Conservatism

The blue flag and the color blue in general is used by many conservative movements.

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, organic society, hierarchy, authority, and property rights. Conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as religion, parliamentary government, and property rights, with the aim of emphasizing social stability and continuity. The more traditional elements—reactionaries—oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were".

Proponents and subideologies

Note: People marked with an asterisk are their countries' starting leaders.

Subideology	Description	Adherents
Default (None)	Be it a political ideology or cultural philosophy, Conservatism, as it has been defined, orientates itself around the ideals of traditionalism and a protection dedicated to preserving and refining societal and cultural institutions according to accepted societal norms, and while it traditionally has favored the right-wing of the political theater, it is not inherently opposed to working with more liberal elements in a given forum, though these are somewhat rare. Conservatives often endorse laissez-faire free market economics as a matter of course, and generally prefer fiscal austerity over increased government spending, but this is not always strictly the case. In light of the collapse of what once been known as the great Liberal Democracies of France and Britain to the Fascist menace in Europe, Conservatism has seen a resurgence in the parts of the world hitherto untouched by Fascism, casting itself as the last line of defense for democracy against an increasingly totalitarian world. While many conservative-leaning politicians and governments are not against reform, many often find themselves at odds with their more liberal and progressive contemporaries in the public arena.	Dudley Senanayake Manuel Prado Ugarteche* Moreyra Paz Soldán
Agrarianism	From Jeffersonian Democracy to the Mexican revolutionaries of Emiliano Zapata, the notion of "Farmers First" is a concept nearly as old as the medium of Democracy itself, and there remain even today countless parties dedicated to the cause of elevating the status of farmers in any one given society, though they all hold the priority of putting the farmer first and foremost in the function of the state, alongside strong traditional values. The typical Agrarian state features relatively simple and similar policies: promotion of subsistence farming, greater community involvement in the agricultural development of the state, and an overall prioritization of the farmer to a place of national importance, just as things had been at the precipice of humanity's birth.	Ion Mihalache* Nicolae Penescu Ferenc Nagy Dmitry Likhachyov Vasily Shukshin Buriniso Berdieva Eysteinn Jónsson Ólafur Jóhannesson Halldór Eggert Sigurðsson Manuel Mosquera Garcés
Paternalistic Conservatism	Some societies aspire to be egalitarian, ensuring that everyone has an equal voice to affect the world around them. Others aspire for hierarchy, hoping to ensure that each social class recognizes their place in society and works hard to fulfill the duties of their position. Paternalistic conservatism represents the latter of these types. Preoccupied with concepts such as duty and honor, paternalistic conservatism argues that the privileged members of a society are the most capable of caring for the poor and destitute around them. They encourage humanitarianism and private charity, viewing elites as benevolent actors able to ensure that those below them have access to economic opportunity. Although they support social safety nets and other forms of government intervention to guarantee good working conditions for the poor, they strongly oppose anything resembling a command economy. Instead, they aspire to use elites to balance the interests of the individual and the state, hoping that it promotes stability for all.	Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh Harold Macmillan William Whitelaw Olivier Guichard Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Konstantinos Karamanlis Abd al-Rahman Bazzaz Vũ Ngọc Anh* Phoui Sananikone Seni Pramoj Dato Onn Jaafar Tun Abdul Razak Hubert Maga Léon M'ba Seretse Khama Vladimir Kirpichnikov Boris Skossyreff Boris Yeltsin Boris Pasternak* Sultanakhmet Kozhikov Paul Hasluck Keith Holyoake* Hákun Djurhuus Ólafur Thors* Bjarni Benediktsson
Islamic Conservatism	"The Muslim does not consider his religion in full being unless there exists a strong, independent Islamic state capable of enforcing the sharia without opposition or foreign control." Allah chose Muhammed, Peace Be Upon Him, to be his prophet and so through him, Allah blessed the people of Earth with the Quran, an utterly perfect scripture of immutable divinity, and within it was a treasure-trove of knowledge and virtue. In the Quran and with the aid of the Prophet's Hadith, a noble system of law was outlined that would replace all earthly laws: the Sharia. To reject Sharia is to reject the words of Allah, however, the Sharia was always a system of laws and not a form of government. Due to this, many have instead rejected the outdated, autocratic forms of Government that the nobles and the clerics often uphold, preferring a purely Islamic form of democracy that rejects both Western encroachment and traditional autocracies. Championing the people's right to govern themselves, while maintaining a strong allegiance to the principles of Islamic Sharia and its code of Jurisprudence, the "Islamic Conservatives" desire to defend long–held Islamic traditions from the rotten Kufr that they see Liberals, Modernists, Westerners and Socialists as propagating. For the Islamic Conservatives, only when united as one, stable, democratic and prosperous society under the rule of Allah's Laws, can the Islamic Ummah crush the hand of imperialism and return to the forefront of the World.	Alija Izetbegović Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei Islam Karimov
