title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 1986, Woodard starred opposite Farrah Fawcett in the drama film "Extremities", which was based on the 1982 Off-Broadway play by William Mastrosimone. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as a woman dying of leukemia in the pilot episode of the NBC drama series "L.A. Law". From 1985 to 1986, she also was a regular cast member of the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere". She played the role of Dr. Roxanne Turner, a strong doctor and the love interest of the Denzel Washington character. She left the show after a single season and guest-starred in 1988. Woodard was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1986, and for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 1988, for "St. Elsewhere". In 1998, Woodard reprised the role for a sixth-season episode of "" entitled "Mercy". She also was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her guest performance in the show.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 1987, Woodard played the role of South African activist Winnie Mandela in the HBO film "Mandela". She spent several weeks watching news clips and listening to tapes of Winnie to match her accent. She did not win an Emmy, but received a CableACE Award and an NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Lead Actress category for "Mandela". In the next years, she began starring in comedy films like "Scrooged" (1988) and "Miss Firecracker" (1989).


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 1991, Woodard starred in drama film "Grand Canyon", directed by Lawrence Kasdan. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and earned $40,991,329 at the box office. The next year, Woodard received major critical acclaim for her performance opposite Mary McDonnell in the drama film "Passion Fish", written and directed by John Sayles. The film depicts the struggles of a recently paralyzed daytime soap opera star, and how her outlook is influenced by her nurse, Chantelle, a recovering drug addict played by Woodard. The "Rolling Stone"s Peter Travers described her performance as "superb". She was a promising contender for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress category, but did not receive a nomination. However, she did receive her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. In that same year, she had a comedic role in the fantasy film "Heart and Souls" opposite Robert Downey, Jr., for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: Woodard starred opposite Danny Glover in the 1993 drama film "Bopha!" and had the leading role in 1994's semi-autobiographical film "Crooklyn", written and directed by Spike Lee. "Crooklyn" received very positive reviews from critics. During the same period, Woodward also appeared in the films "The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag" (1992), "Rich in Love" (1993), and "Blue Chips" (1994). In 1995, she co-starred alongside Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan, and Maya Angelou in the female ensemble drama film "How to Make an American Quilt", for which the entire cast was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 1996, Woodard played Judge Miriam Shoat in the neo-noir crime film "Primal Fear" with Richard Gere and Edward Norton, as well as portraying Lily Sloane, Zefram Cochrane's assistant in the science fiction film "". Her performance in the franchise film garnered wide critical acclaim. In 1998, she starred as an alcoholic single mother from Chicago forced to spend a summer with her uncle in Mississippi, in the critically acclaimed independent drama "Down in the Delta" directed by Maya Angelou, her "How to Make an American Quilt" co-star. For her powerful performance in the film, Woodard was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. In 1999, Woodard had roles in two films: "Mumford" (alongside her "Passion Fish" co-star Mary McDonnell), and "The Wishing Tree" as lead character.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In the 1990s, Woodard also continued her work in television, earning considerable acclaim for her performances. For "The Piano Lesson" (1995), a Hallmark Hall of Fame film, she won her first Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, as well as being nominated for another Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. In next year, she received a Primetime Emmy nomination for her performance as the Queen in the critically acclaimed Hallmark miniseries "Gulliver's Travels", based on the classic Jonathan Swift novel. In 1997, she had the leading roles in both "The Member of the Wedding" (based on the novel by Carson McCullers) and "Miss Evers' Boys" on HBO. Her performance as the title character in the latter film, as a nurse who consoled many of the subjects of the notorious 1930s Tuskegee study of untreated Blacks with syphilis, earned widespread critical acclaim, sweeping all television awards in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie category, including Primetime Emmy (besting nominees Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Glenn Close, and Stockard Channing), Golden Globe, Satellite, NAACP, CableACE, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In the 2000s, Woodard's film career showcased her versatility in a range of genres, including the ensemble comedy-drama "What's Cooking?" (2000), the romantic drama "Love & Basketball" (2000) as the lead character's mother, science fiction films "K-PAX" (2001), "The Core" (2003), and "The Forgotten" (2004), the biographical drama "Radio" (2003), comedies "The Singing Detective" (2003) and "Beauty Shop" (2005), the romantic drama "Something New" (2006), and the dance-musical "Take the Lead" (2006). Woodard also was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance as a drug addict in the "Holiday Heart" (2000). In addition, she performed voice work in a variety of feature and television documentaries, as well as a voice role in Walt Disney's "Dinosaur". The film was a financial success, grossing over $349 million worldwide.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: On television, Woodard guest-starred in two episodes of "The Practice" in 2003, for which she won her fourth Primetime Emmy Award. In 2005, she joined the cast of the ABC comedy-drama series "Desperate Housewives" as Betty Applewhite, the new mystery housewife. Her character was introduced in the last episodes of the series' first season, and became the center of the second season's mystery. Series creator Marc Cherry noted: "There's nothing strategically black about her character. Her color is incidental." Woodard stated that she had never seen the show before being offered the role, leading the producers to send her fifteen episodes of the show, which she divided amongst various family members. After they compared storylines, Woodard recalled that she became "instantly hooked" on the series. As soon as Woodard accepted the role of Betty Applewhite, she reported experiencing heavy media attention. Woodard's portrayal of Betty was praised and resulted in a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2006. However, her mystery as a whole had mixed reviews. In a review of the second-season premiere, Michael Slezak of "Entertainment Weekly" thought that the Applewhite mystery would help reduce the show's chances of falling into a sophomore slump. He praised Woodard's acting as well as her character's storyline, opining, "there's something so inherently warm and maternal in Woodard's performance, such apple-pie wholesomeness, that it makes her touches of menace all the more chilling." However, as the season progressed, there were many complaints about Betty's lack of interaction with the other housewives. She left the series in the second-season finale episode.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: Woodard was nominated for Primetime Emmys for her roles in the television films "The Water Is Wide" and "Pictures of Hollis Woods" (2007). She starred as lead in the Tyler Perry's drama film "The Family That Preys" in 2008. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but her performance received acclaim. "Los Angeles Times" critic Bob Baker said in his review: "The film takes off when Woodard's and Kathy Bates' characters go on a "Thelma & Louise"-style road trip.", while "The Washington Post"s Neely Tucker wrote: "By far the best thing about the enterprise is Woodard. If she's not in this thing, I think it goes kaput.". In next year, she appeared in the independent drama "American Violet", playing the mother of a 24-year-old African-American woman wrongfully swept up in a drug raid. She also starred in two short-lived television series: NBC's "My Own Worst Enemy" (2008), and CBS's "Three Rivers" (2009).


title: Alfre Woodard

text: From 2010 to 2011, Woodard starred as Lt. Tanya Rice in the TNT comedy-drama series "Memphis Beat", winning a Gracie Allen Award for each of its two seasons. One critic said: "I originally tuned in for Jason Lee, who plays a police detective named Dwight who likes to croon the blues. But I was won over by Alfre Woodard, who plays Dwight's by-the-book boss." "Memphis Beat" was canceled after two seasons. In 2010, she also was cast in the third season of HBO's "True Blood" as Ruby Jean Reynolds. garnering another Primetime Emmy nomination in 2011 for her recurring role. Woodard also guest-starred in Shonda Rhimes' dramas "Grey's Anatomy" in 2011 and "Private Practice" in 2012. Also in 2012, Woodard was cast as Ouiser (played by Shirley MacLaine in the 1989 film) in the remake of the classic comedy-drama film "Steel Magnolias". The Lifetime television remake premiered on October 7, 2012, and drew 6.5 million viewers, making it the third most-viewed Lifetime Original film in the network's history. Woodard received critical acclaim for her comedic performance, as well as Primetime Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. In 2013, Woodard made Emmy history with 17 nominations for 16 different roles. Also in 2013, she had a recurring role in the BBC America period drama "Copper".


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 2013, Woodard appeared in Steve McQueen's historical drama film "12 Years a Slave" as Mistress Harriet Shaw, a formerly enslaved woman who has risen in the Southern caste system. Though her appearance was brief, her performance was praised as powerful. Along with the other cast members, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, in addition to her nomination for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her single-scene appearance. In 2013, she also appeared in Ava DuVernay's short film "The Door", a part of Miu Miu's Women's Tales series. The following year, Woodard was cast in the horror-thriller "Annabelle" and the comedy-drama "Mississippi Grind". She also starred in the independent drama film "Knucklehead" as an abusive mother.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: On March 21, 2014, it was announced that Woodard would be playing the role of the first female President of the United States in the NBC political drama pilot "State of Affairs" opposite Katherine Heigl. The pilot was ordered to series in May 2014. About her role, Woodard said, "It's fun to play the President, rather than to be the President. But what drew me was how smart the script was, and this world we hadn't seen before—this world most Americans didn't know existed before we went after Bin Laden. And that it was being done by people who knew the world. So we're not stepping too outside the boundaries; it's based in realism. And I love politics. I have worked in politics for several decades, so it was a chance to live in a world that was important to me." The series premiered with generally negative reviews from critics, but most reviewers praised Woodard's performance. Amy Amatangelo of "Boston Herald" gave the premiere grade "C", stating that, "Alfre Woodard isn't given a lot to do as President Constance Payton in the premiere, but, unlike Heigl, she does have the gravitas for the role, and the show would be wise to use her more. The series sets up some interesting reveals in the hour's final moments. They potentially could make the show more interesting. But for now the state of affairs is rather mediocre." The series was canceled after a single season.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In November 2014, Woodard was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She said in her acceptance speech that she believes it is her responsibility to use her fame to help others less fortunate. Also in November 2014, Woodard narrated "Women in Politics", an episode of season 2 of "".


