Tuesday, July 7, 2009

conservative what?

I Started looking at conservative political definitions recently to remove some confusion and decided that, even though I definitely know what I believe, I'm not sure what my political view would be defined as. Don't get me wrong... I know that I am a Conservative though I am confused by some of the definitions of politics on the right. So, I thought I would look up some definitions from a few different sources to see what I came up with. The following words have been bantered about by conservative political wonks when talking politics on the right.

New Right - In the United States, the New Right refers to a Conservative political movement that coalesced through grassroots organizing in the years preceding the 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater. The Goldwater campaign, though failing to unseat incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson, galvanized the formation of a new political movement. In elite think-tanks and local community organizations alike, new policies, marketing strategies, and electoral strategies were crafted over the succeeding decades to promote strongly conservative policies. The New Right got a policy approach and electoral apparatus that brought Ronald Reagan into the White House in the 1980 presidential election. The American New Right is distinct from and opposed to the more moderate tradition of the so-called Rockefeller Republicans. The New Right also differs from the Old Right on issues concerning foreign policy with the New Right being opposed to the non-interventionism of the Old Right. Though mostly ignored by scholars until the late 1980s, the formation of the New Right is now one of the fastest-growing areas of historical research. from wikipedia.com

Old Right - was a faction of American conservatism that opposed both New Deal domestic programs and also the entry of the U.S. into World War II. Many members of this faction were associated with the Republicans of the interwar years led by Robert Taft, but some were Democrats. They were called the "Old Right" to distinguish them from their anti-communist New Right successors. from wikipedia.com

Neoconservatism - a political philosophy that emerged in the United States of America, and which supports using American economic and military power to bring liberalism, democracy, and human rights to other countries. Unlike traditional conservatives, neoconservatives are generally comfortable with a minimally-bureaucratic welfare state; and, while generally supportive of free markets, they are willing to interfere for overriding social purposes. from wikipedia

Paleoconservatism - (sometimes shortened to paleo or paleocon when the context is clear) is a term for an anti-communist and anti-imperialist right-wing political philosophy in the United States stressing tradition, civil society and anti-federalism, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton Williamson, Jr. describes paleoconservatism as "the expression of rootedness: a sense of place and of history, a sense of self derived from forebears, kin, and culture—an identity that is both collective and personal." from wikipedia.com

Traditionalist conservatism - is a political philosophy that developed in the United States. It tends to emphasize cultural renewal and is characterized by an adherence to the principles of prescription (law), custom (law), social order, hierarchy, faith, the natural family, ordered liberty, and tradition. It may be said to have affinities with reactionary thought, and some adherents of this movement perhaps embrace that label, defying the stigma that has attached to it in Western culture since the Enlightenment.Traditionalist conservatism as an organized intellectual force emerged after World War II in the writings of a group of university professors (labeled the "New Conservatives" by the popular press of the time) who rejected the notions of individualism, liberalism, modernity, and social progress[1] and revived interest in what T. S. Eliot referred to as "the permanent things" (those perennial institutions that ground society: the church, the family, the state, community life, etc.). from wikipedia.com

Conservative Libertarianism -A form of libertarianism that is not as statist as pure conservatism, but not as socially liberal as "pure" libertarianism. Like libertarians, conservative libertarians believe in a very small government, with only those services needed to protect the citzens from unjust force. They usually also believe in there being more power given to the states (so it can be loosely related to Confederatism). However, they also share many attributes of conservatives; most are pro-life, and against unchecked immigration. The gray area for conservative libertarianism is victimless crimes, such as drug possession and prostitution.
Conservative libertarians usually were either Republicans who thought the party was too statist, or Libertarians (note the capital L) who thought that the party consisted of pimps and potheads who only cared about legalizing drugs and prostitution. from everything2.com

Fiscal conservatism- A political phrase term used in North America to describe a fiscal policy that advocates a reduction in overall government spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider deficit and national debt reduction as well as balancing the federal budget of paramount importance. Free trade, deregulation of the economy, lower taxes, and other economically conservative or neoliberal policies are also often affiliated with fiscal conservatism. From wikipedia.com

Social conservatism - A political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. Social conservatives in many countries generally: favor the pro-life position in the abortion controversy and oppose embryonic stem cell research; support the death penalty, oppose same-sex marriage and other marriages social conservatives consider the establishment of to be contrary to traditional marriage, and the nuclear family model as society's foundational unit; oppose expansion of civil marriage and child adoption rights to couples in homosexual relationships; promote public morality and traditional family values; oppose secularism and privatization of religious belief; support the prohibition of drugs, prostitution and euthanasia; and support the censorship of pornography and what they consider to be obscenity or indecency. From wikipedia.com

Reagan Conservative - someone with strong values on fiscal conservatism, strong national defense, strong social values but who understands that those three things fit together and that people may (not) agree with you 100% on all of them. Reagan was able to use what people had in common in order to bring them together rather than using what their disagreements to divide them. from Reagan Society Board Member Merrie Spaeth at reagansociety.org

I found it hard, or apparently did'nt know where to look, to find any single source that had all of the above definitions. wikipedia.com seemed to be the source that contained most but I do have reservations about some of it's definitions because it allows for updates from numerous sources and appears to be left leaning, in my opinion, from looking up items in the past. Please feel free to send me a note with any advice on where to look for a better or different definitions, or for additions to the list.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting classifications, especially when viewed together. You're not alone in your confusion about conservatism and its various flavors. I'm currently reading Jonah Goldberg's book "Liberal Fascism". In it, he describes the roots different types of conservatism.

    Especially interesting is his description of neo-cons: "Liberals in the 1960's who lived through a...degradation of decency by the...intellectual rot began to rebel. Confronted with an ideology that always assumed America was the problem and never the solution, they chose to mount a countrassault. These patriots in both parties became in large part that band of intellectuals known as neo-conservatives. They were given that name by leftists who thought the prefix 'neo' would conjure associations with neo-Nazis."

    ReplyDelete