Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

combining liberal values and policies with

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern conservative liberalism, scholars sometimes see it as a less radical variant of

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited governmen ...

; it is also referred to as an individual tradition that distinguishes it from classical liberalism and social liberalism. Conservative liberal parties tend to combine economically liberal policies with more traditional stances and personal beliefs on social and ethical issues. Ordoliberalism is an influential component of conservative-liberal thought, particularly in its German, British, Canadian, French, Italian, and American manifestations. In general, liberal conservatism and conservative liberalism have different philosophical roots. Historically, ''liberal conservatism'' refers mainly to the case where conservatives embrace the elements of

, and ''conservative liberalism'' refers to classical liberals who support a '' laissez-faire'' economy as well as socially conservative principles (for instance, Christian

family values Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...

). Since classical liberal institutions were gradually accepted by conservatives, there is very little to distinguish liberal conservatives from conservative liberals. Neoconservatism has also been identified as an ideological relative or twin to conservative liberalism, and some similarities exist also between conservative liberalism and

national liberalism National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A se ...

Overview

Conservative liberalism emerged in late 18th-century

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, when the moderate bourgeoisie supported the monarchy within the liberal camp. Representatively, Doctrinaires, which existed during the Bourbon Restoration was a representative conservative-liberal party. Radicalism, the leftward flank of liberalism during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that is referred to as classical radicalism, emerged as an opposition against the moderateness of these conservative liberals. Whiggism, or Whig liberalism, in the United Kingdom also forms early conservative liberalism and is distinguished from the Radicals (radical liberalism). According to Robert Kraynak, a professor at

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

, rather than "following progressive liberalism (i.e. social liberalism), conservative liberals draw upon pre-modern sources, such as classical philosophy (with its ideas of

virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...

, the

common good In philosophy, Common good (economics), economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, common weal, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, o ...

, and natural rights),

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

(with its ideas of

natural law Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

, the social nature of man, and original sin), and ancient institutions (such as

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

, corporate bodies, and social hierarchies). This gives their liberalism a conservative foundation. It means following Socrates,

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

, St. Augustine, St.

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

, and

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...

rather than Locke or Kant; it usually includes a deep sympathy for the politics of the Greek '' polis'', the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, and Christian monarchies. But, as realists, conservative liberals acknowledge that classical and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

politics cannot be restored in the modern world. And, as moralists, they see that the modern experiment in liberty and self-government has the positive effect of enhancing human dignity as well as providing an opening (even in the midst of mass culture) for transcendent longings for eternity. At its practical best, conservative liberalism promotes ordered liberty under God and establishes constitutional safeguards against tyranny. It shows that a regime of liberty based on traditional morality and classical-Christian culture is an achievement we can be proud of, rather than merely defensive about, as trustees of Western civilization." In the European context, conservative liberalism should not be confused with liberal conservatism, which is a variant of conservatism combining conservative views with liberal policies in regards to the economy, social and ethical issues. The roots of conservative liberalism are to be found at the beginning of the history of liberalism. Until the two world wars, the political class in most European countries from Germany to Italy was formed by conservative liberals. The events such as

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

occurring after 1917 brought the more radical version of

to a more conservative (i.e. more moderate) type of liberalism. Conservative liberal parties have tended to develop in those European countries where there was no strong secular

party and where the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

was less of an issue. In those countries, where the conservative parties were Christian democratic, this conservative brand of liberalism developed.

Political stance

Conservative liberalism is generally a liberal ideology that contrasts with social liberalism. Conservative liberalism, along with social liberalism and

, is mentioned as the main liberal ideology of European politics. While there are conservative liberals who are located on the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

political position, conservative liberalism is often used to describe liberalism close to the political centre to the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

of the political spectrum.

Social, classical and conservative liberalism

Social liberalism is a combination of economic Keynesianism and cultural liberalism. Classical liberalism is economic liberalism that partially embraces cultural liberalism. Conservative liberalism is an ideology that highlights the conservative aspect of liberalism, so it can appear in a somewhat different form depending on the local reality. Conservative liberalism refers to ideologies that show relatively conservative tendencies within the liberal camp, so it has some relative meaning. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, conservative liberals mean ''de facto'' classical liberals; in Europe, Christian democrats and ordoliberals can also be included. Christian democracy is a mainstream European conservative ideology, so there are cases where it supports free markets, such as Röpke.

