Conservatism

Conservatism is a major political philosophy supporting traditional values or an established social order. Etymologically, the word conservatism implies that conservatives seek to conserve the existing social order or to reinstate an ideal social order now in decline. This can take a peaceful democratic form or violent radical form, and there are historical examples of both.

Conservatives in various countries

Europe

In the United Kingdom, Burkean conservatism is the dominant tradition. However, there is no organisational continuity since the time of Edmund Burke, and he is certainly not the 'founder of the Conservative Party'. Contemporary British conservatives may trace their roots to both the Tories of Canning and the early Whigs (who opposed the monarchy). The Tories, who continued to represent the interests of the aristocracy, in contrast to the Whiggish mercantile class, dominated British politics from the 1770s and the 1830s. Burke, the so-called "Father of Modern Conservatism," articulated the anti-monarchial conservative position through the Whig party.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - Edmund Burke - Tories - Whigs - 1770s - 1830s - Whig

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Nominally, the modern British Conservative Party was founded out of the Tory party by Sir Robert Peel in the 1840s, splitting almost immediately, over the issue of protectionism. The anti-protectionist faction joined with some Whigs and radicals to form the Liberal coalition, which was to dominate politics for much of the rest of the nineteenth century. A Liberal-Conservative coalition during the first World War, and the rise of the Labour Party, hastened the collapse of the Liberals in the 1920s. After the second World War, the Conservative party made concessions to the socialist policies of the left. This was partly in order to regain power, but also the result of the early successes of central planning and state-ownership forming a cross-party consensus. Under Margaret Thatcher the party returned to classical liberalism. For more detail, see History of the Conservative Party.

Related Topics:
Conservative Party - Robert Peel - 1840s - Protectionism - Liberal - Nineteenth century - First World War - Labour Party - Second World War - Central planning - Margaret Thatcher - Classical liberalism - History of the Conservative Party

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In other parts of Europe, mainstream conservatism is often represented by the Christian-democratic parties. They form the bulk of the European Peoples Party fraction in the European Parliament. The origin of these parties is usually in Catholic parties of the late 19th and early 20th century, and Catholic social doctrine was their original inspiration. Over the years, conservatism gradually became their main ideological inspiration, and they generally became less Catholic. The German CDU and the Dutch CDA are Protestant-Catholic parties. The Bavarian sister party of the CDU, the Christian Social Union, is a deeply Catholic conservative party.

Related Topics:
Christian-democratic - European Peoples Party - European Parliament - Catholic social doctrine - CDU - CDA - Christian Social Union

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Germany and German-speaking Europe have many non-mainstream conservative movements and an active and influential conservative intellectual tradition. They influence the right wings of the CDA and CSU, and many other right-wing parties and organisations, including neo-nazi groups. However much of the German right is also radical, and officially categorised as 'anti-constitutional' by the German internal security service.

Related Topics:
Germany - Internal security service

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China

China is unique in experiencing roughly two millennia of "feudalism," from around the second century BCE until the 20th century, during which Confucian or neo-Confucian thought was endorsed by the state. This long continuity in institution and thought produced a set of values and social standards for Chinese conservatives to defend, especially: reverence for elders, authority figures and the state examination system. These traditional Chinese values are derived from Confucianism, which has an importance in East Asia comparable to Christianity in the West, with particular emphasis on sacrifice, hierarchy, virtue and merit.

Related Topics:
Feudalism - 20th century - Confucian - Neo-Confucian - Sacrifice - Hierarchy - Virtue - Merit

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Ironically, today the Chinese Communist Party exerts the most powerful force in mainstream Chinese conservatism, as it has transitioned from strict communism into important norms of previous Chinese regimes. It is seen by some as the recipient of the Mandate of Heaven, a traditional Chinese idea, and its rulers do not protest at the designation. Just as before, the ruler is revered and generally seen as worthy of praise, with most criticism repressed not simply by law but also by taboo. The party itself has moved to a burgeoning Chinese nationalism as a basis for its legitimacy, and it does not really advocate revolutionary theory, adhering instead to a certain ideological flexibility consistent with Deng Xiaoping's dictum, seek truth from facts.

Related Topics:
Chinese Communist Party - Mandate of Heaven - Taboo - Chinese nationalism - Deng Xiaoping

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During the first twenty or so years after 1949, the Communist Party did posess a conscious revolutionary spirit. Its leader, Mao Zedong, excoriated Chinese tradition as a vestige of feudalism; the government eliminated opposing views during the Anti-Rightist Movement; the Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards tried to manufacture new Chinese "worker" values, notably by frowning on Confucian morality, issuing the Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong instead and "reforming" traditional art to mirror the new standards. The party only transitioned after Mao's death, which opened a power vaccum that would determine the party's future orientation. Three factions wrestled to succeed Mao after his death in 1976: leftist Maoists, who wanted to continue the revolutionary mobilization; rightist restorationists, who advocated a return to the Soviet model of communism; and rightist reformers, led by Deng Xiaoping, who hoped to reduce the role of ideology in government and overhaul the economy.

Related Topics:
Mao Zedong - Anti-Rightist Movement - Cultural Revolution - Red Guards - Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong - 1976 - Leftist - Maoists - Rightist - Soviet

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Deng eventually won the seat of the party. While stressing his continuity with Mao, he soon initiated a series of economic reforms and promulgated his Four Cardinal Principles, which clearly outlined (and slightly liberalized) government control over ideology. The party today stems from Deng Xiaoping, and like him it asserts the primacy of pragmatism over communism while maintaining the iron dominion of the Communist Party. His ostensibly communist descendents, notably Jiang Zemin, continued to stray from communist theory on an ad hoc basis while incorporating any convenient parts when useful. The result combined heavy preference for economic growth, hostility to efforts to decentralize power and support for a burgeoning Chinese nationalism, a fusion Deng called Socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Related Topics:
Four Cardinal Principles - Jiang Zemin - Chinese nationalism - Socialism with Chinese characteristics

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Traditional Chinese values have since surged, rather assertively, under the Communist regime. Chinese nationalism tends to speak highly of a centralized, powerful Chinese state, so the government is attempting to win and maintain the loyalty of both its own citizens and that of recently departed overseas Chinese. Recent bestseller The China That Can Say No expresses a sentiment in favor of a uniquely Chinese path that, tellingly, does not have to involve American norms, such as individualism and Western liberalism. Moreover, the tide may still be coming in for Chinese nationalism, as the next generation of Chinese leaders will have grown up in an environment of nationalism.

Related Topics:
The China That Can Say No - Generation of Chinese leaders

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Since the 1990s, there has been a neoconservative movement in China (not connected with the US neoconservative movement).

Related Topics:
1990s - Neoconservative - Neoconservative

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