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Overview of Conservativism: What is a Conservative?
Socially, a Conservative is a person who believes in traditional values and social institutions such as family and religion, self-sufficiency, individuality, and personal responsibility.
In politics, a conservative is a person who believes in limited government, free and capitalistic markets, individual rights and freedoms, and other policies that support their traditional way of life.
Similarly, they oppose social values such as mass culture and unchecked secularism that threaten the traditional way of life. Conservatives believe that liberal values perpetuated by the mass culture destroy individuality and erode the sense of personal responsibility, which is a core value for any prosperous society.
According to John Skorupski, Conservatism is a version of liberalism (Classical Liberalism) that emphasizes free exchange, a small but strong state, private initiative, and personal responsibility.
Similarly, it could refer to practical conservatism, which is the practice of preserving and refreshing institutions.
Practical conservatives adopt a more rational perspective of life by accepting human imperfection than the Utopian dream imagined and peddled by liberals. According to Stanford’s Andy Hamilton, Conservatism is guided mainly by experience rather than reason, and the “ideal” and “practical” are inseparable.
Consequently, the Utopian dream that is not based on any practical experience does not impress conservatives. Conservatives understand that most brutal societies throughout history began with the dream of creating a utopian society, which eventually failed to materialize, plunging societies into misery. For example, communism started with the dream of building a totally egalitarian society where resources were equally distributed.
Conservatism could also refer to classical conservatism, the practice of continuity, community, tradition, the hierarchy of institutions, and the good elements of the community. Conservatives are known in the modern United States for fighting to protect the traditional family unit and religion. They are also critical of radical reforms to important institutions such as the public education system.
According to Skorupski, Conservatism sits “between Liberalism and Fascism,” arguably making the ideology the most practical of the two extremes.
Conservatives are known for believing that individuals can act on their own agency and chart their own destinies without depending on the government. This stems from their strong belief in personal responsibility and agency.
This relegates the government to the role of a facilitator instead of the primary force in achieving positive personal outcomes. According to John Gary, Conservatism traces its origins to the “crises of seventeenth-century England.”
In the contemporary United States, conservatives are among various groups that support the Republican Party.
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