goals they wish to achieve. Both conservative and liberal parties tend to favor private ownership of property, in opposition to communist, socialist and green parties, which favor communal ownership or laws requiring social responsibility on the part of property owners. Where conservatives and liberals differ is primarily on social issues. Conservatives tend to reject behavior that does not
conform to some
social norm. Modern conservative parties often define themselves by their opposition to liberal or labor parties. The United States usage of the term "conservative" is unique to that country.
In Italy, which was united by liberals and radicals (''
Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
''), liberals, not conservatives, emerged as the party of the right. In the Netherlands, conservatives merged into a new Christian democratic party in 1980. In Austria, Germany, Portugal and Spain, conservatism was transformed into and incorporated into fascism or the
far-right. In 1940, all Japanese parties were merged into a single fascist party. Following the war, Japanese conservatives briefly returned to politics, but were largely purged from public office.
Conservative elites have long dominated Latin American nations. Mostly, this has been achieved through control of and support for civil institutions, the church and the armed forces, rather than through party politics. Typically, the church was exempt from taxes and its employees immune from civil prosecution. Where national conservative parties were weak or non-existent, conservatives were more likely to rely on military dictatorship as a preferred form of government. However, in some nations where the elites were able to mobilize popular support for conservative parties, longer periods of political stability were achieved. Chile, Colombia and Venezuela are examples of nations that developed strong conservative parties. Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador and Peru are examples of nations where this did not occur. The Conservative Party of Venezuela disappeared following the
Federal War
The Federal War ( es, Guerra Federal) — also known as the Great War or the Five Year War — was a civil war (1859–1863) in Venezuela between the Conservative party and the Liberal party over the monopoly the Conservatives held over govern ...
s of 1858–1863. Chile's conservative party, the
National Party, disbanded in 1973 following a military coup and did not re-emerge as a political force following the subsequent return to democracy.
Louis Hartz Louis Hartz (April 8, 1919 – January 20, 1986) was an American political scientist, historian, and a professor at Harvard, where he taught from 1942 until 1974. Hartz’s teaching and various writings —books and articles— have had an importan ...
explained conservatism in Quebec and Latin America as a result of their settlement as feudal societies. The American conservative writer
Russell Kirk
Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...
provided the opinion that conservatism had been brought to the United States and interpreted the American Revolution as a "conservative revolution".
Historic conservatism in different countries
Although political conservatism developed in most countries, most countries did not have conservative parties. Many conservatives parties disappeared as the reasons for their existence disappeared. Below are listed the historic conservative parties that survive today.
Belgium
Having its roots in the conservative
Catholic Party, the
Christian People's Party retained a conservative edge through the twentieth century, supporting the king in the
Royal Question, supporting
nuclear family as the cornerstone of society, defending Christian education, and opposing
euthanasia. The Christian People's Party dominated politics in post-war Belgium. In 1999, the party's support collapsed, and it became the country's fifth-largest party. Currently, the
N-VA (nieuw-vlaamse alliantie/New Flemish Alliance) is the largest party in Belgium.
Canada
Canada's conservatives had their roots in the Tory loyalists who left America after the American Revolution. They developed in the socio-economic and political cleavages that existed during the first three decades of the 19th century and had the support of the business, professional and established Church (Anglican) elites in Ontario and to a lesser extent in Quebec. Holding a monopoly over administrative and judicial offices, they were called the "
Family Compact
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in ...
" in Ontario and the "
Chateau Clique" in Quebec.
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
's successful leadership of the movement to confederate the provinces and his subsequent tenure as prime minister for most of the late 19th century rested on his ability to bring together the English-speaking Protestant oligarchy and the
ultramontane
Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...
Catholic hierarchy of Quebec and to keep them united in a conservative coalition.
The conservatives combined
pro-market liberalism and
Toryism
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
. They generally supported an activist government and state intervention in the marketplace and their policies were marked by ''
noblesse oblige
''Noblesse oblige'' (; ; literally “nobility obliges”) is a French expression from a time when French (more specifically, Anglo-Norman) was the language of the English nobility, and retains in English the meaning that nobility extends beyo ...
'', a paternalistic responsibility of the elites for the less well-off. From 1942, the party was known as the Progressive Conservatives until 2003, when the national party merged with the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...
to form the
Conservative Party of Canada.
The conservative and
autonomist
Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tend ...
Union Nationale, led by
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...
, governed the province of Quebec in periods from 1936 to 1960 and in a close alliance with the Catholic Church, small rural elites, farmers and business elites. This period, known by liberals as the
Great Darkness, ended with the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
and the party went into terminal decline. By the end of the 1960s, the political debate in Quebec centered around the question of independence, opposing the
social democratic and
sovereignist Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
and the
centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
and
federalist Quebec Liberal Party, therefore marginalizing the conservative movement. Most French Canadian conservatives rallied either the
Quebec Liberal Party or the
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
, while some of them still tried to offer an autonomist third-way with what was left of the
Union Nationale or the more
populists
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
Ralliement créditiste du Québec
The ''Ralliement créditiste du Québec'' was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada that operated from 1970 to 1978 (the party was also known as the ''Parti créditiste'' from September to December 1973, contesting the 1973 provincial el ...
and
Parti national populaire
The Parti national populaire (PNP, in English: "Popular National Party" ) was a minor political party in Quebec, Canada that operated in the 1970s.
The PNP was created by a split in the Ralliement créditiste du Québec after Fabien Roy was e ...
, but by the
1981 provincial election politically organized conservatism had been obliterated in Quebec. It slowly started to revive at the
1994 provincial election with the
Action démocratique du Québec, who served as
Official opposition in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
from 2007 to 2008, before its merger with
François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec in 2012, that took power in 2018.
The modern
Conservative Party of Canada has rebranded conservatism and under the leadership of
Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party added more conservative policies.
Colombia
The
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party ( es, Partido Conservador Colombiano) is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was formally established in 1849 by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez and José Eusebio Caro.
The Conservative party along ...
, founded in 1849, traces its origins to opponents of General
Francisco de Paula Santander
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (Villa del Rosario, Norte de Santander, Colombia, April 2, 1792 – Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, May 6, 1840), was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independe ...
's 1833–1837 administration. While the term "liberal" had been used to describe all political forces in Colombia, the conservatives began describing themselves as "conservative liberals" and their opponents as "red liberals". From the 1860s until the present, the party has supported strong central government; supported the Catholic Church, especially its role as protector of the sanctity of the family; and opposed separation of church and state. Its policies include the legal equality of all men, the citizen's right to own property and opposition to dictatorship. It has usually been Colombia's second largest party, with the
Colombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Colombiano; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Sociali ...
being the largest.
Denmark
Founded in 1915, the
Conservative People's Party of Denmark was the successor of ''
Højre
Højre (, ''Right'') was the name of two Danish political parties of Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The c ...
