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==Overview, definitions and usage==
==Overview, definitions and usage==
As both "[[conservatism]]" and "[[liberalism]]" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different ways. It usually contrasts with "[[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] conservatism", which rejects the principle of equality as something in discordance with human nature and emphasizes instead the idea of natural inequality. As conservatives in democratic countries have embraced typical liberal institutions such as the [[rule of law]], [[private property]], the [[market economy]] and [[constitution]]al [[Representative democracy|representative]] government, the liberal element of liberal conservatism became consensual among conservatives. In some countries (e.g. the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]]), the term "liberal conservatism" came to be understood simply as "conservatism" in popular culture,{{sfn|Johnston|2007|p=155}} prompting some conservatives who embraced more strongly [[Classical liberalism|classical liberal]] values to call themselves "[[Libertarianism|libertarians]]" instead<ref>Grigsby, Ellen: Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science. Cengage Learning, 2011.</ref> (see also [[right-libertarianism]]).
As both "[[conservatism]]" and "[[liberalism]]" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different ways. It usually contrasts with "[[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] conservatism", which rejects the principle of equality as something in discordance with human nature and emphasizes instead the idea of natural inequality. As conservatives in democratic countries have embraced typical liberal institutions such as the [[rule of law]], [[private property]], the [[market economy]] and [[constitution]]al [[Representative democracy|representative]] government, the liberal element of liberal conservatism became consensual among conservatives. In some countries (e.g. the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]]), the term "liberal conservatism" came to be understood simply as "conservatism" in popular culture,{{sfn|Johnston|2007|p=155}} prompting some conservatives who embraced more strongly [[Classical liberalism|classical liberal]] values to call themselves "[[Libertarianism|libertarians]]" instead<ref>Grigsby, Ellen: Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science. Cengage Learning, 2011.</ref> (see also [[right-libertarianism]]).

Nevertheless, in the United States conservatives often combine the economic [[individualism]] of classical liberals with a [[Edmund Burke|Burkean]] form of conservatism that emphasizes the natural inequalities between men, the irrationality of human behavior as the basis for the human drive for order and stability and the rejection of natural rights as the basis for government.<ref>Grigsby, Ellen: Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science. Cengage Learning, 2011. p.106-112</ref> However, from a different perspective, [[Conservatism in the United States|American conservatism]] (a "hybrid of conservatism and classical liberalism") has exalted three tenets of Burkean conservatism, namely the diffidence toward the power of the state, the preference of liberty over equality, and patriotism while rejecting the three remaining tenets, namely loyalty to traditional institutions and hierarchies, scepticism regarding progress and elitism.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDd5tKWT4D4C|title=The Right Nation: Why America is Different|first1=Adrian|last1=Wooldridge|first2=John|last2=Micklethwait|year=2011|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|via=Google Books}}</ref> Consequently, in the United States the term "liberal conservatism" is not used. American "[[modern liberalism in the United States|modern liberalism]]" happens to be quite different from [[Liberalism in Europe|European liberalism]] and occupies the [[centre-left politics|centre-left]] of the political spectrum, in contrast to many European countries where liberalism is often more associated with the [[centre-right politics|centre-right]] and [[social democracy]] makes up a substantial part of the centre-left. The opposite is true in [[Latin America]], where [[Economic liberalism|economically liberal]] conservatism is often labelled under the rubric of [[neoliberalism]] both in popular culture and academic discourse.<ref>Bethell, Leslie: The Cambridge History of Latin America: Latin America since 1930. Cambridge University Press, 1991.</ref>


For their part, in their embracement of liberal and [[free market]] principles, European liberal conservatives are clearly distinguishable from those holding [[national conservatism|national conservative]], fully [[social conservatism|social-conservative]] and/or outright [[populism|populist]] views, let alone a [[right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] posture. Being liberal often involves stressing free market economics and the belief in individual responsibility together with the defense of [[civil and political rights|civil rights]] and support for a limited [[welfare state]]. Compared to other centre-right political traditions, such as [[Christian democracy]], liberal conservatives are less [[traditionalist conservatism|traditionalist]] and more [[Economic liberalism|economically liberal]], favouring low taxes and minimal state intervention in the economy.
For their part, in their embracement of liberal and [[free market]] principles, European liberal conservatives are clearly distinguishable from those holding [[national conservatism|national conservative]], fully [[social conservatism|social-conservative]] and/or outright [[populism|populist]] views, let alone a [[right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] posture. Being liberal often involves stressing free market economics and the belief in individual responsibility together with the defense of [[civil and political rights|civil rights]] and support for a limited [[welfare state]]. Compared to other centre-right political traditions, such as [[Christian democracy]], liberal conservatives are less [[traditionalist conservatism|traditionalist]] and more [[Economic liberalism|economically liberal]], favouring low taxes and minimal state intervention in the economy.

