Liberal Conservatism

Liberal Conservatism is an ideology combining conservative policies with liberalism, representing a political conservatism strongly influenced by liberalism.

Proponents and subideologies

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


Subideology	Description	Adherents
Default (None)	In a world filled to the brim with radicals, extremists, and vagabonds, the rational man is perhaps humanity's greatest hope. It takes discipline and a strong will to maintain the values of democracy, that brilliant idea forged on the hills of Athens, and the Liberal Conservatives are those holding the thin line that is keeping the torch of liberty lit. Unlike pure conservatives, these people are more open to social change in their society, as long as it can be tempered and controlled by the powers that be, adapting their position as needed for governance. They generally support free market economics, although individual practitioners might differ on the matter of state intervention in the economy as a means to do good for society and limit corporate power. Whether or not these moderates will be able to survive the rest of the 20th century, with all of its absolutist violence and totalitarianism, remains up in the air.	Manuel Fraga Alv Kjøs Kauno Kleemola Johannes Virolainen De Villiers Graaff* Philippe Leclerc Lekha Aphaiwong Malcolm Fraser Ismail al-Azhari Miklay Kazakov Yakov Panteleev Ivan Istomin Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko Ibrahim Yusupov Vasily Shukshin Robert Stanfield Carlos Lacerda Pedro Beltrán Emilio Hardoy Emilio Jofré Armando Alba Zambrana* Dardo Ortiz Washington Beltrán Mullin Eduardo Rodríguez Larreta Peter D'Aguiar*
Market Liberalism	Market Liberalism was, at one point and time, the largest strain of political thought in the West. Whether it was the Liberals of Great Britain, the Republicans in America, or the Radical Liberals of France, it dominated the West under its most three most famous policies: free speech, free election, and free trade. Now, though, Market Liberalism has to contend with alternate ideas from both the right and the left, believing that it has been unwilling to deal with the human cost of its ideas. But its adherents are still many, especially in the Americas. Believing in a government that does not intervene in the economy or in the private space of its citizens, Market Liberalism seeks to create a society that ensures that every man can become successful, with a little hard work and ingenuity. Practically, this means lowering taxes, eliminating trade barriers, and ensuring an 'equal playing field' for everyone. Sometimes, however, Market Liberals are willing to intervene in the economy for the sake of increasing economic development, such as subsidies and tax credits. Believing in the sanctity of the free market, Market Liberals believe that a 'rising tide can raise all ships', regardless of whether those ships are poor or rich.	Alberto Ullastres Calvo Yevgeny Dragunov* Roberto Francisco Chiari Remón* Franck Sylvain
Christian Democracy	Christian Democracy is founded on two pillars of thought: that it's the duty of those that believe in God to help the people, and that democracy is the best form of government there is. Beyond this foundation, there is next to no set standard of what is Christian Democracy, and there are many beliefs and ideas on how to go about it. Some parties are opposed to both of the "materialist" ideologies of Capitalism and Socialism, while others support a social market economy that supports free market economics with a strong government supported safety net and regulations. Other parties claiming to be Christain Democratic can be seen as either conservative or liberal depending on the country and history. Or they can straddle the line: maybe they are center-left on economic issues and civil rights, while center-right on cultural, social and moral issues. Christian Democracy can be almost any denomination, though most are Catholic or some variation of Protestantism. While the European home of the original Christian Democratic movements such as Germany, Austria and Belgium are now held in the tight grasp of anti-religious Nazism, there is a flourishing Christian Democratic movement in Latin America, and hope that someday a democracy that is humble, moral and blessed will return to Europe.	Carlo Donat-Cattin Camille Laurens Charles Pasqua Jack Lynch Rodolfo Martínez
Centrist Progressivism	Progressivism is not solely the province of the left; others have arrived there from elsewhere. Influenced by their economic nationalism or a genuine realization that those policies deemed "too radical" by more conservative types are in fact correct, many centrists have embraced a path of progress. Centrist progressives present an ideology that, while progressive, tends to go no further than the center-left. This is a calculated move: the Centrist Progressive's ideal support base is the sum of moderates who identify with limited portions of leftist policy and leftists who decide to satisfy themselves with center-leftist policy for the time being. Naturally, this leads to accusations that centrist progressives are nothing but sellouts trying to trick the left into voting far them. This can be true in some cases. But what is also true is that reactionaries tend to oppose centrist progressives with the same zeal as they do the left. They're right to be afraid—those opposed to progress know that a centrist progressive can form a large coalition capable of threatening their interests. Worse yet for the oligarchic classes, red-baiting tactics will not work on centrist progressives—especially when so many of them are bona-fide anti-communists.	Wilson Ferreira Aldunate