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 2015, Woodard was cast as a lead in the film adaptation of Sarah Weeks' young adult novel "So B. It" directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal. The film was released in April 2017 by Good Deed Acquires. In 2016, she also had a small role in Marvel's film "", playing Miriam Sharpe, the mother of an American citizen killed in the . Later that year, she played "Black" Mariah Dillard Stokes in the Netflix series "Marvel's Luke Cage", marking her second portrayal of a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That same year, she was cast in DreamWorks' film "Haunted" based on Henry James' novel "The Turn of the Screw" and directing by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 2017, Woodard was cast as a title character in the independent drama "Juanita", based on Sheila Williams' book "Dancing on the Edge of the Roof". She also co-starred opposite Michelle Monaghan in "Saint Judy". Additionally, Woodard appeared as Josephine Anwhistle in Netflix's adaptation of "A Series of Unfortunate Events", which premiered in 2017. In 2018, she took a recurring role in the Fox prime time soap opera "Empire", playing Renee, Cookie Lyon's mother.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 2019, Woodard voiced Sarabi in the CGI live action remake of "The Lion King", directed by Jon Favreau. Also that year, Woodard played in a leading role in the prison drama film "Clemency", which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The film centers on a prison warden (Woodard) who confronts her own psychological demons as she develops an emotional connection to the death row inmate (played by Aldis Hodge) she is scheduled to execute. For her performance, Woodard has received wide critical acclaim. She was listed as a contender for a nomination in the 2020 Academy Award for Best Actress category, but did not receive a nomination. She received BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination for her performance. Also that year, Woodard began starring opposite Jason Momoa in the Apple TV+ original fantasy drama series "See", a series set in a future in which the human race has lost the sense of sight.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: In 2021, Woodard starred opposite Kevin Hart in the drama film "Fatherhood" directed by Paul Weitz. She has also been cast in action thriller "The Gray Man" for Netflix, with a production budget of $200 million, making it the most expensive film made by Netflix. On September 2, 2021, she was cast in the film adaptation of "Salem's Lot" playing the role of Dr. Cody, and set to star alongside Morgan Freeman in "Hate To See You Go". She also set to appear opposite Blair Underwood in the thriller "Viral".


title: Alfre Woodard

text: Woodard executive produces and co-starred in the CBC Television period drama series "The Porter". The series premiered on February 21, 2022.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: Woodard has announced that she is producing an upcoming four-hour television miniseries about Fannie Lou Hamer, a voting rights activist and civil rights leader. The project was first announced in 2014, and in November 2020, ABC Signature ordered it to series.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: Woodard lives in Santa Monica, California, with her husband, writer Roderick Spencer, and their two children Mavis and Duncan. Woodard follows Christian Science. Her daughter, Mavis, served as Miss Golden Globe for the 2010 Golden Globe Awards.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: Woodard is an activist for a wide spectrum of causes. She is a founder and board member of Artists for a New South Africa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating the African AIDS pandemic and to advancing democracy and equality in South Africa since 1989. The charity has raised more than $9 million and has provided healthcare to over 3,500 South African AIDS orphans. Woodard is also a board member of the Democratic Party, and campaigned for Barack Obama in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. She lends continuing support to the fight for LGBT rights and same sex marriage. In February 2009, she joined a group of American film directors and actors on a cultural trip to Iran at the invitation of the "House of Cinema" forum in Tehran.


title: Alfre Woodard

text: On August 9, 2015, Woodard appeared on TLC's "Who Do You Think You Are?". Research into her father's genealogy revealed that her great-grandfather Alex Woodard was born into slavery in Houston County, Georgia, in the early 1840s. At about age 14 or 15, Alex was separated from his family when his master relocated to Jackson Parish, Louisiana. Historians helped Woodard locate evidence that Alex was assessed a poll tax in 1867, indicating that he was registered to vote two years after the Civil War ended. By 1881, Alex had purchased 80 acres of farmland in Jackson Parish. On April 15, 1898, Alex Woodard and his wife Elizabeth sold their 80 acres to her brother, Aaron Stell, as they had moved to Wharton County, Texas, by that time. In tribute to Alex Woodard's climb from enslavement to landowner, Alfre poured a libation of water on the land that her great-grandfather and his family acquired by dint of hard work and unwavering determination. The scene closed the program.


title: Rick Riordan

text: Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million copies in the United States. 20th Century Fox adapted the first two books of his "Percy Jackson" series as part of a series of films, while a Disney+ adaptation is in production. His books have spawned related media, such as graphic novels and short story collections.


title: Rick Riordan

text: Riordan's first full-length novel was "Big Red Tequila", which became the first book in the "Tres Navarre" series. His big breakthrough was "The Lightning Thief" (2005), the first novel in the five-volume "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series, which placed a group of modern-day adolescents in a Greco-Roman mythological setting. Since then, Riordan has written "The Heroes of Olympus", a sequel to the "Percy Jackson" series; "The Kane Chronicles", a trilogy of similar premise focusing on Egyptian mythology; and "Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard", again a trilogy of similar premise focusing on Norse mythology. Riordan also helped Scholastic Press develop "The 39 Clues" series and its spinoffs, and penned its first book, "The Maze of Bones". In 2021, he published "Daughter of the Deep". His third standalone novel, "The Sun and the Star", co-written with author Mark Oshiro, is set to be released on May 2, 2023.


title: Rick Riordan

text: Riordan was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School, and first attended the music program at North Texas State University, wanting to be a guitarist. He transferred to the University of Texas at Austin and studied English and History. He received his teaching certification in those subjects from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He taught English and Social Studies for eight years at Presidio Hill School in San Francisco.


title: Rick Riordan

text: Rick married Becky Riordan in 1985 on the couple's shared birthday. They have two sons, Haley and Patrick. They moved from San Antonio to Boston in June 2013, in conjunction with older son Haley starting college in Boston.


title: Rick Riordan

text: Riordan has created several successful book series. "Tres Navarre", an adult mystery series about a Texas private eye, won the Shamus, Anthony, and Edgar Awards.


title: Rick Riordan

text: He conceived the idea for the "Percy Jackson" series as bedtime stories about ancient Greek heroes for his son Haley.


title: Rick Riordan

text: Haley had been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, inspiring Riordan to make the titular protagonist hyperactive and dyslexic. Riordan published the first novel in the series, "The Lightning Thief", in 2005. Four sequels followed, with the last, "The Last Olympian", in 2009. Prior to "Percy Jackson", Riordan had written the "Tres Navarres" series, a series of mystery novels for adult readers.


title: Rick Riordan

text: His "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series features the titular twelve-year-old who discovers he is the modern-day son of the ancient Greek god Poseidon. 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights and released two feature film adapations between 2010 and 2013. Following the success of "Percy Jackson", Riordan created "The Kane Chronicles", which features a modern-day Egyptian pantheon and two new sibling protagonists, Sadie and Carter Kane. Riordan also created a sequel series to Percy Jackson, "The Heroes of Olympus".


title: Rick Riordan

text: Riordan also helped create the children's book series "The 39 Clues". He authored several of its books, including "The Maze of Bones", which topped "The New York Times" Best Seller list on September 28, 2008. He also wrote the introduction to the Puffin Classics edition of Roger Lancelyn Green's "Tales of the Greek Heroes", in which he states that the book influenced him to write his Greek mythology series.


title: Rick Riordan

text: In 2022, Riordan co-wrote the pilot for the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series on Disney+ and is serving as an executive producer for the show. Disney had earlier acquired Fox in 2019, allowing it to gain the rights to adapt the "Percy Jackson" novels.


title: Rick Riordan

text: In September 2016, Disney-Hyperion announced a new Rick Riordan imprint. The imprint is called "Rick Riordan Presents" and was launched in March 2018. It is headed by Riordan's editor, Stephanie Owens Lurie.


title: Rick Riordan

text: Lurie said that Riordan had been approached about an imprint several years ago but initially dismissed the idea because of his heavy workload. Later, he reported back that he had been "toying with the idea" and was "willing to go forward with a publishing line that was not a brand extension for his own work but a platform for Riordan to bring other great writers to the attention of his vast and loyal audience." She also said that the imprint planned to launch with two then undetermined books. "The point of making this announcement now is to get the word out about what we’re looking for.”


