Everything about Liberal Conservatism totally explained
Liberal conservatism is a political philosophy which generally means combining elements of "
conservatism" with elements of "
liberalism". As these latter two terms have had different meanings over time and across countries, liberal conservatism also has a wide variety of meanings.
Historically, it often referred to the combination of
economic liberalism, which champions
laissez-faire markets, with the classical
conservative concern for established
tradition, respect for authority and religious values. In this way it contrasted itself with
classical liberalism, which supported
freedom for the individual in both the economic and social spheres.
Over time, the general conservative ideology in many countries adopted economic liberal arguments and this sense of the term "liberal conservatism" fell out of use, and "conservatism" was simply used instead. This is also the case in countries where liberal economic ideas have been the tradition, such as the United States, and are thus considered "conservative". In other countries where liberal conservative movements have entered the political mainstream, the terms "liberal" and "conservative" may become synonymous (as in
Australia, in
Italy and in
Spain). The liberal conservative tradition in the United States combines the economic
individualism of the
classical liberals with a
Burkean form of conservatism (which has also become part of the
American conservative tradition, for example in the writings of
Russell Kirk).
A secondary meaning for the term that has developed in
Europe, is combining more modern "conservative" (less
traditionalist) views with those of "
social liberalism". This has developed as an opposition to the more
collectivist views of socialism. Often this involves stressing what are now conservative views of free-market economics and belief in
individual responsibility, with social liberal views on defence of
civil rights,
environmentalism and support for a limited
welfare state. This philosophy is that of
Swedish Prime Minister
Fredrik Reinfeldt and current
British Conservative Party leader
David Cameron, although the latter has been accused of reneging on liberal social and economic policies in favour of more traditional
Tory values. In continental Europe, this is sometimes also translated into
English as
social conservatism.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Liberal Conservatism'.
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