'' (literally "
Right"). Another Danish conservative party was the
Free Conservatives who were active between 1902 and 1920. The Conservative People's Party led the government coalition from 1982 to 1993. The party had previously been member of various governments from 1916 to 1917, 1940 to 1945, 1950 to 1953 and 1968 to 1971. The party was a junior partner in coalition with the
Liberals from 2001 to 2011. The party is preceded by 11 years by the
Young Conservatives (KU), today the youth movement of the party. The party suffered a major defeat in the parliamentary elections of September 2011 in which the party lost more than half of its seat and also lost governmental power. A liberal cultural policy dominated during the post-war period. However, by the 1990s, disagreements regarding immigrants from entirely different cultures ignited a conservative backlash. In 2015
Nye Borgerlige (The New Right) was founded promoting themselves as “true conservatives” and claiming that the Conservative People's Party had left its 'original values' behind. Since January 2021 though the Danish Opinion polls has often shown the Conservative People's Party to be the second most popular political party in Denmark among the Danish electorates. The conservative parties in Denmark have always considered the
monarchy
A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...
as a central institution in Denmark.
Finland
The conservative party in Finland is the
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
(in Finnish ''Kansallinen Kokoomus'', ''Kok''). The party was founded in 1918 when several monarchist parties united. Although in the past the party was right-wing, today it is a moderate liberal conservative party. While the party advocates
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
, it is committed to the
social market economy
The social market economy (SOME; german: soziale Marktwirtschaft), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism, is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system alon ...
.
France
Conservatism in France focused on the rejection of the secularism of the French Revolution, support for the role of the Catholic Church and the restoration of the monarchy. The monarchist cause was on the verge of victory in the 1870s, but then collapsed because the proposed king,
Henri, Count of Chambord
Henri, Count of Chambord and Duke of Bordeaux (french: Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonné d'Artois, duc de Bordeaux, comte de Chambord; 29 September 1820 – 24 August 1883) was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Hen ...
, refused to fly the tri-colored flag. Religious tensions heightened in the 1890–1910 era, but moderated after the spirit of unity in fighting the First World War. An extreme form of conservatism characterized the
Vichy regime
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
of 1940–1944 with heightened antisemitism, opposition to individualism, emphasis on family life and national direction of the economy.
Following the Second World War, conservatives in France supported Gaullist groups and have been nationalistic and emphasized tradition, order and the regeneration of France. Gaullists held divergent views on social issues. The number of conservative groups, their lack of stability and their tendency to be identified with local issues defy simple categorization. Conservatism has been the major political force in France since the Second World War. Unusually, post-war French conservatism was formed around the personality of a leader,
Charles de Gaulle; and did not draw on traditional French conservatism, but on the
Bonapartism tradition. Gaullism in France continues under
The Republicans (formerly
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right List of political parties in France, political party in France that was one of the two major party, major contemporary political pa ...
), which was previously led by
Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative figure in France (see
Sinistrisme
Sinistrisme () is a neologism invented by political scientist Albert Thibaudet in ''Les idées politiques de la France'' (1932) to explain the evolution and recombination of party systems, particularly in France, without substantial changes occ ...
). The word "conservative" itself is a term of abuse to many people in France.
Greece
The main inter-war conservative party was called the
People's Party (PP), which supported
constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
and opposed the
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. Both it and the Liberal party were suppressed by the authoritarian, arch-conservative and royalist
4th of August Regime
The 4th of August Regime ( el, Καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου, Kathestós tis tetártis Avgoústou), commonly also known as the Metaxas regime (, ''Kathestós Metaxá''), was a totalitarian regime under the leadership of Gener ...
of
Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas (; el, Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12th April 187129th January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for t ...
in 1936–1941. The PP was able to re-group after the Second World War as part of a United Nationalist Front which achieved power campaigning on a simple anticommunist, ultranationalist platform during the
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...
(1946–1949). However, the vote received by the PP declined during the so-called "Centrist Interlude" in 1950–1952. In 1952, Marshal
Alexandros Papagos
Alexandros Papagos ( el, Αλέξανδρος Παπάγος; 9 December 1883 – 4 October 1955) was a Greek army officer who led the Hellenic Army in World War II and the later stages of the subsequent Greek Civil War. The only Greek caree ...
created the
Greek Rally
Greek Rally ( el, Ἑλληνικὸς Συναγερμός (ΕΣ), ''Ellīnikòs Synagermós'' (ES)) was a right-wing political party in Greece.
History
Founded on 6 August 1951 by former field marshal Alexandros Papagos, the party encompasse ...
as an umbrella for the right-wing forces. The Greek Rally came to power in 1952 and remained the leading party in Greece until 1963—after Papagos' death in 1955 reformed as the
National Radical Union
The National Radical Union ( el, Ἐθνικὴ Ῥιζοσπαστικὴ Ἕνωσις (ΕΡΕ), ''Ethnikī́ Rizospastikī́ Énōsis'' (ERE)) was a Greek political party formed in 1956 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, mostly out of the Greek Rall ...
under
Konstantinos Karamanlis
Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and twice as the president of ...
. Right-wing governments backed by the palace and the army overthrew the
Centre Union
The Centre Union ( el, Ἕνωσις Κέντρου ''Énōsis Kéntrou'', abbreviated ΕΚ) was a major centrist political party in Greece, created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou.Clogg, 1987, pp. 39–40
History
The Centre Union was a politica ...
government in 1965 and governed the country until the establishment of the far-right
Greek junta (1967–1974). After the
regime's collapse in August 1974, Karamanlis returned from exile to lead the government and founded the
New Democracy
New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that was decisively distinc ...
party. The new conservative party had four objectives: to confront
Turkish expansionism in Cyprus, to reestablish and solidify democratic rule, to give the country a strong government and to make a powerful moderate party a force in Greek politics.
The
Independent Greeks, a newly formed political party in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, has also supported conservatism, particularly
national
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
and
religious conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
. The Founding Declaration of the Independent Greeks strongly emphasises in the preservation of the Greek state and its
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
, the
Greek people and the
Greek Orthodox Church
The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
.
Iceland
Founded in 1924 as the
Conservative Party, Iceland's
Independence Party adopted its current name in 1929 after the merger with the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. From the beginning, they have been the largest vote-winning party, averaging around 40%. They combined liberalism and conservatism, supported nationalization of infrastructure and opposed class conflict. While mostly in opposition during the 1930s, they embraced
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
, but accepted the welfare state after the war and participated in governments supportive of state intervention and protectionism. Unlike other Scandanivian conservative (and liberal) parties, it has always had a large working-class following. After the financial crisis in 2008, the party has sunk to a lower support level around 20–25%.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg's major conservative party, the
Christian Social People's Party (CSV or PCS), was formed as the Party of the Right in 1914 and adopted its present name in 1945. It was consistently the largest political party in Luxembourg, and dominated politics throughout the 20th century.
