Liberal conservatism

(noun)

Ideologies that combine the advocacy of laissez-faire economic principles, such as respect for contracts, defense of private property and free markets with the belief in notions such as natural inequality, the importance of religion and the value of traditional morality through a framework of limited, constitutional, representative government.

Related Terms

Examples of Liberal conservatism in the following topics:

  • Conservatism

    • Liberal conservatism is a variant of conservatism that combines conservative values and policies with classical liberal stances.
    • Historically, the term referred to combination of economic liberalism, which champions laissez-faire markets, with the classical conservatism concern for established tradition, respect for authority, and religious values.
    • It contrasted itself with classical liberalism, which supported freedom for the individual in both the economic and social spheres.
    • Social conservatism is distinct from cultural conservatism, although there are some overlaps.
    • The meaning of "conservatism" in America has little in common with the way the word is used elsewhere, since what most Americans consider conservatism is what much of the world considers liberalism or neoliberalism.

  • From Political Values to Ideology

    • Core American political values general fall in line with one of three political ideologies: liberalism, conservatism, or moderate.
    • People who value change and a greater emphasis on collective equality tend to relate to the ideology of liberalism.
    • Contrastingly, people who value tradition and the status quo will relate more to conservatism.
    • Moderates hold an ideology somewhere in between liberalism and conservatism.
    • Differentiate between the political ideologies of liberals, conservatives, and moderates and discuss how they relate to American political values

  • Political Ideology

    • Among those who do identify as either liberal or conservative, few identify as "far left" or "far right. " Most Americans either identify as "moderate" or as "somewhat" liberal or conservative.
    • American conservatism commonly refers to a combination of economic liberalism and social conservatism and to an extent, libertarianism.
    • Liberalism and conservatism are the most common ideologies in the U.S., apart from those who identify as moderate.
    • Moderates, who may be left or right leaning, incorporate different aspects from liberalism and conservatism into their personal perspective.
    • Libertarians commonly hold liberal views on social issues but conservative views on economic issues.

  • The Republican Party

    • The Republican Party is a major political party in the U.S, along with the Democratic Party; its platform reflects American conservatism.
    • Currently the party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S. political spectrum.
    • American conservatism of the Republican Party is not wholly based upon rejection of the political ideology of liberalism, as many principles of American conservatism are based upon classical liberalism.
    • Rather the Republican Party's conservatism is largely based upon its support of classical principles against the modern liberalism of the Democratic Party that is considered American liberalism in contemporary American political discourse.
    • Prior to the formation of the conservative coalition, which helped realign the Democratic and Republican Party ideologies in the mid-1960s, the party historically advocated classical liberalism, paleo-conservatism, and progressivism.

  • The Modern Era of Political Parties

    • Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped much of the party's agenda since 1932, and Roosevelt's New Deal coalition controlled the White House until 1968.
    • Today, the Republican Party supports an American conservative platform, with foundations in economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and social conservatism.

  • Liberalism

    • Both modern American conservatism and social liberalism split from Classical Liberalism in the early 20th century.
    • Conversely social liberals adopted the Classical Liberal belief in defending social civil liberties.
    • Conservatism shares an ideological agreement on limited government in the area of preventing government restriction against economic civil liberties as embodied in the ability of people to sell their goods, services or labor to anyone they choose free from restriction except in rare cases where society's general welfare is at stake.
    • Many fundamental elements of modern society have liberal roots.
    • In the 1960s and 1970s, feminism in the United States was advanced in large part by liberal feminist organizations.Many liberals also have advocated for racial equality, and the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1960s strongly highlighted the liberal crusade for equal rights.

  • Limited Government

    • It is a principle of classical liberalism, free market libertarianism, and some tendencies of liberalism and conservatism in the United States.

  • The Traditional Political Spectrum

    • Most long-standing spectra include a right and left, and according to the simplest left-right axis, communism and socialism are usually regarded internationally as being on the left, opposite fascism and conservatism on the right.
    • Thus, the word "left" in American political parlance may refer to "liberalism" and be identified with the Democratic Party, whereas in a country such as France these positions would be regarded as relatively more right-wing, and "left" is more likely to refer to socialist positions rather than liberal ones.
    • Although the term 'right-wing' originally designated traditional conservatives and reactionaries, it has also been used to describe neo-conservatives, nationalists, Christian democrats, and classical liberals.

  • The Democratic Party

    • The Democratic Party is a major political party in the US which promotes a social liberal, social democratic and progressive platform.
    • Since the 1930s, the party has promoted a social liberal, social democratic and progressive platform, and its Congressional caucus is composed of progressives, liberals, centrists, and left-libertarians.
    • New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and regulation of business.
    • Roosevelt's economic philosophy strongly influenced American liberalism and has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since 1932.
    • Since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has favored liberal positions ("liberal" in this case meaning social liberalism).

  • Delegated Powers

    • The phrase is also commonly used more loosely as a generic term for conservatism among the judiciary.