title: Rick Riordan

text: The imprint will not publish books written by Riordan, "whose role will be closer to curator". In an interview with the "Iowa Gazette", Riordan said, "Instead of me writing all of the mythologies we are going to look for authors who already are writing about that stuff. If I feel like I can recommend them [to my readers] ... we’re going to have them out here in the spotlight." A focus will be placed on "diverse, mythology-based fiction by new, emerging, and under-represented authors". Lurie expressed hopes that the imprint will help satisfy Riordan fans without asking the author to write more than his usual two books a year.


title: Tensor

text: In mathematics, a tensor is an algebraic object that describes a multilinear relationship between sets of algebraic objects related to a vector space. Tensors may map between different objects such as vectors, scalars, and even other tensors. There are many types of tensors, including scalars and vectors (which are the simplest tensors), dual vectors, multilinear maps between vector spaces, and even some operations such as the dot product. Tensors are defined independent of any basis, although they are often referred to by their components in a basis related to a particular coordinate system.


title: Tensor

text: Tensors have become important in physics because they provide a concise mathematical framework for formulating and solving physics problems in areas such as mechanics (stress, elasticity, fluid mechanics, moment of inertia, ...), electrodynamics (electromagnetic tensor, Maxwell tensor, permittivity, magnetic susceptibility, ...), general relativity (stress–energy tensor, curvature tensor, ...) and others. In applications, it is common to study situations in which a different tensor can occur at each point of an object; for example the stress within an object may vary from one location to another. This leads to the concept of a tensor field. In some areas, tensor fields are so ubiquitous that they are often simply called "tensors".


title: Tensor

text: Tullio Levi-Civita and Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro popularised tensors in 1900 – continuing the earlier work of Bernhard Riemann and Elwin Bruno Christoffel and others – as part of the "absolute differential calculus". The concept enabled an alternative formulation of the intrinsic differential geometry of a manifold in the form of the Riemann curvature tensor.


title: Tensor

text: Although seemingly different, the various approaches to defining tensors describe the same geometric concept using different language and at different levels of abstraction.


title: Tensor

text: A tensor may be represented as an array (potentially multidimensional). Just as a vector in an -dimensional space is represented by a one-dimensional array with components with respect to a given basis, any tensor with respect to a basis is represented by a multidimensional array. For example, a linear operator is represented in a basis as a two-dimensional square array. The numbers in the multidimensional array are known as the "scalar components" of the tensor or simply its "components". They are denoted by indices giving their position in the array, as subscripts and superscripts, following the symbolic name of the tensor. For example, the components of an order tensor could be denoted  , where and are indices running from to , or also by . Whether an index is displayed as a superscript or subscript depends on the transformation properties of the tensor, described below. Thus while and can both be expressed as "n" by "n" matrices, and are numerically related via index juggling, the difference in their transformation laws indicates it would be improper to add them together. The total number of indices required to identify each component uniquely is equal to the dimension of the array, and is called the "order", "degree" or "rank" of the tensor. However, the term "rank" generally has another meaning in the context of matrices and tensors.


title: Tensor

text: Just as the components of a vector change when we change the basis of the vector space, the components of a tensor also change under such a transformation. Each type of tensor comes equipped with a "transformation law" that details how the components of the tensor respond to a change of basis. The components of a vector can respond in two distinct ways to a change of basis (see covariance and contravariance of vectors), where the new basis vectors formula_1 are expressed in terms of the old basis vectors formula_2 as,


title: Tensor

text: Here "R" are the entries of the change of basis matrix, and in the rightmost expression the summation sign was suppressed: this is the Einstein summation convention, which will be used throughout this article. The components "v" of a column vector v transform with the inverse of the matrix "R",


title: Tensor

text: where the hat denotes the components in the new basis. This is called a "contravariant" transformation law, because the vector components transform by the "inverse" of the change of basis. In contrast, the components, "w", of a covector (or row vector), w, transform with the matrix "R" itself,


title: Tensor

text: This is called a "covariant" transformation law, because the covector components transform by the "same matrix" as the change of basis matrix. The components of a more general tensor transform by some combination of covariant and contravariant transformations, with one transformation law for each index. If the transformation matrix of an index is the inverse matrix of the basis transformation, then the index is called "contravariant" and is conventionally denoted with an upper index (superscript). If the transformation matrix of an index is the basis transformation itself, then the index is called "covariant" and is denoted with a lower index (subscript).


title: Tensor

text: As a simple example, the matrix of a linear operator with respect to a basis is a rectangular array formula_6 that transforms under a change of basis matrix formula_7 by formula_8. For the individual matrix entries, this transformation law has the form formula_9 so the tensor corresponding to the matrix of a linear operator has one covariant and one contravariant index: it is of type (1,1).


title: Tensor

text: Combinations of covariant and contravariant components with the same index allow us to express geometric invariants. For example, the fact that a vector is the same object in different coordinate systems can be captured by the following equations, using the formulas defined above:


title: Tensor

text: where formula_11 is the Kronecker delta, which functions similarly to the identity matrix, and has the effect of renaming indices ("j" into "k" in this example). This shows several features of the component notation: the ability to re-arrange terms at will (commutativity), the need to use different indices when working with multiple objects in the same expression, the ability to rename indices, and the manner in which contravariant and covariant tensors combine so that all instances of the transformation matrix and its inverse cancel, so that expressions like formula_12 can immediately be seen to be geometrically identical in all coordinate systems.


title: Tensor

text: Similarly, a linear operator, viewed as a geometric object, does not actually depend on a basis: it is just a linear map that accepts a vector as an argument and produces another vector. The transformation law for how the matrix of components of a linear operator changes with the basis is consistent with the transformation law for a contravariant vector, so that the action of a linear operator on a contravariant vector is represented in coordinates as the matrix product of their respective coordinate representations. That is, the components formula_13 are given by formula_14. These components transform contravariantly, since


title: Tensor

text: The transformation law for an order tensor with "p" contravariant indices and "q" covariant indices is thus given as,


title: Tensor

text: Here the primed indices denote components in the new coordinates, and the unprimed indices denote the components in the old coordinates. Such a tensor is said to be of order or "type" . The terms "order", "type", "rank", "valence", and "degree" are all sometimes used for the same concept. Here, the term "order" or "total order" will be used for the total dimension of the array (or its generalization in other definitions), in the preceding example, and the term "type" for the pair giving the number of contravariant and covariant indices. A tensor of type is also called a -tensor for short.


title: Tensor

text: The definition of a tensor as a multidimensional array satisfying a transformation law traces back to the work of Ricci.


title: Tensor

text: An equivalent definition of a tensor uses the representations of the general linear group. There is an action of the general linear group on the set of all ordered bases of an "n"-dimensional vector space. If formula_23 is an ordered basis, and formula_24 is an invertible formula_25 matrix, then the action is given by


title: Tensor

text: Let "F" be the set of all ordered bases. Then "F" is a principal homogeneous space for GL("n"). Let "W" be a vector space and let formula_27 be a representation of GL("n") on "W" (that is, a group homomorphism formula_28). Then a tensor of type formula_27 is an equivariant map formula_30. Equivariance here means that


title: Tensor

text: When formula_27 is a tensor representation of the general linear group, this gives the usual definition of tensors as multidimensional arrays. This definition is often used to describe tensors on manifolds, and readily generalizes to other groups.


title: Tensor

text: A downside to the definition of a tensor using the multidimensional array approach is that it is not apparent from the definition that the defined object is indeed basis independent, as is expected from an intrinsically geometric object. Although it is possible to show that transformation laws indeed ensure independence from the basis, sometimes a more intrinsic definition is preferred. One approach that is common in differential geometry is to define tensors relative to a fixed (finite-dimensional) vector space "V", which is usually taken to be a particular vector space of some geometrical significance like the tangent space to a manifold. In this approach, a type tensor "T" is defined as a multilinear map,


title: Tensor

text: where "V" is the corresponding dual space of covectors, which is linear in each of its arguments. The above assumes "V" is a vector space over the real numbers, ℝ. More generally, "V" can be taken over any field "F" (e.g. the complex numbers), with "F" replacing ℝ as the codomain of the multilinear maps.


title: Tensor

text: By applying a multilinear map "T" of type to a basis {e} for "V" and a canonical cobasis {ε} for "V",


title: Tensor

text: a -dimensional array of components can be obtained. A different choice of basis will yield different components. But, because "T" is linear in all of its arguments, the components satisfy the tensor transformation law used in the multilinear array definition. The multidimensional array of components of "T" thus form a tensor according to that definition. Moreover, such an array can be realized as the components of some multilinear map "T". This motivates viewing multilinear maps as the intrinsic objects underlying tensors.


title: Tensor

text: In viewing a tensor as a multilinear map, it is conventional to identify the double dual "V" of the vector space "V", i.e., the space of linear functionals on the dual vector space "V", with the vector space "V". There is always a natural linear map from "V" to its double dual, given by evaluating a linear form in "V" against a vector in "V". This linear mapping is an isomorphism in finite dimensions, and it is often then expedient to identify "V" with its double dual.