Norway
The
Conservative Party of Norway
The Conservative Party or The Right ( nb, Høyre, nn, Høgre, , H; se, Olgešbellodat) is a liberal-conservative political party in Norway. It is the major party of the Norwegian centre-right, and was the leading party in government as part o ...
(Norwegian: Høyre, literally "
right") was formed by the old upper class of state officials and wealthy merchants to fight the populist democracy of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, but lost power in 1884, when parliamentarian government was first practised. It formed its first government under parliamentarism in 1889 and continued to alternate in power with the Liberals until the 1930s, when Labour became the dominant political party. It has elements both of paternalism, stressing the responsibilities of the state, and of economic liberalism. It first returned to power in the 1960s. During
Kåre Willoch's premiership in the 1980s, much emphasis was laid on liberalizing the credit and housing market, and abolishing the
NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...
TV and radio monopoly, while supporting
law and order
In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
in criminal justice and traditional norms in education
Sweden
Sweden's conservative party, the
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic lib ...
, was formed in 1904, two years after the founding of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. The party emphasizes tax reductions, deregulation of private enterprise and privatization of schools, hospitals, and kindergartens.
Switzerland
There are a number of conservative parties in Switzerland's parliament, the Federal Assembly. These include the largest, the
Swiss People's Party (SVP),
the
Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP)
and the
Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Bürgerlich-Demokratische Partei Schweiz, BDP; french: Parti bourgeois démocratique suisse, PBD; it, Partito Borghese Democratico Svizzero, PBD; rm, , PBD; ''Swiss Democratic Bourgeois ...
(BDP),
which is a splinter of the SVP created in the aftermath to the election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf as Federal Council.
The right-wing parties have a majority in the
Federal Assembly.
The
Swiss People's Party (SVP or UDC) was formed from the 1971 merger of the
Party of Farmers, Traders and Citizens, formed in 1917 and the smaller Swiss Democratic Party, formed in 1942. The SVP emphasized agricultural policy and was strong among farmers in German-speaking Protestant areas. As Switzerland considered closer relations with the European Union in the 1990s, the SVP adopted a more militant protectionist and isolationist stance. This stance has allowed it to expand into German-speaking Catholic mountainous areas. The
Anti-Defamation League, a non-Swiss lobby group based in the United States has accused them of manipulating issues such as immigration, Swiss neutrality and welfare benefits, awakening antisemitism and racism. The
Council of Europe has called the SVP "extreme right", although some scholars dispute this classification. For instance, Hans-Georg Betz describes it as "populist radical right". The SVP is the largest party since 2003.
Ukraine
Authoritarian
Ukrainian State
The Ukrainian State ( uk, Українська Держава, translit=Ukrainska Derzhava), sometimes also called the Second Hetmanate ( uk, Другий Гетьманат, translit=Druhyi Hetmanat, link=no), was an anti-Bolshevik government ...
headed by
Pavlo Skoropadskyi
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi ( uk, Павло Петрович Скоропадський, Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army ...
represented the conservative movement. The 1918
Hetman
( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders.
Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...
government, which appealed to the tradition of the 17th–18th century
Cossack Hetman state, represented the conservative strand in Ukraine's struggle for independence. It had the support of the proprietary classes and of conservative and moderate political groups.
Vyacheslav Lypynsky was a main ideologue of Ukrainian conservatism.
United Kingdom
According to historian James Sack, English conservatives celebrate
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
who was Irish, as their intellectual father. Burke was affiliated with the
Whig Party which eventually became the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, but the modern
Conservative Party is generally thought to derive from the
Tory party
The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed ...
and the MPs of the modern conservative party are still frequently referred to as Tories.
Shortly after Burke's death in 1797, conservatism revived as a mainstream political force as the Whigs suffered a series of internal divisions. This new generation of conservatives derived their politics not from Burke, but from his predecessor, the
Viscount Bolingbroke
Viscount Bolingbroke is a current title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1712 for Henry St John. He was simultaneously made Baron St John, of Lydiard Tregoze in the County of Wilts. Since 1751, the titles are merged with the titles of ...
(1678–1751), who was a Jacobite and traditional Tory, lacking Burke's sympathies for Whiggish policies such as
Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
and
American independence
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
(famously attacked by
Samuel Johnson in "Taxation No Tyranny"). In the first half of the 19th century, many newspapers, magazines, and journals promoted loyalist or right-wing attitudes in religion, politics and international affairs. Burke was seldom mentioned, but
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
(1759–1806) became a conspicuous hero. The most prominent journals included ''The Quarterly Review'', founded in 1809 as a counterweight to the Whigs' ''Edinburgh Review'' and the even more conservative ''Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine''. Sack finds that the ''Quarterly Review'' promoted a balanced Canningite toryism as it was neutral on Catholic emancipation and only mildly critical of Nonconformist Dissent; it opposed slavery and supported the current poor laws; and it was "aggressively imperialist". The
high-church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originat ...
clergy of the Church of England read the ''
Orthodox Churchman's Magazine'' which was equally hostile to Jewish, Catholic,
Jacobin,
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
and
Unitarian spokesmen. Anchoring the ultra Tories, ''Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine'' stood firmly against Catholic emancipation and favoured slavery, cheap money, mercantilism, the
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, were a long series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce between other countries and with its own colonies. The ...
and the
Holy Alliance
The Holy Alliance (german: Heilige Allianz; russian: Священный союз, ''Svyashchennyy soyuz''; also called the Grand Alliance) was a coalition linking the monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. It was created after ...
.
Conservatism evolved after 1820, embracing free trade in 1846 and a commitment to democracy, especially under Disraeli. The effect was to significantly strengthen conservatism as a grassroots political force. Conservatism no longer was the philosophical defense of the landed aristocracy, but had been refreshed into redefining its commitment to the ideals of order, both secular and religious, expanding imperialism, strengthened monarchy and a more generous vision of the welfare state as opposed to the punitive vision of the Whigs and liberals. As early as 1835, Disraeli attacked the Whigs and utilitarians as slavishly devoted to an industrial oligarchy, while he described his fellow Tories as the only "really democratic party of England" and devoted to the interests of the whole people. Nevertheless, inside the party there was a tension between the growing numbers of wealthy businessmen on the one side and the aristocracy and rural gentry on the other. The aristocracy gained strength as businessmen discovered they could use their wealth to buy a peerage and a country estate.
Although conservatives opposed attempts to allow greater representation of the middle class in parliament, they conceded that
electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:
* Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-r ...
could not be reversed and promised to support further reforms so long as they did not erode the institutions of church and state. These new principles were presented in the
Tamworth Manifesto The Tamworth Manifesto was a political manifesto issued by Sir Robert Peel in 1834 in Tamworth, which is widely credited by historians as having laid down the principles upon which the modern British Conservative Party is based.