Populist Conservatism	There is a stereotype about conservatives. The stodgy, stubborn, unwavering moralist is an everpresent figure in the minds of all sorts of people- both on the far left and the far right. But there is another prominent type of conservative, and in many ways they are the exact opposite of the common sentiment. Rowdy, tenacious, and fiercely pragmatic in their crusade to maintain the spirit of their nation and people, the Conservative Populist is a fiery figure on par with any socialist rabblerouser or fascist provocateur. Often, these brands of conservatives are not only not averse to passing reform, but they're even fully on board with passing certain reforms that help the common man in direct ways. These reforms, however, are always geared towards curtailing radical sentiment and ensuring the survival of the status quo in whatever form they can manage. As such, Conservative Populists tend to do the best among rural populations, where both a respect for tradition but also understanding and reacting to the day-to-day struggles of the everyman in a timely and competent fashion is respected equally. When properly mobilized, this bloc of support can be one of the strongest in most nations, and Populists of this bent are often derided as demagogues and hellraisers for exactly this reason.	Adnan Menderes Tanaka Kakuei Kukrit Pramoj Jânio Quadros Vicente Solano Lima José Emilio Visca Faustino Harrison Alexander Bustamante
Christian Conservatism	"Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." If you ponder humanity's long history, the separation between the Church and the State is relatively new. Even if the "faithless demagogues" would like to deny all they desire, the values put in the bible, the tenets of Christianity, the maintenance of the idealized, monolithic society which is the ideal many western politicians lean towards, even if they deny it. There are those that deny and those that embrace it, and it's this very party that Christian Conservatism finds its strength. Prevalent mostly in highly religious regions, you'll find those that put the cross on the same value highly within regions where the church has a deep, historical presence, as well as a convenient push against the tides of "modernity", that dare tear away all values people hold dear and steal from them a place in Heaven; from the "Bible Belt" of the USA to the "Coronels" of Brazil, Christian Conservatism sees change as cautious at best, and dangerous at worst, a centralist status-quo position that makes it appealing to moderate right-wing politicians, that can conveniently claim their enemies to be enemies of God and deserving of scorn and damnation.	Corneliu Coposu Giulio Andreotti Vasily Shulgin Sergey Izvekov Ney Braga Guillermo León Valencia Misael Eduardo Pastrana Borrero
Progressive Conservatism	Conservatism isn't a unified banner. It is the bedrock to which sprout multiple beliefs only loosely united as opposition or adversaries to the hundred other political ideologies all over the world; Thus, it shouldn't come as a surprise that an ideology can evolve to embrace some values that other conservatives would think as "too much". Progressive Conservatism is the brainchild of those seeking a compromise, or perhaps a means to ease their mind and that of their voters: Welfare, Equal Rights, measured Economic Interventionism, all measures that alleviate societal woes without risking the bedrock that unites the country and its traditions, and hopefully guide their society, and voters, towards a healthier ecosystem without the drastic changes that they still so abhor.	Jacques Chaban-Delmas Óscar Gestido Augusto Legnani Carlos Maniní Rios Tabaré Berreta
Free-Market Conservatism	By definition, the Free Market proposes the minimum amount of government intervention upon the affairs of the state itself, believing that competition and society self-regulate themselves upon its best possible state, as long as the state's hand is to oversee, not to steer. However, the social aspect is where the classical Free Market diverges from its conservative relative. Free Market Conservatism are those that propose lowering tariffs as much as they preach the value of the traditional family; those that propose lowering bureaucracies, as long as they don't put "troublemakers" in positions the state would dislike; cutting regulations in the economy while putting extra tariffs upon countries not "aligned" with their moral compass, most of the time at least. For them, the freedom so proposed by the free market begins in the economy; for the rest, the conservatives clearly know better.	Wallace F. Bennett Jóhann Hafstein