title: Tensor

text: For some mathematical applications, a more abstract approach is sometimes useful. This can be achieved by defining tensors in terms of elements of tensor products of vector spaces, which in turn are defined through a universal property as explained here and here.


title: Tensor

text: A basis of and basis of naturally induce a basis of the tensor product . The components of a tensor are the coefficients of the tensor with respect to the basis obtained from a basis for and its dual basis , i.e.


title: Tensor

text: Using the properties of the tensor product, it can be shown that these components satisfy the transformation law for a type tensor. Moreover, the universal property of the tensor product gives a one-to-one correspondence between tensors defined in this way and tensors defined as multilinear maps.


title: Tensor

text: This 1 to 1 correspondence can be archived the following way, because in the finite dimensional case there exists a canonical isomorphism between a vectorspace and its double dual:


title: Tensor

text: The last line is using the universal property of the tensor product, that there is a 1 to 1 correspondence between maps from formula_38 and formula_39.


title: Tensor

text: Tensor products can be defined in great generality – for example, involving arbitrary modules over a ring. In principle, one could define a "tensor" simply to be an element of any tensor product. However, the mathematics literature usually reserves the term "tensor" for an element of a tensor product of any number of copies of a single vector space and its dual, as above.


title: Tensor

text: This discussion of tensors so far assumes finite dimensionality of the spaces involved, where the spaces of tensors obtained by each of these constructions are naturally isomorphic. Constructions of spaces of tensors based on the tensor product and multilinear mappings can be generalized, essentially without modification, to vector bundles or coherent sheaves. For infinite-dimensional vector spaces, inequivalent topologies lead to inequivalent notions of tensor, and these various isomorphisms may or may not hold depending on what exactly is meant by a tensor (see topological tensor product). In some applications, it is the tensor product of Hilbert spaces that is intended, whose properties are the most similar to the finite-dimensional case. A more modern view is that it is the tensors' structure as a symmetric monoidal category that encodes their most important properties, rather than the specific models of those categories.


title: Tensor

text: In many applications, especially in differential geometry and physics, it is natural to consider a tensor with components that are functions of the point in a space. This was the setting of Ricci's original work. In modern mathematical terminology such an object is called a tensor field, often referred to simply as a tensor.


title: Tensor

text: In this context, a coordinate basis is often chosen for the tangent vector space. The transformation law may then be expressed in terms of partial derivatives of the coordinate functions,


title: Tensor

text: An elementary example of a mapping describable as a tensor is the dot product, which maps two vectors to a scalar. A more complex example is the Cauchy stress tensor T, which takes a directional unit vector v as input and maps it to the stress vector T, which is the force (per unit area) exerted by material on the negative side of the plane orthogonal to v against the material on the positive side of the plane, thus expressing a relationship between these two vectors, shown in the figure (right). The cross product, where two vectors are mapped to a third one, is strictly speaking not a tensor because it changes its sign under those transformations that change the orientation of the coordinate system. The totally anti-symmetric symbol formula_42 nevertheless allows a convenient handling of the cross product in equally oriented three dimensional coordinate systems.


title: Tensor

text: This table shows important examples of tensors on vector spaces and tensor fields on manifolds. The tensors are classified according to their type , where "n" is the number of contravariant indices, "m" is the number of covariant indices, and gives the total order of the tensor. For example, a bilinear form is the same thing as a -tensor; an inner product is an example of a -tensor, but not all -tensors are inner products. In the -entry of the table, "M" denotes the dimensionality of the underlying vector space or manifold because for each dimension of the space, a separate index is needed to select that dimension to get a maximally covariant antisymmetric tensor.


title: Tensor

text: Raising an index on an -tensor produces an -tensor; this corresponds to moving diagonally down and to the left on the table. Symmetrically, lowering an index corresponds to moving diagonally up and to the right on the table. Contraction of an upper with a lower index of an -tensor produces an -tensor; this corresponds to moving diagonally up and to the left on the table.


title: Tensor

text: Assuming a basis of a real vector space, e.g., a coordinate frame in the ambient space, a tensor can be represented as an organized multidimensional array of numerical values with respect to this specific basis. Changing the basis transforms the values in the array in a characteristic way that allows to "define" tensors as objects adhering to this transformational behavior. For example, there are invariants of tensors that must be preserved under any change of the basis, thereby making only certain multidimensional arrays of numbers a tensor. Compare this to the array representing formula_43 not being a tensor, for the sign change under transformations changing the orientation.


title: Tensor

text: Because the components of vectors and their duals transform differently under the change of their dual bases, there is a covariant and/or contravariant transformation law that relates the arrays, which represent the tensor with respect to one basis and that with respect to the other one. The numbers of, respectively, (contravariant indices) and dual (covariant indices) in the input and output of a tensor determine the "type" (or "valence") of the tensor, a pair of natural numbers , which determine the precise form of the transformation law. The "" of a tensor is the sum of these two numbers.


title: Tensor

text: The order (also "degree" or "") of a tensor is thus the sum of the orders of its arguments plus the order of the resulting tensor. This is also the dimensionality of the array of numbers needed to represent the tensor with respect to a specific basis, or equivalently, the number of indices needed to label each component in that array. For example, in a fixed basis, a standard linear map that maps a vector to a vector, is represented by a matrix (a 2-dimensional array), and therefore is a 2nd-order tensor. A simple vector can be represented as a 1-dimensional array, and is therefore a 1st-order tensor. Scalars are simple numbers and are thus 0th-order tensors. This way the tensor representing the scalar product, taking two vectors and resulting in a scalar has order , the same as the stress tensor, taking one vector and returning another . The mapping two vectors to one vector, would have order


title: Tensor

text: The collection of tensors on a vector space and its dual forms a tensor algebra, which allows products of arbitrary tensors. Simple applications of tensors of order , which can be represented as a square matrix, can be solved by clever arrangement of transposed vectors and by applying the rules of matrix multiplication, but the tensor product should not be confused with this.


title: Tensor

text: There are several notational systems that are used to describe tensors and perform calculations involving them.


title: Tensor

text: Ricci calculus is the modern formalism and notation for tensor indices: indicating inner and outer products, covariance and contravariance, summations of tensor components, symmetry and antisymmetry, and partial and covariant derivatives.


title: Tensor

text: The Einstein summation convention dispenses with writing summation signs, leaving the summation implicit. Any repeated index symbol is summed over: if the index is used twice in a given term of a tensor expression, it means that the term is to be summed for all . Several distinct pairs of indices may be summed this way.


title: Tensor

text: Penrose graphical notation is a diagrammatic notation which replaces the symbols for tensors with shapes, and their indices by lines and curves. It is independent of basis elements, and requires no symbols for the indices.


title: Tensor

text: The abstract index notation is a way to write tensors such that the indices are no longer thought of as numerical, but rather are indeterminates. This notation captures the expressiveness of indices and the basis-independence of index-free notation.


title: Tensor

text: A component-free treatment of tensors uses notation that emphasises that tensors do not rely on any basis, and is defined in terms of the tensor product of vector spaces.


title: Tensor

text: There are several operations on tensors that again produce a tensor. The linear nature of tensor implies that two tensors of the same type may be added together, and that tensors may be multiplied by a scalar with results analogous to the scaling of a vector. On components, these operations are simply performed component-wise. These operations do not change the type of the tensor; but there are also operations that produce a tensor of different type.


title: Tensor

text: The tensor product takes two tensors, "S" and "T", and produces a new tensor, , whose order is the sum of the orders of the original tensors. When described as multilinear maps, the tensor product simply multiplies the two tensors, i.e.


title: Tensor

text: which again produces a map that is linear in all its arguments. On components, the effect is to multiply the components of the two input tensors pairwise, i.e.


title: Tensor

text: Tensor contraction is an operation that reduces a type tensor to a type tensor, of which the trace is a special case. It thereby reduces the total order of a tensor by two. The operation is achieved by summing components for which one specified contravariant index is the same as one specified covariant index to produce a new component. Components for which those two indices are different are discarded. For example, a -tensor formula_46 can be contracted to a scalar through formula_47. Where the summation is again implied. When the -tensor is interpreted as a linear map, this operation is known as the trace.


title: Tensor

text: The contraction is often used in conjunction with the tensor product to contract an index from each tensor.


title: Tensor

text: The contraction can also be understood using the definition of a tensor as an element of a tensor product of copies of the space "V" with the space "V" by first decomposing the tensor into a linear combination of simple tensors, and then applying a factor from "V" to a factor from "V". For example, a tensor formula_48 can be written as a linear combination


title: Tensor

text: In a vector space with an inner product (also known as a metric) "g", the term contraction is used for removing two contravariant or two covariant indices by forming a trace with the metric tensor or its inverse. For example, a -tensor formula_51 can be contracted to a scalar through formula_52 (yet again assuming the summation convention).