In November 1834, ...
of 1834, which historians regard as the basic statement of the beliefs of the new Conservative Party.
Some conservatives lamented the passing of a pastoral world where the ethos of ''
noblesse oblige
''Noblesse oblige'' (; ; literally “nobility obliges”) is a French expression from a time when French (more specifically, Anglo-Norman) was the language of the English nobility, and retains in English the meaning that nobility extends beyo ...
'' had promoted respect from the lower classes. They saw the
Anglican Church
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
and the aristocracy as balances against commercial wealth. They worked toward legislation for improved working conditions and urban housing. This viewpoint would later be called
Tory democracy
One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a paternalistic form of British political conservatism. It advocates the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political democr ...
. However, since Burke, there has always been tension between traditional aristocratic conservatism and the wealthy business class.
In 1834, Tory
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Robert Peel issued the
Tamworth Manifesto The Tamworth Manifesto was a political manifesto issued by Sir Robert Peel in 1834 in Tamworth, which is widely credited by historians as having laid down the principles upon which the modern British Conservative Party is based.
In November 1834, ...
in which he pledged to endorse moderate political reform. This marked the beginning of the transformation of British conservatism from
High Tory
In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, High Toryism is the old traditionalist conservatism which is in line with the Toryism originating in the 17th century. High Tories and their worldview are sometimes at odds with the modernising elements of the ...
reactionism towards a more modern form based on "conservation". The party became known as the
Conservative Party as a result, a name it has retained to this day. However, Peel would also be the root of a split in the party between the traditional Tories (by the
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...
and
Benjamin Disraeli) and the "Peelites" (led first by Peel himself, then by the
Earl of Aberdeen
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
). The split occurred in 1846 over the issue of
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
, which Peel supported, versus
protectionism
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulatio ...
, supported by Derby. The majority of the party sided with Derby whilst about a third split away, eventually merging with the
Whigs and the
radicals to form the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. Despite the split, the mainstream Conservative Party accepted the doctrine of free trade in 1852.
In the second half of the 19th century, the Liberal Party faced political schisms, especially over
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Home Rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
. Leader
William Gladstone (himself a former Peelite) sought to give Ireland a degree of autonomy, a move that elements in both the left and right-wings of his party opposed. These split off to become the
Liberal Unionists
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
(led by
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the C ...
), forming a coalition with the Conservatives before merging with them in 1912. The Liberal Unionist influence dragged the Conservative Party towards the left as Conservative governments passing a number of progressive reforms at the turn of the 20th century. By the late 19th century, the traditional business supporters of the Liberal Party had joined the Conservatives, making them the party of
business and
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
.
After a period of Liberal dominance before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the Conservatives gradually became more influential in government, regaining full control of the cabinet in 1922. In the inter-war period, conservatism was the major ideology in Britain as the Liberal Party vied with the
Labour Party for control of the left. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the first Labour government (1945–1951) under
Clement Attlee embarked on a program of nationalization of industry and the promotion of social welfare. The Conservatives generally accepted those policies until the 1980s.
In the 1980s, the Conservative government of
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, guided by
neoliberal economics, reversed many of Labour's programmes. The Conservative Party also adopt
soft eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...
politics, and oppose
Federal Europe
The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Americ ...
. Other conservative political parties, such as the
United Kingdom Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...
(UKIP, founded in 1993),
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
's
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...
(UUP) and the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP, founded in 1971), began to appear, although they have yet to make any significant impact at Westminster (, the DUP comprises the largest political party in the ruling coalition in the
Northern Ireland Assembly), and from 2017 to 2019 the DUP provided support for the Conservative
minority government.
Modern conservatism in different countries
Many sources refer to any political parties on the right of the political spectrum as conservative despite having no connection with historical conservatism. In most cases, these parties do not use the term conservative in their name or self-identify as conservative. Below is a partial list of such political parties.
Australia
The
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
adheres to the principles of
social conservatism and
liberal conservatism. It is liberal in the sense of economics. Other conservative parties are the
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Au ...
, a sister party of the Liberals,
Family First Party
The Family First Party was a conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Australian Conservatives into wh ...
,
Democratic Labor Party,
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is an Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia, protecting the right to farm, enhancing commercial and recreational fishi ...
,
Australian Conservatives
The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, b ...
, and the
Katter's Australian Party
Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral C ...
.
The second largest party in the country is the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
and its dominant faction is
Labor Right
The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...
, a
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
element. Australia undertook significant economic reform under the Labor Party in the mid-1980s. Consequently, issues like protectionism, welfare reform, privatization and deregulation are no longer debated in the political space as they are in Europe or North America. Moser and Catley explain: "In America, 'liberal' means left-of-center, and it is a pejorative term when used by conservatives in adversarial political debate. In Australia, of course, the conservatives are in the Liberal Party." Jupp writes that "
hedecline in English influences on Australian reformism and radicalism, and appropriation of the symbols of Empire by conservatives continued under the Liberal Party leadership of Sir
Robert Menzies, which lasted until 1966".
Brazil
Conservatism in Brazil originates from the cultural and historical tradition of Brazil, whose cultural roots are
Luso-
Iberian and
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
. Brazilian conservatism from the 20th century on includes names such as
Mário Ferreira dos Santos and
Vicente Ferreira da Silva
Vicente Ferreira da Silva (January 10, 1916 – July 19, 1963) was a Brazilian logician, mathematician, and philosopher. He was one of first men in Brazil history to write and have published an academic book in logic and Phenomenology.
Biograp ...
in philosophy;
Gerardo Melo Mourão
Gerardo Majella Mello Mourão (January 8, 1917 – March 9, 2007) was a Brazilian poet, fictionist, politician, journalist, translator, essayist and biographer, considered a key figure in both the national and all Lusophone literature.
Mello Mour ...
and
Otto Maria Carpeaux
Otto Maria Carpeaux (March 9, 1900 – February 3, 1978), born Otto Karpfen, was an Austrian-born Brazilian literary critic and multilingual scholar.
Career overview
Carpeaux was born Otto Karpfen in 1900 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, to a Jewish f ...
in literature;
Bruno Tolentino Bruno Lúcio de Carvalho Tolentino (November 12, 1940 – June 27, 2007) was a Brazilian poet and intellectual, known for his opposition towards the more blatant avant-garde elements of Brazilian modernism, his advocacy of classical forms and subjec ...
in poetry;
Olavo de Carvalho
Olavo Luiz Pimentel de Carvalho (29 April 1947 – 24 January 2022) was a Brazilian polemicist, self-proclaimed philosopher, political pundit, former astrologer, journalist, and far-right conspiracy theorist. From 2005 until his death, he live ...
