Political conservatism is, broadly speaking, support of traditional political views and values. Consequently, what might be conservative in one society might be quite radical in a different society.
Conservatism, at least as it is often thought of in the United States (only? anybody know?), has two important aspects:
- Fiscal conservatism: the support of a traditional economic system of a place (or of an idealized version of such a system, perhaps never fully realized).
- Social conservatism: the support of traditional values, i.e., morality, and particularly of religious morality; also, support of governmental restrictions on personal behavior with an aim of upholding traditional values.
It is possible for one to be a fiscal conservative but not a social conservative; in the United States at present, this is the stance of libertarianism. It is also possible to be a social conservative but not a fiscal conservative. At present, this is a common political stance in, for example, Ireland and among some American leftists.
In the United States and western Europe, conservatism is generally associated with the following views:
- Personal responsibility
- Support for traditional religious (Judeo-Christian) moral values.
- Support for strong law enforcement and strong penalties for crimes.
- Restraint in taxation and regulation of businesses.
- Support for a strong military, and well-defended protected borders with regulated immigration
- Support for [drug prohibition]?.
- Opposition to [gun control]? laws.
- Opposition to (or support for lessening) many social programs such as welfare and medical care (though many do favor the country's mandatory user-funded retirement benefits system).
- Opposition to policies such as [affirmative action]? and [multi-lingual education]? which can be perceived as government favoritism of minority groups.
Conservatives differ widely on some issues as well. For example, many support open international trade, while some support some form of protection for domestic business such as import tariffs.
History of conservatism
Famous conservatives
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