title: Tensor

text: When a vector space is equipped with a nondegenerate bilinear form (or "metric tensor" as it is often called in this context), operations can be defined that convert a contravariant (upper) index into a covariant (lower) index and vice versa. A metric tensor is a (symmetric) (-tensor; it is thus possible to contract an upper index of a tensor with one of the lower indices of the metric tensor in the product. This produces a new tensor with the same index structure as the previous tensor, but with lower index generally shown in the same position of the contracted upper index. This operation is quite graphically known as "lowering an index".


title: Tensor

text: Conversely, the inverse operation can be defined, and is called "raising an index". This is equivalent to a similar contraction on the product with a -tensor. This "inverse metric tensor" has components that are the matrix inverse of those of the metric tensor.


title: Tensor

text: Important examples are provided by continuum mechanics. The stresses inside a solid body or fluid are described by a tensor field. The stress tensor and strain tensor are both second-order tensor fields, and are related in a general linear elastic material by a fourth-order elasticity tensor field. In detail, the tensor quantifying stress in a 3-dimensional solid object has components that can be conveniently represented as a 3 × 3 array. The three faces of a cube-shaped infinitesimal volume segment of the solid are each subject to some given force. The force's vector components are also three in number. Thus, 3 × 3, or 9 components are required to describe the stress at this cube-shaped infinitesimal segment. Within the bounds of this solid is a whole mass of varying stress quantities, each requiring 9 quantities to describe. Thus, a second-order tensor is needed.


title: Tensor

text: If a particular surface element inside the material is singled out, the material on one side of the surface will apply a force on the other side. In general, this force will not be orthogonal to the surface, but it will depend on the orientation of the surface in a linear manner. This is described by a tensor of type, in linear elasticity, or more precisely by a tensor field of type , since the stresses may vary from point to point.


title: Tensor

text: The concept of a tensor of order two is often conflated with that of a matrix. Tensors of higher order do however capture ideas important in science and engineering, as has been shown successively in numerous areas as they develop. This happens, for instance, in the field of computer vision, with the trifocal tensor generalizing the fundamental matrix.


title: Tensor

text: The field of nonlinear optics studies the changes to material polarization density under extreme electric fields. The polarization waves generated are related to the generating electric fields through the nonlinear susceptibility tensor. If the polarization P is not linearly proportional to the electric field E, the medium is termed "nonlinear". To a good approximation (for sufficiently weak fields, assuming no permanent dipole moments are present), P is given by a Taylor series in E whose coefficients are the nonlinear susceptibilities:


title: Tensor

text: Here formula_54 is the linear susceptibility, formula_55 gives the Pockels effect and second harmonic generation, and formula_56 gives the Kerr effect. This expansion shows the way higher-order tensors arise naturally in the subject matter.


title: Tensor

text: The vector spaces of a tensor product need not be the same, and sometimes the elements of such a more general tensor product are called "tensors". For example, an element of the tensor product space is a second-order "tensor" in this more general sense, and an order- tensor may likewise be defined as an element of a tensor product of different vector spaces. A type tensor, in the sense defined previously, is also a tensor of order in this more general sense. The concept of tensor product can be extended to arbitrary modules over a ring.


title: Tensor

text: The notion of a tensor can be generalized in a variety of ways to infinite dimensions. One, for instance, is via the tensor product of Hilbert spaces. Another way of generalizing the idea of tensor, common in nonlinear analysis, is via the multilinear maps definition where instead of using finite-dimensional vector spaces and their algebraic duals, one uses infinite-dimensional Banach spaces and their continuous dual. Tensors thus live naturally on Banach manifolds and Fréchet manifolds.


title: Tensor

text: Suppose that a homogeneous medium fills , so that the density of the medium is described by a single scalar value in . The mass, in kg, of a region is obtained by multiplying by the volume of the region , or equivalently integrating the constant over the region:


title: Tensor

text: where the Cartesian coordinates , , are measured in . If the units of length are changed into , then the numerical values of the coordinate functions must be rescaled by a factor of 100:


title: Tensor

text: The numerical value of the density must then also transform by to compensate, so that the numerical value of the mass in kg is still given by integral of formula_59. Thus formula_60 (in units of ).


title: Tensor

text: More generally, if the Cartesian coordinates , , undergo a linear transformation, then the numerical value of the density must change by a factor of the reciprocal of the absolute value of the determinant of the coordinate transformation, so that the integral remains invariant, by the change of variables formula for integration. Such a quantity that scales by the reciprocal of the absolute value of the determinant of the coordinate transition map is called a scalar density. To model a non-constant density, is a function of the variables , , (a scalar field), and under a curvilinear change of coordinates, it transforms by the reciprocal of the Jacobian of the coordinate change. For more on the intrinsic meaning, see "Density on a manifold".


title: Tensor

text: A tensor density transforms like a tensor under a coordinate change, except that it in addition picks up a factor of the absolute value of the determinant of the coordinate transition:


title: Tensor

text: Here is called the weight. In general, any tensor multiplied by a power of this function or its absolute value is called a tensor density, or a weighted tensor. An example of a tensor density is the current density of electromagnetism.


title: Tensor

text: Under an affine transformation of the coordinates, a tensor transforms by the linear part of the transformation itself (or its inverse) on each index. These come from the rational representations of the general linear group. But this is not quite the most general linear transformation law that such an object may have: tensor densities are non-rational, but are still semisimple representations. A further class of transformations come from the logarithmic representation of the general linear group, a reducible but not semisimple representation, consisting of an with the transformation law


title: Tensor

text: The transformation law for a tensor behaves as a functor on the category of admissible coordinate systems, under general linear transformations (or, other transformations within some class, such as local diffeomorphisms). This makes a tensor a special case of a geometrical object, in the technical sense that it is a function of the coordinate system transforming functorially under coordinate changes. Examples of objects obeying more general kinds of transformation laws are jets and, more generally still, natural bundles.


title: Tensor

text: When changing from one orthonormal basis (called a "frame") to another by a rotation, the components of a tensor transform by that same rotation. This transformation does not depend on the path taken through the space of frames. However, the space of frames is not simply connected (see orientation entanglement and plate trick): there are continuous paths in the space of frames with the same beginning and ending configurations that are not deformable one into the other. It is possible to attach an additional discrete invariant to each frame that incorporates this path dependence, and which turns out (locally) to have values of ±1. A spinor is an object that transforms like a tensor under rotations in the frame, apart from a possible sign that is determined by the value of this discrete invariant.


title: Tensor

text: Succinctly, spinors are elements of the spin representation of the rotation group, while tensors are elements of its tensor representations. Other classical groups have tensor representations, and so also tensors that are compatible with the group, but all non-compact classical groups have infinite-dimensional unitary representations as well.


title: Tensor

text: The concepts of later tensor analysis arose from the work of Carl Friedrich Gauss in differential geometry, and the formulation was much influenced by the theory of algebraic forms and invariants developed during the middle of the nineteenth century. The word "tensor" itself was introduced in 1846 by William Rowan Hamilton to describe something different from what is now meant by a tensor. Gibbs introduced Dyadics and Polyadic algebra, which are also tensors in the modern sense. The contemporary usage was introduced by Woldemar Voigt in 1898.


title: Tensor

text: Tensor calculus was developed around 1890 by Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro under the title "absolute differential calculus", and originally presented by Ricci-Curbastro in 1892. It was made accessible to many mathematicians by the publication of Ricci-Curbastro and Tullio Levi-Civita's 1900 classic text "Méthodes de calcul différentiel absolu et leurs applications" (Methods of absolute differential calculus and their applications). In Ricci's notation, he refers to "systems" with covariant and contravariant components, which are known as tensor fields in the modern sense.


title: Tensor

text: In the 20th century, the subject came to be known as "tensor analysis", and achieved broader acceptance with the introduction of Einstein's theory of general relativity, around 1915. General relativity is formulated completely in the language of tensors. Einstein had learned about them, with great difficulty, from the geometer Marcel Grossmann. Levi-Civita then initiated a correspondence with Einstein to correct mistakes Einstein had made in his use of tensor analysis. The correspondence lasted 1915–17, and was characterized by mutual respect:


title: Tensor

text: Tensors were also found to be useful in other fields such as continuum mechanics. Some well-known examples of tensors in differential geometry are quadratic forms such as metric tensors, and the Riemann curvature tensor. The exterior algebra of Hermann Grassmann, from the middle of the nineteenth century, is itself a tensor theory, and highly geometric, but it was some time before it was seen, with the theory of differential forms, as naturally unified with tensor calculus. The work of Élie Cartan made differential forms one of the basic kinds of tensors used in mathematics, and Hassler Whitney popularized the Tensor product.