,
Paulo Francis and
Luís Ernesto Lacombe in journalism;
Manuel de Oliveira Lima and
João Camilo de Oliveira Torres in historiography;
Sobral Pinto and
Miguel Reale
Miguel Reale (6 November 1910 – 14 April 2006) was a Brazilian jurist, philosopher, academic, politician and poet known as one of the most important jurists of Brazil. He was one of the leaders of Integralism in Brazil and an ideologue of the ...
in law;
Gustavo Corção
Gustavo Corção Braga (17 December 1896 – 6 July 1978) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic writer.
Career overview
Corção was educated at the Polytechnic School of UFRJ, but left the institution in 1920 without obtaining his degree in engineeri ...
,
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (December 13, 1908 – October 3, 1995) was a Brazilian intellectual and traditionalist Catholic activist, best known for the foundation of Tradition, Family and Property organization.
Biography Early life
Co ...
,
Father Léo
Servant of God Léo Tarcísio Gonçalves Pereira, SCJ (Delfim Moreira, state of Minas Gerais, October 9, 1961 – São Paulo, January 4, 2007), better known as Father Léo, was a Brazilian priest of the Congregation of Priests of the Sacred Heart ...
and
Father Paulo Ricardo in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
;
Roberto Campos and
Mario Henrique Simonsen
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his crea ...
in economics;
Joaquim Nabuco,
Carlos Lacerda and incumbent president
Jair Bolsonaro in the political arena.
Brazil Union
The Brazil Union () is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative list of political parties in Brazil, political party in Brazil. The party was founded on 6 October 2021 from a merger between the Democrats (Brazil), Democrats (DEM) and the Soci ...
,
Progressistas
Progressistas (; PP) is a centre-right to right-wing political party in Brazil. Founded in 1995 as the Brazilian Progressive Party, it emerged from parties that were successors to ARENA, the ruling party of the Brazilian military dictatorship. ...
,
Republicans,
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
,
Brazilian Labour Renewal Party,
Patriota
Patriota (, ), abbreviated PATRI and formerly known as the National Ecological Party ( pt, Partido Ecológico Nacional, abbreviated PEN), is a right-wing to far-right political party in Brazil. It was registered in the Superior Electoral Court in ...
,
Brazilian Labour Party,
Social Christian Party and
Brasil 35 are the conservative parties in Brazil.
Germany
Conservatism developed alongside nationalism in Germany, culminating in Germany's victory over France in the
Franco-Prussian War, the creation of the unified
German Empire in 1871 and the simultaneous rise of
Otto von Bismarck on the European political stage. Bismarck's "balance of power" model maintained peace in Europe for decades at the end of the 19th century. His "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the Junker elite—more loyal to state and emperor, he created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s. According to
Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was:
Bismarck also enacted universal male suffrage in the new German Empire in 1871. He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory after he left office in 1890.
With the rise of
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
in 1933,
agrarian movements faded and was supplanted by a more command-based economy and forced social integration. Though
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
succeeded in garnering the support of many German industrialists, prominent traditionalists openly and secretly opposed his policies of euthanasia, genocide and attacks on organized religion, including
Claus von Stauffenberg
Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair.
Despite ...
,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...
,
Henning von Tresckow
Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow (; 10 January 1901 – 21 July 1944) was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the German Army who helped organize German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassina ...
, Bishop
Clemens August Graf von Galen
Clemens Augustinus Emmanuel Joseph Pius Anthonius Hubertus Marie Graf von Galen (16 March 1878 – 22 March 1946), better known as ''Clemens August Graf von Galen'', was a German count, Bishop of Münster, and cardinal of the Catholic Church ...
and the monarchist
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...
.
More recently, the work of conservative
Christian Democratic Union leader and Chancellor
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
helped bring about
German reunification, along with the closer
European integration in the form of the
Maastricht Treaty
The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Communities, ...
.
Today, German conservatism is often associated with politicians such as Chancellor
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
, whose tenure has been marked by attempts to save the common European currency (
Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
) from demise. The German conservatives are divided under Merkel due to the refugee crisis in Germany and many conservatives in the
CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...
oppose the refugee and migrant policies developed under Merkel.
India
In India, the
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...
(BJP), led by
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...
, represent conservative politics. The BJP is the largest right-wing conservative party in the world. It promotes cultural nationalism,
Hindu Nationalism, an aggressive foreign policy against Pakistan and a conservative social and fiscal policy.
Italy
By 1945, the extreme-right
Italian fascist movement of
Benito Mussolini was discredited.
After World War II, in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
the conservative parties were dominated by the centrist
Christian Democracy (DC) party. With its landslide victory over the left in 1948, the center (including progressive and conservative factions) was in power and was, says Denis Mack Smith, "moderately conservative, reasonably tolerant of everything which did not touch religion or property, but above all Catholic and sometimes clerical." It dominated politics until the DC party's dissolution in 1994.
In 1994, the media tycoon and entrepreneur
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
founded the
liberal conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by li ...
party
Forza Italia (FI). Berlusconi won three elections in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
,
2001 and
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, governing the country for almost ten years as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
. Forza Italia formed a coalition with right-wing regional party
Lega Nord while in government. Besides FI, now the conservative ideas are mainly expressed by the
New Centre-Right
New Centre-Right ( it, Nuovo Centrodestra, NCD) was a centre-right political party in Italy.
The party was launched on 15 November 2013 by a group of dissidents of The People of Freedom (PdL) who opposed the party's transformation into Forza Ita ...
party led by
Angelino Alfano
Angelino Alfano (; born 31 October 1970) is an Italian former politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018.
Alfano was Minister of the Interior from 28 April 2013 to 12 December 2016, serving in the ...
, Berlusconi formed a new party, which is a rebirth of
Forza Italia, thus founding a new conservative movement. Alfano served as
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
. After the
2018 election,
Lega Nord and the
Five Star Movement formed a
right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establ ...
government, which later failed.
Russia
Under
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, the dominant leader since 1999, Russia has promoted explicitly conservative policies in social, cultural and political matters, both at home and abroad. Putin has attacked globalism and economic liberalism. Russian conservatism is unique in some respects as it supports
Economic intervention
Economic interventionism, sometimes also called state interventionism, is an economic policy position favouring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare o ...
with a
mixed economy
A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economie ...
, with a strong
nationalist sentiment and
social conservatism with its views being largely
populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
. Russian conservatism as a result opposes
libertarian ideals such as the aforementioned concept of
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
found in other conservative movements around the world. Putin has as a result promoted new
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
s that bring together like-minded intellectuals and writers. For example, the Izborsky Club, founded in 2012 by Aleksandr Prokhanov, stresses Russian nationalism, the restoration of Russia's historical greatness and systematic opposition to liberal ideas and policies.
Vladislav Surkov
Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov (russian: Владислав Юрьевич Сурков; born 21 September 1962 or 1964) is a Russian politician and businessman. He was First Deputy Chief of the Russian Presidential Administration from 1999 to 20 ...