Revision as of 04:43, 6 December 2018

Not to be confused with Conservative liberalism or Libertarian conservatism.
This article is about the political philosophy. For the Canadian political party, see Liberal-Conservative Party.
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Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic, social and ethical issues,[1] or a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by liberalism.

Liberal conservatism incorporates the classical liberal view of minimal government intervention in the economy, according to which individuals should be free to participate in the market and generate wealth without government interference.[2] 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.[2] They also supports civil liberties, along with some social conservative positions. In Europe liberal conservatism is the dominant form of contemporary conservatism and centre-right politics.

Overview, definitions and usage

As both "conservatism" and "liberalism" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different ways. It usually contrasts with "aristocratic conservatism", which rejects the principle of equality as something in discordance with human nature and emphasizes instead the idea of natural inequality. As conservatives in democratic countries have embraced typical liberal institutions such as the rule of law, private property, the market economy and constitutional representative government, the liberal element of liberal conservatism became consensual among conservatives. In some countries (e.g. the United Kingdom and the United States), the term "liberal conservatism" came to be understood simply as "conservatism" in popular culture,[3] prompting some conservatives who embraced more strongly classical liberal values to call themselves "libertarians" instead[4] (see also right-libertarianism).

For their part, in their embracement of liberal and free market principles, European liberal conservatives are clearly distinguishable from those holding national conservative, fully social-conservative and/or outright populist views, let alone a right-wing populist posture. Being liberal often involves stressing free market economics and the belief in individual responsibility together with the defense of civil rights and support for a limited welfare state. Compared to other centre-right political traditions, such as Christian democracy, liberal conservatives are less traditionalist and more economically liberal, favouring low taxes and minimal state intervention in the economy.

Some regional varieties and peculiarities can be observed:

Consequently, at the European level, Christian democrats and most liberal conservatives are affiliated to the European People's Party (EPP), while liberals (including conservative and social liberals) to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party).

In this context, some traditionally Christian-democratic parties (such as Christian-Democratic and Flemish in Belgium, the Christian Democratic Appeal in the Netherlands, the Christian Democratic Union in Germany and the People's Party in Austria) have become almost undistinguishable from other liberal-conservative parties. On the other hand, newer liberal-conservative parties (such as New Democracy in Greece, the Social Democratic Party in Portugal, People's Party in Spain, Forza Italia / The People of Freedom / Forza Italia in Italy, the Union for a Popular Movement / The Republicans in France and most centre-right parties from countries once belonging to the Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia) have not adopted traditional labels, but their ideologies are also a mixture of conservatism, Christian democracy and liberalism.

In the modern European discourse, "liberal conservatism" usually encompasses centre-right political outlooks that reject at least to some extent social conservatism. This position is also associated with support for moderate forms of social safety net and environmentalism (see also green conservatism and green liberalism). This variety of "liberal conservatism" has been espoused by Nordic conservatives (the Moderate Party in Sweden, the Conservative Party in Norway and the National Coalition Party in Finland), which have been fending off competition from right-wing populists to their right and do not include Christian democrats, and, at times, the British Conservative Party. In an interview shortly after taking office as Prime Minister in 2010, David Cameron introduced himself a "liberal conservative".[5] During his first speech to a party conference in 2006, Cameron had defined this as believing in individual freedom and human rights, but being skeptical of "grand schemes to remake the world".[6]

Classical conservatism and economic liberalism

Edmund Burke

Historically, in the 18th and 19th centuries "conservatism" comprised a set of principles based on concern for established tradition, respect for authority and religious values. This form of traditionalist or classical conservatism is often considered to be exemplified by the writings of Joseph de Maistre in the post-Enlightenment age. Contemporaneous "liberalism" – now recalled as classical liberalism – advocated both political freedom for individuals and a free market in the economic sphere. Ideas of this sort were promulgated by John Locke, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, who are respectively remembered as the fathers of classical liberalism, the separation of church and state, economic liberalism, utilitarianism and social liberalism.