title: Tensor

text: From about the 1920s onwards, it was realised that tensors play a basic role in algebraic topology (for example in the Künneth theorem). Correspondingly there are types of tensors at work in many branches of abstract algebra, particularly in homological algebra and representation theory. Multilinear algebra can be developed in greater generality than for scalars coming from a field. For example, scalars can come from a ring. But the theory is then less geometric and computations more technical and less algorithmic. Tensors are generalized within category theory by means of the concept of monoidal category, from the 1960s.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative and Christian media organizations, along with American conservative figures, are influential, and American conservatism is one of the majority political ideologies within the Republican Party.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: American social conservatives typically support what they consider Christian values, moral absolutism, traditional family values, and American exceptionalism, while opposing abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage. It favours economic individualism, and is generally pro-business and pro-capitalism, while supporting anti-communism and opposing labor unions. It often advocates a strong national defense, gun rights, free trade, and a defense of Western culture from perceived threats posed by both communism and moral relativism. Since the late 1990s, conservatives in the United States are substantially more likely than moderates and liberals to question science, specifically epidemiology, climate science, and evolution, and to believe in creationism.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: The history of American conservatism has been marked by tensions and competing ideologies. Fiscal conservatives and libertarians favor capitalism, individualism, limited government, and "laissez-faire" economics. They advocate low taxes, free markets, deregulation, privatization, and reduced government spending and government debt.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Social conservatives see traditional social values, often rooted in familialism and religion, as being threatened by secularism and moral relativism. They tend to support prayer in public schools and school vouchers for Christian schools, while opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgender rights.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Neoconservatives want to expand what they see as American ideals throughout the world. Paleoconservatives advocate restrictions on immigration, non-interventionist foreign policy, and opposition to multiculturalism. Most conservative factions nationwide, except some libertarians, support a unilateral foreign policy, and a strong military. Most, especially libertarians, support gun ownership rights, citing the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The conservative movement of the 1950s attempted to bring together these divergent strands, stressing the need for unity to prevent the spread of "godless communism."


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: American conservatives generally consider individual liberty—within the bounds of conservative values—as the fundamental trait of democracy. They typically believe in a balance between federal government and states' rights. Apart from some right-libertarians, American conservatives tend to favor strong action in areas they believe to be within government's legitimate jurisdiction, particularly national defense and law enforcement. Social conservatives—many of them religious—often oppose abortion, civil unions, and same-sex marriage. They often favor Christian prayer in public schools and government funding for private Christian schools.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Like most political ideologies in the United States, conservatism originates from republicanism, which rejects aristocratic and monarchical government and upholds the principles of the 1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence ("that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness") and of the U.S. Constitution, which established a federal republic under the rule of law. Conservative philosophy also derives in part from the classical liberal tradition of the 18th and 19th centuries, which advocated "laissez-faire" economics (i.e. economic freedom and deregulation).


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: While historians such as Patrick Allitt (born 1956) and political theorists such as Russell Kirk (1918–1994) assert that conservative principles have played a major role in U.S. politics and culture since 1776, they also argue that an organized conservative movement—with beliefs that differ from those of other American political parties—did not emerge in the U.S. until the 1950s. The recent movement conservatism has its base in the Republican Party, which has adopted conservative policies since the 1950s; Southern Democrats also became important early figures in the movement's history.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In 1937, conservative Republicans and Southern Democrats formed the congressional conservative coalition, which played an influential role in Congress from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s. In recent decades, Southern conservatives voted heavily Republican.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In the first 1955 issue of "National Review", William F. Buckley Jr. explained the standards of his magazine and helped make explicit the beliefs of American conservatives:


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: According to Peter Viereck, American conservatism is distinctive because it was not tied to a monarchy, landed aristocracy, established church, or military elite. Instead American conservatives were firmly rooted in American republicanism, which European conservatives opposed. They are committed, says Seymour Martin Lipset, to the belief in America's "superiority against the cold reactionary monarchical and more rigidly status-bound system of European society."


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In terms of governmental economic policies, American conservatives have been heavily influenced by the classical liberal or libertarian tradition as expressed by Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, and a major source of influence has been the Chicago school of economics. They have been strongly opposed to Keynesian economics.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Traditional (Burkean) conservatives tend to be anti-ideological, and some would even say anti-philosophical, promoting, as Russell Kirk explained, a steady flow of "prescription and prejudice". Kirk's use of the word "prejudice" here is not intended to carry its contemporary pejorative connotation: a conservative himself, he believed that the inherited wisdom of the ages may be a better guide than apparently rational individual judgment.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Through much of the 20th century, a primary force uniting the varied strands of conservatism, and uniting conservatives with liberals and socialists, was opposition to communism, which was seen not only as an enemy of the traditional order but also the enemy of Western freedom and democracy. It was the Labour government in the United Kingdom—which embraced socialism—that pushed the Truman administration in 1945–1947 to take a strong stand against Soviet Communism.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Social conservatism in the United States is the defense of traditional family values rooted in Judeo-Christian ethics.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: There are two overlapping subgroups of social conservatives: the traditional and the religious. Traditional conservatives strongly support traditional codes of conduct, especially those they feel are threatened by social change and modernization. For example, traditional conservatives may oppose the use of female soldiers in combat. Religious conservatives focus on conducting society as prescribed by fundamentalist religious authorities, rejecting secularism and moral relativism. In the United States, this translates into hard-line stances on moral issues, such as opposition to abortion, homosexuality, transsexuality, feminism, pornography, comprehensive sex education, and recreational drug use. Religious conservatives often assert that America is a Christian nation, calling for laws that enforce Christian morality. They often support school prayer, vouchers for Christian schools, and creationism.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Social conservatives are strongest in the South and in recent years played a major role in the political coalitions of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Fiscal conservatism has ideological roots in capitalism, individualism, limited government, free enterprise, and "laissez-faire" economics. Fiscal conservatives support tax cuts, reduced government spending, free markets, deregulation, privatization, free trade, minimal government debt, and a balanced budget. They argue that low taxes produce more jobs and wealth for everyone, and, as President Grover Cleveland said, "unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation". A recent movement against the inheritance tax labels such a tax as a death tax. Fiscal conservatives often argue that competition in the free market is more effective than the regulation of industry. Some make exceptions in the case of trusts or monopolies. Others, such as some libertarians and followers of Ludwig von Mises, believe all government intervention in the economy is wasteful, corrupt, and immoral. More moderate fiscal conservatives argue that "free market economics" is the most efficient way to promote economic growth.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Fiscal conservatism advocates restraint of progressive taxation and expenditure. Fiscal conservatives since the 19th century have argued that debt is a device to corrupt politics; they argue that big spending ruins the morals of the people, and that a national debt creates a dangerous class of speculators. A political strategy employed by conservatives to achieve a smaller government is known as starve the beast. Activist Grover Norquist is a well-known proponent of the strategy and has famously said, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." The argument in favor of balanced budgets is often coupled with a belief that government welfare programs should be narrowly tailored and that tax rates should be low, which implies relatively small government institutions.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Neoconservatism emphasizes foreign policy over domestic policy. Its supporters, mainly war hawks, advocate a more militaristic, interventionist foreign policy aimed at promoting democracy abroad, which stands in stark contrast to the left's more pacifist, isolationist foreign policy. Neoconservatives often name communism and Islamism as the biggest threats to the free world. They often oppose the United Nations for interfering with American unilateralism.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: National conservatism focuses on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives strongly identify with American nationalism, patriotism, and American exceptionalism, while opposing internationalism, globalism, and multiculturalism. The movement seeks to promote national interests through the preservation of traditional cultural values, restrictions on illegal immigration, and strict law and order policies.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In the United States today, "conservative" is often used very differently from the way it is used in Europe and Asia. Following the American Revolution, Americans rejected the core ideals of European conservatism; those ideals were based on the landed aristocracy, established churches, and powerful armies. Conservatism in the United States is not a single school of thought. Barry Goldwater in the 1960s spoke for a "free enterprise" conservatism. Jerry Falwell in the 1980s preached traditional moral and religious social values. It was Ronald Reagan's challenge to form these groups into an electable coalition.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In the United States, there has never been a national political party called the Conservative Party. Since 1962, there has been a small Conservative Party of New York State. During Reconstruction in several states in the South in the late 1860s, the former Whigs formed a Conservative Party. They soon merged it into the state Democratic parties.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: All of the major American political parties support republicanism and the basic classical liberal ideals on which the country was founded in 1776, emphasizing liberty, the rule of law, the consent of the governed, and that all men were created equal. Political divisions inside the United States often seemed minor or trivial to Europeans, where the divide between the Left and the Right led to violent polarization, starting with the French Revolution.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Historian Patrick Allitt expresses the difference between liberal and conservative in terms not of policy but of attitude:


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Certain continuities can be traced through American history. The conservative 'attitude' ... was one of trusting to the past, to long-established patterns of thought and conduct, and of assuming that novelties were more likely to be dangerous than advantageous.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: No American party has advocated European ideals of "conservatism" such as a monarchy, an established church, or a hereditary aristocracy. American conservatism is best characterized as a reaction against utopian ideas of progress. Russell Kirk saw the American Revolution itself as "a conservative reaction, in the English political tradition, against royal innovation".