By country

France

Alexis de Tocqueville and Adolphe Thiers were representative French conservative liberals. They were classified as centre-left liberals (progressive- Orléanists) during the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

alone; after the French Revolution of 1848, the now French Second Republic entered and they were relegated to conservative liberals.

Germany

Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, conservative liberalism or right-liberalism () was often used in a similar sense to national-liberalism (). National Liberal Party during the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

and German People's Party during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

are representative. "Right-liberalism" and "national liberalism" are used in similar meanings in Germany. According to the German Wikipedia, most of the national liberals during the Weimar Republic joined the CDU, a liberal-conservative party. For this reason, the terms "conservative liberalism" are not often used in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Ordoliberalism is more a variant of conservative liberalism than classical liberalism, which is economic liberalism that embraces cultural liberalism, or social liberalism, in principle because it is influenced by the notion of social justice based on traditional Catholic teachings. After the war, Germany pursued economic growth based on the social market economy, which is deeply related to ordoliberalism.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, David Hume, Adam Smith, and

have been identified as conservative liberals.

United States

In the United States, '' liberal'' usually refers to a social liberal form. As such, those referred to as ''conservative liberals'' in Europe are often simply referred to as '' conservatives'' in the United States. Milton Friedman and Irving Kristol are mentioned as representative conservative liberal scholars. Political scientists evaluate all politicians in the United States as liberals in the academic sense. In general, rather than the Democratic Party, which is close to social liberalism, the Republican Party is evaluated as a conservative-liberal party. In the case of the Democratic Party, the Blue Dog Coalition is evaluated as close to conservative-liberal in fiscal policy, and as moderate to liberal on cultural issues. Unlike classical liberals, conservative liberals in Europe, such as Finland's Centre Party, sometimes criticize cultural liberalism. American neoconservatives might be classified as conservative liberals according to Peter Lawler, a professor at Berry College, who argued:

America today, responsible liberals—who are usually called neoconservatives—see that liberalism depends on human beings who are somewhat child-centered, patriotic, and religious. These responsible liberals praise these non-individualistic human propensities in an effort to shore up liberalism. One of their slogans is "conservative sociology with liberal politics." The neoconservatives recognize that the politics of free and rational individuals depends upon a pre-political social world that is far from free and rational as a whole.

Notable thinkers

* David Hume (1711–1776) * Adam Smith (1723–1790) * Edmund Burke (1729–1797) * Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834) *

François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator and Politician, statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics between the July Revolution, Revolution of 1830 and the Revoluti ...

(1787–1874) * Adolphe Thiers (1797–1877) * Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) * William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) * Camillo Benso (1810–1861) * Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947) *

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

(1874–1965) *

Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman during the Weimar Republic who served as Chancellor of Germany#First German Republic (Weimar Republic, 1919–1933), chancellor of Germany from August to November 1 ...

(1878–1929) * Paul Reynaud (1878–1966) * Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950) * Walter Eucken (1891–1950) * Robert Menzies (1894–1978) * Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977) * Wilhelm Ropke (1899–1966) * Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992) * Michael Oakeshott (1901–1990) * Ayn Rand (1905–1982) * Raymond Aron (1905–1983) * Milton Friedman (1912–2006) * Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (1919–1999) * Irving Kristol (1920–2009) * Helmut Schoeck (1922–1993) * Francis Fukuyama (born 1952)

List of conservative-liberal parties or parties with conservative-liberal factions

Current parties

* Argentina: Republican Proposal, Union of the Democratic Centre, Christian Democratic Party * Australia: Liberal Party of Australia * Belgium: Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Reformist Movement, New Flemish Alliance, Libertarian, Direct, Democratic * Brazil: Progressive Party, Social Democratic Party (factions), Liberal Party, New Party * Bulgaria: National Movement for Stability and Progress * Canada: British Columbia United, Coalition Avenir Québec, Saskatchewan Party * Chile: Evópoli * Croatia:

Croatian Social Liberal Party The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS were established in May 1989 in Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#Li ...