Alexis de Tocqueville

According to scholar Andrew Vincent, the maxim of liberal conservatism is "economics is prior to politics".[7] Others emphasize the openness of historical change and a suspicion of tyrannical majorities behind the hailing of individual liberties and traditional virtues, by authors such as Edmund Burke and Alexis de Tocqueville,[8] as the basis of current liberal conservatism, as seen both in the works of Raymond Aron and Michael Oakeshott. However, there is general agreement that the original liberal conservatives were those who combined conservative social attitudes with an economically liberal outlook, adapting a previous aristocratic understanding of natural inequalities between men to the rule of meritocracy – without directly criticizing privileges of birth as long as individual liberties were guaranteed. Over time, the majority of conservatives in the Western world came to adopt free market economic ideas as the Industrial Revolution progressed and the aristocracy lost its power, to the extent that such ideas are now generally considered as part of conservatism. Nonetheless, in most countries the term "liberal" is used to describe those with free market economic views. This is the case, for example, in continental Europe,[9] Australia[10] and Latin America.[11]

Liberal-conservative parties or parties with liberal-conservative factions

Current parties

Former parties

Liberal-conservative organisations

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Parties and Elections in Europe".
  2. ^ a b McAnulla 2006, p. 71.
  3. ^ Johnston 2007, p. 155.
  4. ^ Grigsby, Ellen: Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science. Cengage Learning, 2011.
  5. ^ Cameron, David. "I am a Liberal Conservative". BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Full text of David Cameron's speech to the Conservative Party conference", BBC, October 2006
  7. ^ Vincent, Andrew (2009). "Conservatism". Modern Political Ideologies. Chichester, U.K. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-1-4051-5495-6.
  8. ^ Lakoff, Sandoff, "Tocqueville, Burke, and the Origins of Liberal Conservatism." The review of politics 60(3), pp. 435–464, 1998. doi:10.1017/S003467050002742X
  9. ^ Europe, a Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics - Hans Slomp - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. pp. 106–108.
  10. ^ Goldfarb, Michael (20 July 2010). "'Liberal? Are we talking about the same thing?'". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  11. ^ MacLean, James. ""The Two Meanings of "Liberalism"". Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  12. ^ http://www.eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bn1.pdf
  13. ^ Nicole A. Thomas; Tobias Loetscher; Danielle Clode; Michael E. R. Nicholls (May 2, 2012). "Right-Wing Politicians Prefer the Emotional Left". 7 (5). PLOS ONE: 4. The Liberal Party of Australia has an ideology in line with liberal conservatism and is therefore right of centre. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ Ralph P Güntzel (2010). Understanding "Old Europe": An Introduction to the Culture, Politics, and History of France, Germany, and Austria. Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag. p. 162. ISBN 978-3-8288-5300-3.
  15. ^ Janusz Bugajski (2002). Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era. M.E. Sharpe. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-56324-676-0.
  16. ^ Kirby, Peadar (2003), Introduction to Latin America: Twenty-First Century Challenges, Sage, p. 157
  17. ^ a b Paul Lewis (2002). Political Parties in Post-Communist Eastern Europe. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-134-63437-8.
  18. ^ John Nagle; Alison Mahr (1999). Democracy and Democratization: Post-Communist Europe in Comparative Perspective. SAGE Publications. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7619-5679-2.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Elizabeth Bakke (2010). "Central and Eastern European party systems since 1989". In Sabrina P. Ramet (ed.). Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989. Cambridge University Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-139-48750-4.
  20. ^ Maciej Stobinski (2014). "Twenty years of the Czech party system: 1992–2011". In Lucyna Czechowska; Krzysztof Olszewski (eds.). Central Europe on the Threshold of the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Challenges in Politics and Society. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-4438-6483-1.
  21. ^ Otto Eibl; Michal Pink (2016). "Election Results, Candidate Lists and the Framing of Campaigns". In Ruxandra Boicu; Silvia Branea; Adriana Stefanel (eds.). Political Communication and European Parliamentary Elections in Times of Crisis: Perspectives from Central and South-Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-137-58591-2.
  22. ^ "BEDNÁŘ: Svobodní jsou šancí pro zklamané pravicové voliče | Svobodní - Strana svobodných občanů". web.svobodni.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  23. ^ "Realisté představili posilu. Jako lídr Parbubického kraje přišel Alexander Tomský". Parlamentní Listy. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  24. ^ Mads Dagnis Jensen (2015). "The Nordic Countries and the European Parliament". In Caroline Howard Grøn; Peter Nedergaard; Anders Wivel (eds.). The Nordic Countries and the European Union: Still the Other European Community?. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-317-53661-1.
  25. ^ José María Magone (2003). The Politics of Southern Europe: Integration Into the European Union. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-275-97787-0.
  26. ^ Christina Bergqvist (1999). Equal Democracies?: Gender and Politics in the Nordic Countries. Nordic Council of Ministers. p. 319. ISBN 978-82-00-12799-4.