Big Tent	Big Tents are, at the core, places where many are welcome. Fit to fill itself with a diverse array of personalities and ideologies, many wonder how these political smorgasbords manage to stay together. The answer is actually quite simple. Pragmatism. The key value behind Big Tent parties and philosophy. Without the Big Tent, the many disparate groups under its roof recognize they would be aimless, with no power. The Big Tent gives them a power, one larger than the sum of their parts. Along with that, Big Tent parties and coalitions require a goal to unify their assorted ideologies. In the current political climate, this often comes as a resistance to fascism. United by a (usually) liberal desire to retain their vision of democracy, politicians and people all over the Overton window come together to preserve what they love. No matter how tense arguing goes on under the tent, everyone realizes how dangerous the outside is.	Gul Pacha Ulfat Khuang Aphaiwong Svetlana Stalina Aat van Rhijn*
Moderate Technocracy	Technocracy can be distilled into a single idea: that those citizens most qualified, having the strongest experience, learning, and knowledge in the scholarly fields most pertinent to the welfare of the state, should be those to run the affairs of state. A technocrat's idea of the ideal rulers for the nation are problem-solvers: researchers, theoreticians, scientists, businessmen, and engineers. Moderate technocracy, like liberal technocracy, superimposes the technocratic concept on a democratic polity. Both strains of technocrats will very much prefer to hire practical people from outside the political-administrative class to help them in their work of ruling the State, and will treat politicians and party cadres with no small amount of suspicion. However, unlike their more strident counterparts, moderate technocrats are content to work within the established political system. Pragmatism preserves the State, dogmatism destroys it. Better to fix the symptoms of particracy's excesses, making it as nontoxic as possible, rather than risk ruin by attempting to attack the entire problem as a more dogmatic technocrat might.	Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez*
Islamic Modernism	"I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam." Arising as an Islamic reaction to Europe's colonial and imperial onslaught in the 19th century, the doctrine of Islamic Modernism was conceived of as the ideological brainchild of those among the Islamic Ulema and Clergy, from Mohammed Abduh, Jamal el-Din al-Afghani to Ali Abdel Raziq and Rifa'at al-Tahtawi, who recognised the vital necessity for reform within the Muslim Ummah as a counter-guard to the encroaching Western powers. Seeking neither to stick their heads in the ground and isolate themselves from modernity nor to abandon all their customs, beliefs and traditions to follow all that the westerners preach mindlessly, Islamic Modernism aims to adapt the Enlightenment ideals that have propelled the West to prosperity with the traditional Islamic ideals and doctrine that had lifted the Near East out of ignorance and into a social, cultural and economic golden age. In sharp contrast to the socialistic, secular nationalism that is finding prominence among young anti-colonial revolutionaries and the rival Salafist school of thought that is being propagated by the Saudis of Nejd, the Modernists seek to discard both notions of atheistic secularism and the already-established medieval-era interpretations of Sharia that remain dominant among the scholars and clerics of today, instead, they strive to re-examine and reinterpret the doctrine of Sharia from a modern lens. The Modernists push for the destruction of feudal entities and the construction of modern, civic and democratic states that operate on the framework of a "Moral Economy" that empowers the meek and provides for the deprived. The only way forwards for a Muslim Ummah free of colonial chains is under a harmonic society that equally dignifies all of its subjects regardless of their sex, faith, race or class.	Hassan al-Hudaybi Burhanuddin Harahap
Oligarchic Liberalism	The feudal aristocrats of the past centuries have been befallen with tragedy after tragedy as the embers of revolutionary potential erupted into overwhelming fires, bringing the lords to heel and their byzantine system of oppression down with them. Atop the burnt carcass of the ancient regime would the torch of liberalism be crafted, but with the power gap left by the old establishment remaining empty, a new class would rise to occupy it: the Oligarchs. The grand liberal tradition proclaims the inalienable, universal rights of man and establishes a democratic regime. A state where power belongs to the people through the form of an electoral mandate granted by them to their representatives. This may seem incompatible with the concept of oligarchic rule at first, yet should one look beyond the horizons of strict ideological confines one will arrive at the point where contradictions melt away and unity is crafted. Oligarchs with their wealth and affluence may be out of touch with the ferocious masses, yet by positioning themselves as the vanguard of the popular interests, these same oligarchs are able to place themselves at the head of the democratic process. Power belongs to the people and power originates from the people, however, the people cannot truly rule for themselves. Fortunately for them, the ever-benevolent oligarchs will carry the torch of liberalism in their name and rule as their democratic representatives.	Giovanni Malagodi Mostafa El-Nahas* Fuad Serragedine