Silent Conservatism	In a world of unchecked radicalism and tyranny, America requires a steady, conservative hand to steer the nation from destruction. To this end, Richard Milhous Nixon has developed a unique strand of American conservatism in order to ensure the prosperity and stability of the United States in the face of constant internal and external threats. Taking its name from Nixon's appeal to the so-called "Silent Majority" in American politics, Silent Conservatism combines the interests of pro-Republican Party business groups and culturally conservative voters in the Democratic Party to create a cautious, pragmatic approach to solving the economic and social issues within the country. While primarily conservative in nature, Silent Conservatism seeks to create a moderate alternative to what it sees as naïve liberals and heartless reactionaries who threaten domestic politics. Rejecting radicalism from both sides of the political spectrum, its proponents instead attempt to appeal to the vast sea of voting blocs in America through broadly populist rhetoric, flexible reforms, and a paternalistic attitude towards the nation's citizens. Owing in large part to Nixon's own pragmatism, Silent Conservatism often hesitates in taking any strong positions on political issues, instead preferring to stick to a middle-ground that largely follows the majority opinion on any particular subject. While mostly successful so far in ensuring the stability of the deeply divided Republican-Democratic Coalition, time will tell whether or not Nixon's approach to politics can continue to walk the tightrope between the increasingly divisive issues that plague the nation.	Richard Nixon*
Natural Conservatism	America has always been defined by its suspicion toward large, centralized power. Thomas Jefferson was concerned that a strong government would undermine the rights of the individual. In the Federalist Papers, James Madison wrote extensively on the need for a federal system that could limit and control the abuses of government. Even John Adams believed that "Whoever would found a state and make proper laws for the government of it must presume that all men are bad by nature." Natural Conservatism is just the latest manifestation of this current. With a political center in the Sunbelt, Natural Conservatives are a group of conservatives deeply concerned by the excesses of the modern welfare state and the ability of it to intrude upon their communities. Its adherents believe that the "natural" organization of humanity is one where every town, county, and state should be free to determine what works best for them with minimal outside interference. They believe that the role of the federal government should not be to enforce standards or manipulate the fabric of society but to be as unobtrusive as possible, visible only insofar as is necessary to guarantee individual rights and allow business to thrive. Of course, the kinds of societies that Natural Conservatives hope for vary wildly. While some individuals in the Chamber of Commerce see it as essential for free speech and enterprise, others in the Deep South would use it to promote concepts that might be seen as unfair or biased against minorities. Only time can tell how these various groups will co-exist and whether their opposition to outside influence might have ramifications yet to be understood.	Barry Goldwater
Modern Conservatism	The modern world is rife with problems. For many across the United States, they can seem entrenched, unresolvable. Millions find themselves discouraged about the injustices around them and the apparent inability of the liberal democratic order to solve them. In response, some have turned toward new, modern methods promoted by the nation's experts. They have turned toward Modern Conservatism. Championed by moderate Republican figures such as George Romney, Modern Conservatism holds that the expertise of "leading citizens" is what is necessary to solve the political crises of today. In this way, modern conservatives believe strongly in both the virtue of volunteerism and frequently engage with allies at think tanks, nonprofits, and corporations across the country. Adherents are more likely to talk about "evidence-based policymaking" than principles or tests for ideological purity. They preference scientifically derived, consensus-oriented solutions over gut partisanship—embracing common-sense policies like flat-rate income taxes and fair and desegregated housing. While popular among the managerial class, it is not an ideology that inspires passionate rhetoric or thundering defenses. Rather, Modern Conservatism is often seen as corporate, technocratic, and paternalistic in a way that can be off-putting to liberals and rural conservatives alike. Only time can tell whether this new movement can win over its skeptics or whether it will deepen the public's alienation.	George Romney