  27. ^ Kerstin Hamann; John Kelly (2010). Parties, Elections, and Policy Reforms in Western Europe: Voting for Social Pacts. Routledge. p. 1980. ISBN 978-1-136-94986-9.
  28. ^ Karan, Pradyumna P. (2005), Japan in the 21st century: environment, economy, and society, University Press of Kentucky
  29. ^ William D. Hoover, ed. (2011). Historical Dictionary of Postwar Japan. Scarecrow Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-8108-7539-5.
  30. ^ Janusz Bugajski (2002). Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era. M.E. Sharpe. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-56324-676-0.
  31. ^ Abdo Baaklini; Guilain Denoeux; Springborg, Robert (1999), Legislative Politics in the Arab World: The Resurgence of Democratic Institutions, Lynne Riener, p. 129
  32. ^ Arco Timmermans; Edwin van Rooyen; Gerrit Voerman (26 November 2014). "Policy analysis and political party think tanks". In Frans van Nispen; Peter Scholten (eds.). Policy analysis in the Netherlands. Policy Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-1-4473-1333-5.
  33. ^ Liubomir K. Topaloff (2012). Political Parties and Euroscepticism. Springer. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-137-00968-5.
  34. ^ José M. Magone (2017). The Statecraft of Consensus Democracies in a Turbulent World: A Comparative Study of Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Taylor & Francis. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-315-40785-2.
  35. ^ Cheyne, Christine (2009). Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. Oxford University Press. p. 70. The ideological underpinnings of policy directions in the National Party under the leadership of John Key appear to reflect a liberal conservatism
  36. ^ Jean-Michel De Waele; Anna Pacześniak (2011). "The Europeanisation of Poland's political parties and party system". In Erol Külahci (ed.). Europeanisation and Party Politics. ECPR Press. p. 131.
  37. ^ André Krouwel (2012). Party Transformations in European Democracies. SUNY Press. p. 348. ISBN 978-1-4384-4483-3.
  38. ^ "2016 Russia legislative elections: State Duma". Parties and Elections in Europe. 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  39. ^ Stískala, Jozef (2012), "Party System of Slovak Republic and its Stability after 2010 and 2012 Elections in Comparative Perspective", Slovak Journal of Political Sciences, 12 (3): 233
  40. ^ Alfio Cerami (2006). Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: The Emergence of a New European Welfare Regime. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 29–. ISBN 978-3-8258-9699-7.
  41. ^ Inmaculada Egido (2005). Transforming Education: The Spanish Experience. Nova Publishers. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-59454-208-4.
  42. ^ Peter Viggo Jakobsen (2006). Nordic Approaches to Peace Operations: A New Model in the Making?. Taylor & Francis. pp. 184–. ISBN 978-0-415-38360-8.
  43. ^ Hariz Halilovich (2013). Places of Pain: Forced Displacement, Popular Memory and Trans-local Identities in Bosnian War-torn Communities. Berghahn Books. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-85745-777-6.
  44. ^ "Liberální strana". liberalove.bluefile.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  45. ^ "Unie svobody – zoufalé hledání identity". www.witzany.cz. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  46. ^ David Hanley (1999). "France: Living with Instability". In David Broughton (ed.). Changing Party Systems in Western Europe. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-85567-328-1. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  47. ^ Alistair Cole (2003). "Stress, strain and stability in the French party system". In Jocelyn Evans (ed.). The French Party System. Manchester University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-7190-6120-2.
  48. ^ Ruth Wodak; John E. Richardson (2013). Analysing Fascist Discourse: European Fascism in Talk and Text. Routledge. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-415-89919-2.
  49. ^ Donatella M. Viola (2015). "Italy". In Donatella M. Viola (ed.). Routledge Handbook of European Elections. Routledge. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-317-50363-7.
  50. ^ Ilaria Riccioni; Ramono Bongelli; Andrzej Zuczkwoski (2013). "The communication of certainty and uncertainty in Italian political media discourses". In Anita Fetzer (ed.). The Pragmatics of Political Discourse: Explorations across cultures. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 131. ISBN 978-90-272-7239-3.
  51. ^ Pallaver, Günther (2008). Jens Woelk; Francesco Palermo; Joseph Marko (eds.). South Tyrol's Consociational Democracy: Between Political Claim and Social Reality. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 309. ISBN 978-90-04-16302-7. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  52. ^ Aleks Szczerbiak (2006). "The Polish centre-right's (last?) best hope: The rise and fall of Solidarity Electoral Action". In Aleks Szczerbiak; Seán Hanley (eds.). Centre-right Parties in Post-communist East-Central Europe. Psychology Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-415-34781-5.

References

  • McAnulla, Stuart (2006). British Politics: A Critical Introduction. A&C Black. ISBN 0-826-46155-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Johnston, Larry (2007). Politics: An Introduction to the Modern Democratic State. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 1-4426-0040-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Johnston, Larry (2011). Politics: An Introduction to the Modern Democratic State. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 1-4426-0533-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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