, a senior government official, has been one of the key ideologists during Putin's presidency.
In cultural and social affairs, Putin has collaborated closely with the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
. Mark Woods provides specific examples of how the Church under
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has backed the expansion of Russian power into Crimea and eastern Ukraine. More broadly, ''The New York Times'' reports in September 2016 how that Church's policy prescriptions support the Kremlin's appeal to social conservatives:
South Korea
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
's major conservative party, the
People Power Party (South Korea)
The People Power Party (; PPP), formerly known as the United Future Party (; UFP), is a conservative political party in South Korea. Controlling the South Korean presidency, it is the second largest party in the National Assembly. PPP, alo ...
, has changed its form throughout its history. First it was the Democratic-Liberal Party(민주자유당, Minju Ja-yudang) and its first head was
Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo (; ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993.
Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader ...
who was the first President of the
Sixth Republic of South Korea. Democratic-Liberal Party was founded by the merging of
Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo (; ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993.
Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader ...
's
Democratic Justice Party
The Democratic Justice Party (; DJP) was the ruling party of South Korea from 1981 to 1988.
History
Chun had become the country's de facto leader after leading a military coup in December 1979, and was elected president in his own right in ...
,
Kim Young Sam's
Reunification Democratic Party
The Reunification Democratic Party (, RDP) was a political party of South Korea from 1987 to 1990. The party was established in April 1987 by Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, splitting from the New Korean Democratic Party. The party faced another ...
and
Kim Jong-pil
Kim Jong-pil (; ; January 7, 1926 – June 23, 2018), also known colloquially as JP, was a South Korean politician and the founder/first director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA, now the National Intelligence Service). He s ...
's New Democratic Republican Party. And again through election its second leader,
Kim Young-sam
Kim Young-sam (; or ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998.
From 1961, he spent almost 30 years as one of the leaders of t ...
, became the fourteenth President of Korea. When the conservative party was beaten by the opposition party in the general election, it changed its form again to follow the party members' demand for reforms. It became the New Korean Party, but it changed again one year later since the President Kim Young-sam was blamed by the citizen for the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
. It changed its name to Grand National Party (GNP). Since the late
Kim Dae-jung
Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.
He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...
assumed the presidency in 1998, GNP had been the opposition party until
Lee Myung-bak won the presidential election of
2007.
Singapore
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
's only conservative party is the
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
(PAP). It is currently in
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
and has been in government since independence in 1965. It has promoted conservative values in the form of Asian democracy and values or 'shared values'. The main party on the left of the political spectrum in Singapore is the
Workers' Party (WP).
United States
The meaning of conservatism in the United States has little in common with the way the word is used elsewhere. As Ribuffo (2011) notes, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism". American conservatism is a broad system of political beliefs in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
that is characterized by respect for American traditions, support for
Judeo-Christian values,
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
,
anti-communism
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
, and a defense of
Western culture
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
.
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
within the bounds of conformity to conservatism is a core value, with a particular emphasis on strengthening the
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
, limiting the size and scope of government and opposition to high taxes and government or labor union encroachment on the entrepreneur.
The 1830s
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
became divided between
Southern Democrats
Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats wi ...
, who supported slavery, secession, and later segregation, and the
Northern Democrats
The Northern Democratic Party was a leg of the Democratic Party during the 1860 presidential election, when the party split in two factions because of disagreements over slavery. They held two conventions before the election, in Charleston and ...
, who tended to support the abolition of slavery, union, and equality. Many Democrats were conservative in the sense that they wanted things to be like they were in the past, especially as far as race was concerned. They generally favored poorer farmers and urban workers, and were hostile to banks and industrialization and high tariffs.
The post-Civil War
Republican Party elected the first People of Color to serve in both local and national political office. The Southern Democrats united with pro-segregation Northern Republicans to form the
Conservative Coalition, which successfully put an end to Blacks being elected to national political office until 1967, when
Edward Brooke
Edward William Brooke III (October 26, 1919 – January 3, 2015) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1967 until 1979. Prior to serving in the Senate, he served as th ...
was elected Senator from Massachusetts.
In late 19th century, the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
split into two factions; the more conservative Eastern business faction (led by
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
) favored gold, while the South and West (led by
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...
) wanted more silver in order to raise prices for their crops. In 1892, Cleveland won the election on a conservative platform, which supported maintaining the gold standard, reducing tariffs, and taking a laisse-faire approach to government intervention. A severe nationwide
depression ruined his plans. Many of his supporters in 1896 supported the
Gold Democrats
The National Democratic Party, also known as Gold Democrats, was a short-lived political party of Bourbon Democrats who opposed the regular party nominee William Jennings Bryan in the 1896 presidential election. The party was then a "liberal" ...
when liberal
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...
won the nomination and campaigned for
bimetalism
Bimetallism, also known as the bimetallic standard, is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent to certain quantities of two metals, typically gold and silver, creating a fixed rate of exchange betwee ...
, money backed by both gold and silver. The conservative wing nominated
Alton B. Parker
Alton Brooks Parker (May 14, 1852 – May 10, 1926) was an American judge, best known as the Democrat who lost the presidential election of 1904 to Theodore Roosevelt.
A native of upstate New York, Parker practiced law in Kingston, New York, ...
in 1904, but he got very few votes.
Since the 1920s, conservatism in the United States has been chiefly associated with the
Republican Party. During the era of
segregation Segregation may refer to:
Separation of people
* Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space
* School segregation
* Housing segregation
* Racial segregation, separation of humans ...
, many
Southern Democrats
Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats wi ...
were conservatives and they played a key role in the
conservative coalition that largely controlled domestic policy in Congress from 1937 to 1963. The
conservative Democrats continued to have influence in the US politics until 1994's
Republican Revolution, when the American South shifted from solid Democrat to solid Republican, while maintaining its conservative values.
The major conservative party in the United States today is the Republican Party, also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party). Modern American conservatives consider
individual liberty
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
, as long as it conforms to conservative values,
small government
Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ver ...
,
deregulation of the government,
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
, and
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
, as the fundamental trait of democracy, which contrasts with
modern American liberals, who generally place a greater value on
social equality
Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within a specific society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and ...
and
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
. Other major priorities within American conservatism include support for the
traditional family,
law and order
In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
, the
right to bear arms
The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, including securi ...
,
Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools ...
,
anti-communism
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
and a defense of "
Western civilization
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
from the challenges of modernist culture and totalitarian governments".
Economic conservatives and libertarians favor
small government
Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ver ...
, low taxes, limited regulation and free enterprise. Some social conservatives see traditional social values threatened by secularism, so they support
school prayer and
oppose abortion and
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
.
Neoconservatives
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and cou ...
want to expand American ideals throughout the world and show a strong support for Israel.