* Czech Republic: Mayors and Independents, TOP 09, Civic Democratic Party, ANO 2011 * Denmark: Venstre–Liberal Party of Denmark * Estonia: Estonian Reform Party * El Salvador: Nuevas Ideas, GANA * Faroe Islands: Union Party, People's Party * Finland: National Coalition Party, Centre Party * France: The Republicans, Horizons, The Centrists * Germany: Free Democratic Party * Ghana: New Patriotic Party * Greece: New Democracy * Greenland: Feeling of Community * Iceland: Independence Party * Ireland: Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael * Israel: Likud, Telem, New Hope * Italy: * Japan: Liberal Democratic Party * Latvia: Unity * Lithuania: Liberal Movement, Freedom and Justice * Luxembourg: Democratic Party * Moldova: Liberal Party, Liberal Reformist Party * Netherlands:

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p. 49 JA21 * New Zealand: New Zealand National Party * Norway: Progress Party * Philippines: Liberal Party (factions), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino * Poland:

Civic Platform The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...

* Portugal: Social Democratic Party * Romania: National Liberal Party * Russia: Democratic Choice *Serbia: People's Party * Slovakia: Freedom and Solidarity * Slovenia: Slovenian Democratic Party * South Africa: Democratic Alliance * South Korea: Minsaeng Party, Democratic Party of Korea (factions) * Spain: People's Party, Catalan European Democratic Party, Basque Nationalist Party * Switzerland: FDP.The Liberals * Sweden: Liberals * Thailand: Democrat Party * Turkey: Good Party * Ukraine: Civil Position * United Kingdom: Conservative Party * United States: Republican Party

Historical parties

* Austria: Constitutional Party, Federation of Independents, Freedom Party of Austria * Belarus: Belarusian Peasant Party * Belgium: People's Party * Brazil: National Democratic Union * Canada: Liberal-Conservative Party * Chile: National Party * Czech Republic: Civic Democratic Alliance, Public Affairs * El Salvador: National Coalition Party * France: Feuillant, Thermidorians, Doctrinaires, Resistance Party, Union for the New Republic/ Union of Democrats for the Republic/ Rally for the Republic, Independent Republicans/ Republican Party/ Liberal Democracy, Union for French Democracy Republican Party, Union for a Popular Movement, Agir * Germany: National Liberal Party, German People's Party * Iceland: Liberal Party (1927), Liberal Party (1998) * Ireland: Progressive Democrats * Israel: General Zionists, Liberal Party * Italy: Italian Liberal Party, Italian Liberal Right, Forza Italia, Civic Choice * Japan: New Party Sakigake * Latvia: Latvian Way, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way * Lithuania: National Resurrection Party, Liberal and Centre Union * Mexico: Liberal Party * Netherlands: Liberal State Party, Party of Freedom * New Zealand: United Party * Norway: Frisinnede Venstre * Poland: Liberty, League of the Right of the Republic, Liberal Democratic Congress, Poland Together * Romania: Democratic Liberal Party, Liberal Reformist Party * Russia: Democratic Choice of Russia * Serbia: Serbian Progressive Party * Slovakia: Democratic Party * South Korea: Korea Democratic Party, Democratic Nationalist Party, Democratic Party (1955), New Democratic Party, Reunification Democratic Party, Democratic Party (1990), United Democratic Party (1995), National Congress for New Politics, Democratic Party (South Korea, 2000), People Party (2016), Party for Democracy and Peace, New Alternatives * Spain: Liberal Party, Democratic Convergence of Catalonia * Switzerland: Free Democratic Party, Liberal Party * Turkey: Motherland Party * United Kingdom: Whigs, Liberal Unionist Party, National Liberal Party * United States: Whig Party

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conservative Liberalism Liberalism Centre-right ideologies Political culture Political ideologies Political science terminology Syncretic political movements