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Political conservatives have emphasized an identification with the Founding Fathers of the United States and the U.S. Constitution. Scholars of conservative political thought "generally label John Adams as the intellectual father of "American" conservatism." Russell Kirk points to Adams as the key Founding Father for conservatives, saying that "some writers regard him as America's most important conservative public man." Clinton Rossiter writes:


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: A. Owen Aldridge places Adams, "At the head of the conservative ranks in the early years of the Republic and Jefferson as the leader of the contrary liberal current." It was a fundamental doctrine for Adams that all men are subject to equal laws of morality. He held that in society all men have a right to equal laws and equal treatment from the government. However, he added, "no two men are perfectly equal in person, property, understanding, activity, and virtue." Peter Viereck commented:


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Hamilton, Adams, and their Federalist party sought to establish in the new world what they called a "natural aristocracy." [It was to be] based on property, education, family status, and sense of ethical responsibility. ... Their motive was liberty itself.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Historian Kathleen G. Donohue argues that classical liberalism in the United States during the 19th century had distinctive characteristics as opposed to Britain:


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: [A]t the center of classical liberal theory [in Europe] was the idea of "laissez-faire". To the vast majority of American classical liberals, however, "laissez-faire" did not mean no government intervention at all. On the contrary, they were more than willing to see government provide tariffs, railroad subsidies, and internal improvements, all of which benefited producers. What they condemned was intervention in behalf of consumers.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Insofar as it is ideological, economic liberalism owes its creation to the classical liberal tradition in the vein of Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Ludwig von Mises. Classical liberals supported free markets on moral, ideological grounds: principles of individual liberty morally dictate support for free markets. Supporters of the moral grounds for free markets include Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises. The liberal tradition is suspicious of government authority and prefers individual choice, and hence tends to see free market capitalism as the preferable means of achieving economic ends.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Economic liberalism borrows from two schools of thought: the classical liberals' pragmatism and the libertarians' notion of "rights." The classical liberal maintains that free markets work best, while the libertarian contends that free markets are the only ethical markets. A belief in the importance of the civil society is another reason why conservatives support a smaller role for the government in the economy. As noted by Alexis de Tocqueville, there is a belief that a bigger role of the government in the economy will make people feel less responsible for the society. These responsibilities would then need to be taken over by the government, requiring higher taxes. In his book "Democracy in America", Tocqueville described this as "soft oppression".


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: There have been numerous large veterans organizations in American history, most notably the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the American Legion. They have generally tended to be conservative in politics, with an emphasis on veterans' benefits. The GAR, according to Stuart McConnell, promoted, "a nationalism that honored white, native-stock, middle-class males and ...affirmed a prewar ideal of a virtuous, millennial Republic, based on the independent producer, entrepreneurial capitalism, and the citizen-soldier volunteer." Political conservatism has been an important aspect of the American Legion since its founding in the 1920s. The American Legion always paid very close attention to domestic subversion, especially the threat of domestic communism. However, it paid little attention to foreign affairs before 1945. It ignored the League of Nations. It was hostile to the Washington Naval Conference of 1921 that rolled back the naval arms race in the 1920s. Pacifism was popular in the 1920s, and Legion locals ridiculed it and sometimes booed the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. During World War II, it accepted the wartime alliance with Stalin against Nazi Germany. As the Cold War emerged in 1946–1947, the Legion paid increasing attention to an anti-Soviet foreign policy. Its Counter-Subversive Activities Committee in 1946 began publishing the "American Legion Firing Line," a newsletter for members which provides information on communist, fascist, and other extremist groups to its subscribers. It warned members against far-right groups such as the John Birch Society and antisemitic groups. By the late 1950s, the newsletter became much more interested in foreign affairs.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: The Legion's policy resolutions endorsed large-scale defense spending and the deployment of powerful new weapon systems from the hydrogen bomb in the 1950s to Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative in the 1980s. Harry S. Truman was the first Legionnaire to occupy the White House, but he came under Legion attack for waging a limited war in Korea and not following the advice of General Douglas MacArthur in attacking China. By 1961, the Legion outright rejected the policy of containment, and called for the liberation of the captive peoples in Eastern Europe. The Legion publications typically hailed Barry Goldwater, a member, as a political role model, but like Goldwater and William F. Buckley, they rejected the extremism of the John Birch Society. The Legion supported increased intervention in Vietnam and support of anti-Communist forces in Central America and Afghanistan. The Legion never saw much benefit in the United Nations, and like other conservatives worried about a loss of American sovereignty to international bodies. The collapse of Soviet-style communism in Eastern Europe and in Russia itself saw the American Legion looking to new venues for militaristic action. Thus, it praised President George H.W. Bush's intervention in Kuwait against Iraq in 1990. After 9–11, it vigorously endorsed President George W. Bush's strategy of a global war on terror, and it supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In 1962, the Supreme Court Engel v. Vitale decision banned state-written prayers in public schools. White evangelicals mostly supported that decision. However, they saw the 1963 Abington School District v. Schempp decision to ban school-sponsored Bible reading and school-organized praying of the Lord's Prayer from those schools as an affront. The Supreme Court ruled that prayer organized by the school was not voluntary since students were coerced or publicly embarrassed if they did not follow along. Nevertheless, the conservatives continued to call for voluntary school prayer, which is already protected under law, and repeatedly attacked the Supreme Court on this issue and on other issues, especially abortion. The evangelicals had long been avid supporters of the public schools. Now they had to reconsider their place in both schools and society as a whole. They concluded with surprising unanimity that those school decisions had done more than forced evangelical belief out of America's public schools; the decisions had pushed evangelicals themselves out of America's mainstream culture. Alienated, they moved into the religious right and by 1980 were avid supporters of Ronald Reagan.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: The archetypal free market conservative administrations of the late 20th century—the Margaret Thatcher government in Britain and the Ronald Reagan administration in the U.S.—both held unfettered operation of the market to be the cornerstone of contemporary modern conservatism. To that end, Thatcher privatized industries and public housing, and Reagan cut the maximum capital gains tax from 28% to 20%, though in his second term he agreed to raise it back up to 28%. Reagan also cut individual income-tax rates, lowering the maximum rate from 70% to 28%. He increased defense spending, but liberal Democrats blocked his efforts to cut domestic spending. Reagan did not control the rapid increase in federal government spending or reduce the deficit, but his record looks better when expressed as a percent of the gross domestic product. Federal revenues as a percent of the GDP fell from 19.6% in 1981 when Reagan took office to 18.3% in 1989 when he left. Federal spending fell slightly from 22.2% of the GDP to 21.2%. This contrasts with statistics from 2004, when government spending was rising more rapidly than it had in decades.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: President Ronald Reagan set the conservative standard in the 1980s. By the 2010s, the Republican leaders typically claimed fealty to it. For example, most of the Republican candidates in 2012 "claimed to be standard bearers of Reagan's ideological legacy". Reagan solidified Republican strength by uniting its fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, and national conservatives into a conservative coalition. He did so with tax cuts, continued deregulation, a greatly increased military budget, a policy of rollback of Communism (as opposed to just containing it), and appeals to family values and religious morality. The 1980s and beyond became known as the Reagan Era. Typically, conservative politicians and spokesmen in the 21st century proclaim their devotion to Reagan's ideals and policies on most social, economic, and foreign policy issues.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Many modern conservatives oppose environmentalism. Conservative beliefs often include global warming denial and opposition towards government action to combat it, which conservatives contend would do severe economic damage and ultimately more harm than good even if one accepts the premise that human activity is contributing to climate change. Some conservatives, such as former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, promote using nuclear fission power over renewable energy sources. Among conservatives who do support government intervention to prevent climate change, they generally prefer market-based policies such as a carbon tax over blanket bans and regulation.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In the past, conservatives have supported conservation efforts, from the protection of the Yosemite Valley, to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. However, more recently, conservatives have opposed environmentalism, often ridiculing environmentalists as "tree huggers". Republican Party leaders such as Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann advocate the abolition of the EPA, calling it "the job-killing organization of America."


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservative think tanks since the 1990s have opposed the concept of man-made global warming; challenged scientific evidence; publicized what they perceived as beneficial aspects of global warming, and asserted that proposed remedies would do more harm than good. The concept of anthropogenic global warming continues to be an ongoing debate among conservatives in the United States, but most conservatives reject the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by humans. A 2019 poll showed that fewer than 25% of Republicans believed humans were involved in causing global warming.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: American conservatives have generally supported deregulation of pollution and reduced restrictions on carbon emissions. Similarly, they have advocated increased oil drilling with less regulatory interference, including oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In the 2008 election, the phrase, "Drill baby drill" was used to express the Republican position on the subject.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: President Donald Trump rolled back over 100 Obama-administration rules regarding the environment. President Trump also announced that the U.S. would stop making payments to the United Nations program "Green Climate Fund".