Paleoconservatives
Paleoconservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism in the United States stressing American nationalism, Christian ethics, regionalism, and traditionalist conservatism. Paleoconservatism's concerns overlap with those of the ...
, in opposition to multiculturalism, press for restrictions on immigration.
Most US conservatives prefer Republicans over Democrats and most factions favor a strong foreign policy and a strong military. The conservative movement of the 1950s attempted to bring together these divergent strands, stressing the need for unity to prevent the spread of "godless communism", which Reagan later labeled an "
evil empire". During the
Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...
, conservatives also supported the so-called "
Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was stated by United States President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address on February 6, 1985: "We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives—on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua—to ...
" under which the US as part of a Cold War strategy provided military and other support to guerrilla insurgencies that were fighting governments identified as socialist or communist. The Reagan administration also adopted
neoliberalism
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
and
Reaganomics
Reaganomics (; a portmanteau of ''Reagan'' and ''economics'' attributed to Paul Harvey), or Reaganism, refers to the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly associat ...
(pejoratively referred to as
trickle-down economics
Trickle-down economics is a term used in critical references to economic policies that favor the upper income brackets, corporations, and individuals with substantial wealth or capital. In recent history, the term has been used by critics of ...
), resulting in the 1980s economic growth and trillion-dollar deficits.
Other modern conservative positions include opposition to
big government and
opposition to environmentalism. On average, American conservatives desire tougher foreign policies than liberals do.
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
,
deregulation and
social conservatism are major principles of the Republican Party.
The
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...
, founded in 2009, had proven a large outlet for populist American conservative ideas. Their stated goals included rigorous adherence to the US constitution, lower taxes, and opposition to a growing role for the federal government in health care. Electorally, it was considered a key force in Republicans reclaiming control of the US House of Representatives in 2010.
Psychology
Following the Second World War, psychologists conducted research into the different motives and tendencies that account for ideological differences between left and right. The early studies focused on conservatives, beginning with
Theodor W. Adorno
Theodor W. Adorno ( , ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and composer.
He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of criti ...
's ''
The Authoritarian Personality
''The Authoritarian Personality'' is a 1950 sociology book by Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford, researchers working at the University of California, Berkeley, during and shortly after World War II ...
'' (1950) based on the
F-scale personality test. This book has been heavily criticized on theoretical and methodological grounds, but some of its findings have been confirmed by further empirical research.
In 1973, British psychologist
Glenn Wilson published an influential book providing evidence that a general factor underlying conservative beliefs is "fear of uncertainty." A meta-analysis of research literature by Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, and Sulloway in 2003 found that many factors, such as
intolerance of ambiguity and need for
cognitive closure, contribute to the degree of one's political conservatism and its manifestations in decision-making.
A study by Kathleen Maclay stated these traits "might be associated with such generally valued characteristics as personal commitment and unwavering loyalty". The research also suggested that while most people are resistant to change, liberals are more tolerant of it.
According to psychologist
Bob Altemeyer
Robert Anthony Altemeyer (born 6 June 1940) is a retired Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba. Altemeyer also produced the right-wing authoritarianism scale, or RWA Scale, as well as the related left-wing authoritarianism scale, ...
, individuals who are politically conservative tend to rank high in
right-wing authoritarianism
In psychology, the right-wing authoritarian (RWA) is a personality type that describes somebody who is highly submissive to their authority figures, acts aggressively in the name of said authorities, and is conformist in thought and behavior. Th ...
(RWA) on his RWA scale. This finding was echoed by Adorno. A study done on Israeli and Palestinian students in Israel found that RWA scores of right-wing party supporters were significantly higher than those of left-wing party supporters. However, a 2005 study by H. Michael Crowson and colleagues suggested a moderate gap between RWA and other conservative positions, stating that their "results indicated that conservatism is not synonymous with RWA".
Psychologist Felicia Pratto and her colleagues have found evidence to support the idea that a high
social dominance orientation
Social dominance orientation (SDO) is a personality trait measuring an individual's support for social hierarchy and the extent to which they desire their in-group be superior to out-groups. SDO is conceptualized under social dominance theory ...
(SDO) is strongly correlated with conservative political views and opposition to social engineering to promote equality,
though Pratto's findings have been highly controversial as Pratto and her colleagues found that high SDO scores were highly correlated with measures of
prejudice
Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...
. However,
David J. Schneider argued for a more complex relationships between the three factors, writing that "correlations between prejudice and political conservative are reduced virtually to zero when controls for SDO are instituted, suggesting that the conservatism–prejudice link is caused by SDO". Conservative political theorist
Kenneth Minogue
Kenneth Robert Minogue (September 11, 1930 – June 28, 2013), also known as Ken Minogue, was an Australian academic and political theorist. Long residing in the United Kingdom, Minogue was a prominent part of the intellectual life of British ...
criticized Pratto's work, saying: "It is characteristic of the conservative temperament to value established identities, to praise habit and to respect prejudice, not because it is irrational, but because such things anchor the darting impulses of human beings in solidities of custom which we do not often begin to value until we are already losing them. Radicalism often generates youth movements, while conservatism is a condition found among the mature, who have discovered what it is in life they most value".
A 1996 study on the relationship between racism and conservatism found that the correlation was stronger among more educated individuals, though "anti-Black affect had essentially no relationship with political conservatism at any level of educational or intellectual sophistication". They also found that the correlation between racism and conservatism could be entirely accounted for by their mutual relationship with social dominance orientation.
In his 2008 book,
''Gross National Happiness'',
Arthur C. Brooks
Arthur C. Brooks (born May 21, 1964) is an American author, public speaker, and academic. Brooks served as the 11th President of the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of twelve books, including ''Love Your Enemies'' (2019), The ''Co ...
presents the finding that conservatives are roughly twice as happy as liberals. A 2008 study demonstrates that conservatives tend to be happier than liberals because of their tendency to justify the current state of affairs and because they're less bothered by inequalities in society.
In fact, as income inequality increases, this difference in relative happiness increases because conservatives, more so than liberals, possess an ideological buffer against the negative hedonic effects of
economic inequality
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of ...
.
A 2012 study disputed this.
A 2009 study found that conservatism and cognitive ability are negatively correlated. It found that conservatism has a negative correlation with
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
, Vocabulary, and Analogy test scores, measures of education (such as gross enrollment in
primary,
secondary, and
tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
levels), and performance on math and reading assignments from the
PISA. It also found that conservatism correlates with components of the
Failed States Index and "several other measures of economic and political development of nations."
This study used participants from 74 countries and a different definition of conservatism than other similar studies.
The definition of which loadings constitute conservativism vary throughout the study.
Nonetheless, in a Brazilian sample, the highest IQs were found among
centre-rightists and
centrists
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
, even after correcting for gender, age, education and income.
Personality psychology research has shown that conservatism is positively correlated to
conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being careful, or diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously. Conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized as opposed to ...
and negatively correlated with
openness to new experiences.