Prairie Populism	Born out of the traditions and physical realities of the frontier, Prairie Populism is a political creed that holds to the wisdom and honesty of the common man in his struggle against the immoral corruption of the elites. Prairie Populists laud the virtuosity of everyday men and stand alongside them to decry the supposed wickedness and dishonour of the powerful, laying the blame for the ills of society and the failures of government on those who have more money and connections than they do sense and decency. For Prairie Populists, it is the mistakes of a self-interested elite—disconnected and isolated from the struggles of the everyday, ordinary men and women of the country—that caused the problems that befall society; therefore, it is only by the removal of that elite from power that those problems can be solved. Tending towards a practical, 'common sense' approach to governance, political leaders of this stripe exercise flexibility in their policy-making, adhering first and foremost to what the people themselves seem to want. Prairie Populists can advocate moderate or even progressive solutions to economic and social problems, but always with an underlying moralism and esteem for tradition that is hostile to radical or revolutionary changes in the structure of society. Steadfastly supportive of democracy and of the conceptual idea of state institutions, it is only the kleptocrats and the ne'er-do-wells defiling the halls of power, and not those halls themselves, that the Prairie Populist seeks to tear down. Theirs is the farmer's and the worker's cries of "throw the bums out!", and for those alienated from their government and feeling cheated and debased by their politicians, it can be a powerful cry indeed.	John Diefenbaker
Goken Conservatism	Japan's unique political environment is characterized by many unspoken norms, and Goken Conservatism, or Constitution Protection Conservatism, was born during the Goken Undo in the 1910s. In short, it is an ideology that attempts to build representative democracy while abiding by all the norms. For example, the term "democracy," which loosely translates into "Popular Sovereignty" in Japanese, is a taboo since it challenges the Imperial Sovereign. "Constitution protection" is however a perfectly acceptable alternative as it avoids the issue of sovereignty altogether and instead focuses on protecting people's rights, sanctioned by the Emperor and outlined in the Imperial Constitution, from malignant actors like Meiji oligarchs or the Toseiha officers in the past. Needless to say, as a form of conservatism, Goken Conservatism embraces many traditional values such as patriotism, traditional gender roles, and disdain for Western Democracy. At the same time, the adherents of Goken Conservatism also seek to ensure national policies reflect the popular will via electoral politics while attempting to interpret the popular will in accordance with Imperial Sovereignty. Although the narrative of Goken Conservatism makes the system particularly vulnerable to Meiji Era constitutional loopholes designed to empower the Emperor, it is nevertheless a genuine attempt to return to Japan's interrupted democratic experiments in the Taisho Era after thirty years of totalitarianism.	Kōno Ichirō Kōno Kenzō
Idiosyncratic Conservatism		Enoch Powell
Liberal Corporatism	Amidst what can only be described as a terminal decline of classical liberalism, which emanated from the likes of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill and David Ricardo less than a century before, lies fundamental questions concerning the future of european capitalism. As Nazi banners - carrying before them the unfeeling, Bismarckian tentacles of collectivism - paraded through the streets of Paris, Moscow and London, along with them came the permanent fragmentation of a unified liberal philosophy. What tools are left to those few who still believe in the capitalist system is now naught but the rigid authoritarian institutions that merely further reinforce the dominant Prussian "family state". Finding roots amongst some of the early compromises between governments and the trade unions of early 20th-century Scandinavia, Liberal Corporatism represents a uniquely continental model of capitalist development. In many ways, the development of a Liberal Corporatist order has emerged spontaneously, and only in cases where the power of governments to resolve the "co-determination" issue can overcome vested labor and capital interests. At the centre of the Liberal Corporatist model is a perfectly organised method of enterprise bargaining. Democracy becomes a question of efficiency. Social politics mean organization and increased productivity. Labor disputes became 'non-political.' The more the strength of labor unions to act as industrial cartels became apparent, the more attractive the idea of participation in a liberal market becomes in kind. The cries of central planning shall ring hollow for all to see as the socialists of old find their ideas increasingly left in the dust of rapid economic success. The radical formula for success disseminating from the writings of the Acton-Tocqueville Society may perhaps find suitable adherents across Europe's "New" capitalists. The state shall be the arbiter of the free market, with all of its dynamism, equality and vast riches. However, whether or not this so-called "Neo-liberalism" can navigate the precarious balancing act of citizens' welfare remains yet to be seen.	Keith Joseph