Conservative liberalism

This article is about the political ideology representing the conservative wing of the liberal movement. For conservatism influenced by liberalism, see Liberal conservatism.

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Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism,[1][2] is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement.[3] In the case of modern conservative liberalism, scholars sometimes see it as a more positive and less radical variant of classical liberalism; it is also referred to as an individual tradition that distinguishes it from classical liberalism and social liberalism.[4][5] Conservative liberal parties tend to combine economically liberal policies with more traditional stances and personal beliefs on social and ethical issues.[specify][6] Ordoliberalism is an influential component of conservative-liberal thought, particularly in its German, British, French, Italian, and American manifestations.[7]

In general, liberal conservatism and conservative liberalism have different philosophical roots. Historically, liberal conservatism refers mainly to the case where conservatives embrace the elements of classical liberalism, and conservative liberalism refers to classical liberals who support a laissez-faire economy as well as socially conservative principles (for instance, Christian family values). Since classical liberal institutions were gradually accepted by conservatives, there is very little to distinguish liberal conservatives from conservative liberals.[8] Neoconservatism has also been identified as an ideological relative or twin to conservative liberalism,[9] and some similarities exist also between conservative liberalism and national liberalism.[10][11]

  1. ^ Keith L. Nelson, ed. (2019). The Making of Détente: Soviet-American Relations in the Shadow of Vietnam. JHU Press. ISBN 978-1421436210. ... and even today our political parties can most appropriately be described as "right liberal" (those who fear government) and "left liberal" (those who fear concentrated wealth).2 This does not mean, however, that individual American ...
  2. ^ Paul Orlowski, ed. (2011). Teaching About Hegemony: Race, Class and Democracy in the 21st Century. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 110. ISBN 978-9400714182. This pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps idea is part of the conservative and right liberal ideologies.
  3. ^ M. Gallagher, M. Laver and P. Mair, Representative Government in Europe, p. 221.
  4. ^ R.T. Allen, Beyond Liberalism, p. 2.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference EuroLiberal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Content". Parties and Elections in Europe. 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2023. Liberal conservatism: Liberal conservative parties combine conservative policies with more liberal stances on social and ethical issues.
  7. ^ Kenneth Dyson (2021). "Introduction". In Kenneth Dyson (ed.). Conservative Liberalism, Ordo-liberalism, and the State: Discipling Democracy and the Market. Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-19-885428-9.
  8. ^ Johnston, Larry (2007). Politics: An Introduction to the Modern Democratic State (3rd ed.). Peterborough, Ont.: University of Toronto Press. pp. 154–155. ISBN 978-1442600409.
  9. ^ Roger Scruton. "Liberal Conservatism, Not Conservative Liberalism" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  10. ^ Telos. Telos Press. 1998. p. 72.
  11. ^ Shannan Lorraine Mattiace, ed. (1998). Peasant and Indian: Political Identity and Indian Autonomy in Chiapas, Mexico, 1970–1996. University of Texas at Austin.