What is conservatism?

  • (noun): A political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes.
    Synonyms: conservativism

Conservatism

Conservatism (Latin: conservare, "to retain") is a political and social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions. A person who follows the philosophies of conservatism is referred to as a traditionalist or conservative.

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Some articles on conservatism:

Civic Conservatism
... Civic conservatism is a form of modern British conservatism developed by the Conservative intellectual David Willetts ... His 1995 pamphlet, "Civic Conservatism" wished to "place the free market in the context of institutions and values which make up civil society" ... Fourteen years after the publication of "Civic Conservatism" Willetts gave the inaugural Oakeshott Memorial Lecture to the London School of Economics ...
Movement Conservatism
... The term movement conservatism was an inside term describing conservatism in the United States and New Right ... Emmett Tyrrell, a prominent writer on the right, says, "the conservatism that, when it made its appearance in the early 1950s, was called the New Conservatism and for the past fifty or ... Recent examples of conservative writers using the term "movement conservatism" include Sam Tanenhaus, Paul Gottfried, and Jonathan Riehl ...
Steve Beren
... His campaigns have emphasized the issues of limited government, fiscal conservatism, foreign policy, immigration, and social conservatism ... Republicans should "have bold colors, wave the Republican flag boldly wave fiscal conservatism, social conservatism, immigration conservatism — boldly." During the 2012 GOP presidential primaries ...
Conservatism - Psychology
... closure, contribute to the degree of one's political conservatism ... The results indicated that conservatism is not synonymous with RWA." Psychologist Felicia Pratto and her colleagues have found evidence to support the idea that a high Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) is ... Radicalism often generates youth movements, while conservatism is a condition found among the mature, who have discovered what it is in life they most value." A 1996 study on the relationship between racism and ...

Famous quotes containing the word conservatism:

    The world is burdened with young fogies. Old men with ossified minds are easily dealt with. But men who look young, act young and everlastingly harp on the fact that they are young, but who nevertheless think and act with a degree of caution that would be excessive in their grandfathers, are the curse of the world. Their very conservatism is secondhand, and they don’t know what they are conserving.
    Robertson Davies (b. 1913)

    There is such a thing as caste, even in the West; but it is comparatively faint; it is conservatism here. It says, forsake not your calling, outrage no institution, use no violence, rend no bonds; the State is thy parent. Its virtue or manhood is wholly filial.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)