Because conscientiousness is positively related to job performance, a 2021 study found that conservative service workers earn higher ratings, evaluations, and tips than liberal ones.
[Davidson, A., & Theriault, D. A. (2021). How Consumer Experience Is Shaped by the Political Orientation of Service Providers. Journal of Consumer Psychology.]
See also
*
Conservatism in Australia
Conservatism in Australia refers to the political philosophy of conservatism as it has developed in Australia. Politics in Australia has since at least the 1910s been most predominantly a contest between the Australian labour movement and the co ...
*
Conservatism in Canada
Conservatism in Canada is generally considered a movement which is primarily represented by the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada in federal party politics, as well as various centre-right and right-wing parties at the provincial level. ...
*
Conservatism in Hong Kong
Conservatism has deep roots in Hong Kong politics and society. As a political trend, it is often reflected in but not limited to the current pro-Beijing camp, one of the two major political forces in Hong Kong, as opposed to liberalism, a domina ...
*
Conservatism in India
Conservatism in India refers to the political philosophy which seeks to promote preservation of certain traditional values that are cherished and have developed in the subcontinent of India.
Pre-independence
A number of political parties with ...
*
Conservatism in New Zealand
*
Conservatism in North America
*
Conservatism in Pakistan
Conservatism in Pakistan ( ur, پاکستان میں قدامت پسندی), generally relates to the traditional, social, and religious identities in the politics of Pakistan. American historian Stephen Cohen describes several political const ...
*
Conservatism in Russia
Conservatism in Russia is a broad system of political beliefs in Russia that is characterized by support for Orthodox values, Russian imperialism, statism, economic interventionism, advocacy for the historical Russian sphere of influence, and a ...
*
Conservatism in South Korea
Conservatism () in South Korea is chiefly associated with the People Power Party (South Korea). Traditional South Korean conservatism is a political and social philosophy characterized by Korean culture traditions originating from Confucianism. ...
*
Conservatism in Taiwan
The Kuomintang (KMT) is a Chinese political party that ruled mainland China from 1927 to 1949 prior to its relocation to Taiwan as a result of the Chinese Civil War. The name of the party translates as "China's National People's Party" and was ...
*
Conservatism in the United Kingdom
Conservatism in the United Kingdom is related to its counterparts in other Western nations, but has a distinct tradition and has encompassed a wide range of theories over the decades of conservatism. The Conservative Party, which forms the mainst ...
*
Conservatism in the United States
*
Black conservatism
Black conservatism is a political and social philosophy rooted in communities of African descent that aligns largely with the conservative ideology around the world. Black conservatives emphasize traditionalism, patriotism, self-sufficiency, a ...
*
Fiscal conservatism
*
Liberal conservatism
*
Libertarian conservatism
Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ve ...
*
National conservatism
*
Social conservatism
*
Traditionalist conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere ...
References
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Vanderbilt University Press is a university press that is part of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
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The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in t ...
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Brill
Brill may refer to:
Places
* Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands
* Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England
* Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK
* Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...
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The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911.
The press originally printed only examination books and the university cale ...
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History
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The University of Notre Dame Press is a university press that is part of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The press was founded in 1949, and is the largest Catholic university
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* PIMPARE, STEPHEN. “CONSERVATISM IS NOT CONSERVATIVE AND SOME OF US ARE MORE POLARIZED THAN OTHERS.” In Politics for Social Workers: A Practical Guide to Effecting Change, 55–64.
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* Aughey, Arthur. “Postscript: Conservatism Confounded.” In The Conservative Party and the Nation: Union, England and Europe, 150–58.
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* GIBBS, DAVID N. “EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY, BIG BUSINESS, AND THE RESURGENCE OF AMERICAN CONSERVATISM DURING THE 1970S.” In Religion, Secularism, and Political Belonging, edited by LEEROM MEDOVOI and ELIZABETH BENTLEY, 207–22.
Duke University Press
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* Fried, Amy, and Douglas B. Harris. “HERE TO HELP?: Movement Conservatism and the State in the Reagan Era.” In At War with Government: How Conservatives Weaponized Distrust from Goldwater to Trump, 46–85.
Columbia University Press
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, 2021. .
* Lee, Michael J. “Conservatism and Canonicity.” In Creating Conservatism: Postwar Words That Made an American Movement, 193–206.
Michigan State University Press
Michigan State University Press is the scholarly publishing arm of Michigan State University. Scholarly publishing at the university significantly predates the establishment of its press in 1947. By the 1890s the institution's Experiment Stations ...
, 2014. .
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Further reading
* Blee, Kathleen M. and Sandra McGee Deutsch, eds. ''Women of the Right: Comparisons and Interplay Across Borders'' (Penn State University Press; 2012) 312 pages; scholarly essays giving a global perspective on women in right-wing politics.
* Blinkhorn, Martin. ''Fascists and Conservatives: The Radical Right and the Establishment in Twentieth-Century Europe''. 1990.
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* Crowson, N. J. ''Facing Fascism: The Conservative Party and the European Dictators, 1935–1940''. 1997.
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Crunden, Robert Morse. ''The Superfluous Men: Critics of American Culture, 1900–1945''. 1999.
*
Dalrymple, Theodore. ''Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses''. 2005.
* Fryer, Russell G. ''Recent Conservative Political Thought: American Perspectives''. 1979.
* Gottfried, Paul E. ''The Conservative Movement''. 1993.
* Nugent, Neill. ''The British Right: Conservative and Right Wing Politics in Britain''. 1977.
*
Honderich, Ted. ''Conservatism''. 1990.
*
Kirk, Russell. ''The Conservative Mind''. 2001.
* Bacchetta, Paola. ''Right-Wing Women: From Conservatives to Extremists Around the World''. 2002.
*
Nisbet, Robert. ''Conservatism: Dream and Reality''. 2001.
* O'Sullivan, Noel. ''Conservatism''. 1976.
* Pafford, John M. ''The Forgotten Conservative: Rediscovering Grover Cleveland'' (Simon and Schuster, 2013)
excerpt
*
Scruton, Roger. ''The Meaning of Conservatism''. 1980.
* Woodwards, E.L. ''Three Studies In European Conservatism. Mettenich: Guizot: The Catholic Church In The Nineteenth Century'' (1923
online
Primary sources
* Schneider, Gregory L. ed. ''Conservatism in America Since 1930: A Reader''. 2003.
* Witonski, Peter, ed. ''The Wisdom of Conservatism''. (4 vol. Arlington House; 1971). 2396 pages; worldwide sources.
External links
Conservatisman article by ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
*
*
''Conservatism'' Kieron O'Hara. Reaktion Books. 2011 (reviewed in ''The Montreal Review'').
{{authority control
Conservatism,
Right-wing ideologies,
Social theories