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservatives support a strong policy of law and order to control crime, including long jail terms for repeat offenders. Most support the death penalty for particularly egregious crimes. Conservatives often oppose criminal justice reform, including efforts to combat racial profiling, police brutality, mass incarceration, and the War on drugs. They deny that racism exists in the criminal justice system, often opposing organizations such as Black Lives Matter, which they view as anti-police groups. To conservatives, police officers are reacting to violent situations in a rational way, and have been the victims of unfair discrimination. The "law and order" issue was a major factor weakening liberalism in the 1960s. Conservatives generally advocate the use of American military power to fight terrorists and promote democracy in the Middle East.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservative discourse generally opposes social market economy due to the welfare state reliance on social policies to protect its citizens. In this view, government programs that seek to provide services and opportunities for the poor actually encourage laziness and dependence while reducing self-reliance and personal responsibility. Conservatives typically hold that the government should play a smaller role in regulating business and managing the economy. They typically support economic liberalization and oppose welfare programs to redistribute income to assist the poor. Such efforts, they argue, do not properly reward people who have earned their money through hard work. However, conservatives usually place a strong emphasis on the role of private voluntary charitable organizations (especially faith-based charities) in helping the poor.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Fiscal conservatives support privatization, believing that the private sector is more effective than the public sector. Many support school vouchers for private schools, denouncing the declining performance of the public school system and teachers' unions. They also favor private health care while opposing a universal health care system, claiming it constitutes socialized medicine. They have a long history of opposing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Modern conservatives derive support for free markets from practical grounds. They argue that free markets are the most productive markets. The support is not moral or ideological, but built upon the Burkean notion of prescription: what works best is what is right. Many modern American fiscal conservatives accept some social spending programs not specifically delineated in the Constitution. However, some American fiscal conservatives view wider social liberalism as an impetus for increased spending on these programs. As such, fiscal conservatism today exists somewhere between classical liberalism and contemporary consequentialist political philosophies.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: On the other hand, some conservatives tend to oppose free market trade policies and support protectionism instead. They want government intervention to support the economy and protect American jobs. They oppose free trade on the ground that it benefits other countries at the expense of American workers. However, in spite of their support for protectionism, they tend to support other free market principles like low taxes, limited government and balanced budgets.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: On social issues, many religious conservatives oppose changes in traditional moral standards regarding family, sexuality, and gender roles. They often oppose abortion, feminism, pornography, comprehensive sex education, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, civil unions, transgender rights, secularism, atheism, and recreational drug use. The libertarian faction tends to ignore these issues, instead focusing on fiscal and monetary policy. Business-oriented conservatives oppose the social conservatives if state laws limiting gay rights threaten to hurt business. The "National Review" reported in 2016 that, "as evangelical forces have become less unified...the influence of Right-leaning business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce has only grown."


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Modern conservatives usually oppose anti-racist programs, believing that racism does not exist in a modern post-racial America. They therefore argue that legislation should be colorblind, with no consideration for race. Conservatives often embrace individualism, rejecting the collectivism associated with identity politics. In addition, many right wing nationalists oppose any attempts by liberals to portray America's history, society, or government as racist, considering it unpatriotic. This has been particularly contentious as racial tensions have intensified since the 2010s, particularly during the Presidency of Donald Trump.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Most conservatives oppose affirmative action on the basis of race. Conservatives argue that affirmative action is not meritocratic, believing that job positions and college admissions should be earned through individual achievement rather than group identity. They oppose it as "reverse discrimination" that hinders reconciliation and worsens racial tensions.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In the culture war of recent decades, multiculturalism has been a flashpoint, especially regarding the humanities curriculum. Historian Peter N. Stearns finds a polarization since the 1960s between conservatives who believe that the humanities express eternal truths that should be taught, and those who think that the humanities curriculum should be tailored to demonstrate diversity. Generally conservatism opposes the "identity politics" associated with multiculturalism, and supports individualism. In campus battles, progressives demand "cultural diversity" while conservatives denounce efforts to impose "political correctness" and stifle free speech.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Cultural conservatives support monoculturalism and the preservation of traditional American culture. They often oppose multiculturalism and unchecked immigration. They favor a melting pot model of assimilation into the common English-speaking American culture, as opposed to a salad bowl approach that lends legitimacy to many different cultures. In the 21st century, conservatives have warned on the dangers of tolerating radical Islamic elements, of the sort that they say are engaging in large-scale terrorism in Europe.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservative commentator Ross Douthat argues that as liberalism becomes more dominant, conservatism should work to conserve basic values against liberal assault. In 2021, he writes:


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservatism-under-liberalism should defend human goods that are threatened by liberal ideas taken to extremes. The family, when liberal freedom becomes a corrosive hyper-individualism. Traditional religion, when liberal toleration becomes a militant and superstitious secularism. Local community and local knowledge, against expert certainty and bureaucratic centralization. Artistic and intellectual greatness, when democratic taste turns philistine or liberal intellectuals become apparatchiks. The individual talent of the entrepreneur or businessman, against the leveling impulses of egalitarianism and the stultifying power of monopoly.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: According to a 2014 Gallup poll, 38% of American voters identify as "conservative" or "very conservative", 34% as "moderate", and 24% as "liberal" or "very liberal". These percentages were fairly constant from 1990 to 2009, when conservatism spiked in popularity briefly, before reverting to the original trend, while liberal views on social issues reached a new high. For Republicans, 70% self-identified as conservative, 24% as moderate, and 5% as liberal. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 14% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters identify as conservative or very conservative, 38% identify as moderate, and 47% identify as liberal or very liberal.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservatism appears to be growing stronger at the state level. According to "The Atlantic" writer Richard Florida. The trend is most pronounced among the "least well-off, least educated, most blue collar, most economically hard-hit states."


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In the United States, the Republican Party has been the party of conservatism since 1964, when the conservatives largely took control. Meanwhile, the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, based in the South and strongly opposed to the civil rights movement, grew weaker. The most dramatic realignment took place within the White South, which moved from 3–1 Democratic to 3–1 Republican between 1960 and 2000.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In addition, some American libertarians, in the Libertarian Party and even some in the Republican Party, see themselves as conservative, even though they advocate significant economic and social changes—for instance, further dismantling the welfare system or liberalizing drug policy. They see these as conservative policies because they conform to the spirit of individual liberty that they consider to be a traditional American value. However, many libertarian think-tanks such as the Cato Institute, and libertarian intellectuals such as David Boaz describe libertarianism as being "socially liberal and fiscally conservative."


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: The South, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountain states, and Alaska are generally conservative strongholds (in Mississippi, for instance, half of respondents identified themselves as conservatives, as opposed to moderates and liberals). The Northeast, West Coast and Hawaii are the main liberal strongholds (with the fraction of Massachusetts self-identified conservatives being as small as 21%). In the 21st century, rural areas of the United States (blue-collar, evangelical, older than other areas of the U.S., and predominantly white) are generally conservative bastions. Voters in the urban cores of large metropolitan areas tend to be more liberal and Democratic. Thus, there is a division between urban, suburban, exurban, and rural areas within each state.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Kirk said that Christianity and Western civilization are "unimaginable apart from one another" and that "all culture arises out of religion. When religious faith decays, culture must decline, though often seeming to flourish for a space after the religion which has nourished it has sunk into disbelief."


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: In later works, Kirk expanded this list into his "Ten Principles of Conservatism" which are as follows:


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: One stream of conservatism exemplified by William Howard Taft extols independent judges as experts in fairness and the final arbiters of the Constitution. In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt broke with most of his lawyer friends and called for popular votes that could overturn unwelcome decisions by state courts. Taft denounced his old friend and rallied conservatives to defeat him for the 1912 GOP nomination. Taft and the conservative Republicans controlled the Supreme Court until the late 1930s.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a liberal Democrat, did not attack the Supreme Court directly in 1937, but ignited a firestorm of protest by a proposal to add seven new justices. Conservative Democrats immediately broke with President Roosevelt, defeated his proposal, and built up the conservative coalition. While the liberals did take over the Court through replacements, they lost control of Congress. That is, the Court no longer overthrew liberal laws passed by Congress, but there were very few such laws that passed in 1937–60.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: Conservatives' views of the courts are based on their beliefs: maintaining the present state of affairs, conventional and rule-oriented, and disapproval of government power. A recent variant of conservatism condemns "judicial activism"; that is, judges using their decisions to control policy, along the lines of the Warren Court in the 1960s. It came under conservative attack for decisions regarding redistricting, desegregation, and the rights of those accused of crimes. This position goes back to Jefferson's vehement attacks on federal judges and to Abraham Lincoln's attacks on the Dred Scott decision of 1857.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: A more recent variant that emerged in the 1980s is originalism, the assertion that the United States Constitution should be interpreted to the maximum extent possible in the light of what it meant when it was adopted. Originalism should not be confused with a similar conservative ideology, strict constructionism, which deals with the interpretation of the Constitution as written, but not necessarily within the context of the time when it was adopted. In modern times, the term originalism has been used by Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, former federal judge Robert Bork and some other conservative jurists to explain their beliefs.


title: Conservatism in the United States

text: According to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor writing for the majority in Gregory v. Ashcroft 501 U.S. 452 (1991), there are significant advantages to federalism and the recognition of state rights: