Conservative liberalism

Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern conservative liberalism, scholars sometimes see it as a more positive and less radical variant of classical liberalism; it is also referred to as an individual tradition that distinguishes it from classical liberalism and social liberalism. Conservative liberal parties tend to combine economically liberal policies with more traditional stances and personal beliefs on social and ethical issues. Ordoliberalism is a influential component of conservative-liberal thought, particularly in its German, British, French, Italian, and American manifestations.
In general, liberal conservatism and conservative liberalism have different philosophical roots. Historically, liberal conservatism refers mainly to the case where conservatives embrace the elements of classical liberalism, and conservative liberalism refers to classical liberals who support a laissez-faire economy as well as socially conservative principles (for instance, Christian family values). Since classical liberal institutions were gradually accepted by conservatives, there is very little to distinguish liberal conservatives from conservative liberals. Neoconservatism has also been identified as an ideological relative or twin to conservative liberalism, and some similarities exist also between conservative liberalism and national liberalism.
Overview
Conservative liberalism emerged in late 18th-century France and United Kingdom, when the moderate bourgeoisie supported the monarchy within the liberal camp. Representatively, Doctrinaires, which existed during the Bourbon Restoration was a representative conservative-liberal party. Radicalism, the leftward flank of liberalism during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that is referred to as classical radicalism, emerged as an opposition against the moderateness of these conservative liberals. Whiggism, or Whig liberalism, in the United Kingdom also forms early conservative liberalism and is distinguished from the Radicals (radical liberalism).
According to Robert Kraynak, a professor at Colgate University, rather than "following progressive liberalism (i.e. social liberalism), conservative liberals draw upon pre-modern sources, such as classical philosophy (with its ideas of virtue, the common good, and natural rights), Christianity (with its ideas of natural law, the social nature of man, and original sin), and ancient institutions (such as common law, corporate bodies, and social hierarchies). This gives their liberalism a conservative foundation. It means following Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Edmund Burke rather than Locke or Kant; it usually includes a deep sympathy for the politics of the Greek polis, the Roman Republic, and Christian monarchies. But, as realists, conservative liberals acknowledge that classical and medieval politics cannot be restored in the modern world. And, as moralists, they see that the modern experiment in liberty and self-government has the positive effect of enhancing human dignity as well as providing an opening (even in the midst of mass culture) for transcendent longings for eternity. At its practical best, conservative liberalism promotes ordered liberty under God and establishes constitutional safeguards against tyranny. It shows that a regime of liberty based on traditional morality and classical-Christian culture is an achievement we can be proud of, rather than merely defensive about, as trustees of Western civilization."
In the European context, conservative liberalism should not be confused with liberal conservatism, which is a variant of conservatism combining conservative views with liberal policies in regards to the economy, social and ethical issues. The roots of conservative liberalism are to be found at the beginning of the history of liberalism. Until the two world wars, the political class in most European countries from Germany to Italy was formed by conservative liberals. The events such as World War I occurring after 1917 brought the more radical version of classical liberalism to a more conservative (i.e. more moderate) type of liberalism. Conservative liberal parties have tended to develop in those European countries where there was no strong secular conservative party and where the separation of church and state was less of an issue. In those countries, where the conservative parties were Christian democratic, this conservative brand of liberalism developed.
Political stance
Conservative liberalism is generally a liberal ideology that contrasts with social liberalism. Conservative liberalism, along with social liberalism and classical liberalism, is mentioned as the main liberal ideology of European politics. While there are conservative liberals who are located on the right-wing political position, liberal conservatism is often used to describe liberalism close to the political centre to the centre-right of the political spectrum.
Social, classical and conservative liberalism
Social liberalism is a combination of economic Keynesianism and cultural liberalism. Classical liberalism is economic liberalism that partially embraces cultural liberalism. Conservative liberalism is an ideology that highlights the conservative aspect of liberalism, so it can appear in a somewhat different form depending on the local reality. Conservative liberalism refers to ideologies that show relatively conservative tendencies within the liberal camp, so it has some relative meaning. In the United States, conservative liberals mean de facto classical liberals; in Europe, Christian democrats and ordoliberals can also be included. Christian democracy is a mainstream European conservative ideology, so there are cases where it supports free markets, such as Röpke.
By country
France
Alexis de Tocqueville and Adolphe Thiers were representative French conservative liberals. They were classified as centre-left liberals (progressive-Orléanists) during the July monarchy alone; after the French Revolution of 1848, the now French Second Republic entered and they were relegated to conservative liberals.
Germany
Prior to World War II, conservative liberalism or right-liberalism was often used in a similar sense to national-liberalism. National Liberal Party during the German Empire and German People's Party during the Weimar Republic are representative. "Right-liberalism" and "national liberalism" are used in similar meanings in Germany. According to the German Wikipedia, most of the national liberals during the Weimar Republic joined the CDU, a liberal-conservative party. For this reason, the terms "conservative liberalism" are not often used in Germany.
Ordoliberalism is more a variant of conservative liberalism than classical liberalism, which is economic liberalism that embraces cultural liberalism, or social liberalism, in principle because it is influenced by the notion of social justice based on traditional Catholic teachings. After the war, Germany pursued economic growth based on the social market economy, which is deeply related to ordoliberalism.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Edmund Burke have been identified as conservative liberals.
United States
In the United States, liberal usually refers to a social liberal form. As such, those referred to as conservative liberals in Europe are often simply referred to as conservatives in the United States. Milton Friedman and Irving Kristol are mentioned as representative conservative liberal scholars.
Harry S. Truman is considered a conservative-liberal or national-liberal, although he supported Keynesian economic policies. The former president Franklin D. Roosevelt supported the socially liberal agenda and was conciliatory to the Soviet Union, a member of the Allies of World War II. As the U.S. president in the aftermath of World War II and the start of the Cold War, Truman supported a more moderate social policy and was a strong anti-communist.
Political scientists evaluate all politicians in the United States as liberals in the academic sense. In general, rather than the Democratic Party, which is close to social liberalism, the Republican Party is evaluated as a conservative-liberal party. In the case of the Democratic Party, the Blue Dog Coalition is evaluated as close to conservative-liberal in fiscal policy, and as moderate to liberal on cultural issues. Unlike classical liberals, conservative liberals in Europe, such as Finland's Centre Party, sometimes criticize cultural liberalism.
American neoconservatives might be classified as conservative liberals according to Peter Lawler, a professor at Berry College, who argued:
[I]n America today, responsible liberals—who are usually called neoconservatives—see that liberalism depends on human beings who are somewhat child-centered, patriotic, and religious. These responsible liberals praise these non-individualistic human propensities in an effort to shore up liberalism. One of their slogans is "conservative sociology with liberal politics." The neoconservatives recognize that the politics of free and rational individuals depends upon a pre-political social world that is far from free and rational as a whole.
Notable thinkers
David Hume (1711–1776)
Adam Smith (1723–1790)
Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834)
Adolphe Thiers (1797–1877)
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898)
Camillo Benso (1810–1861)
Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947)
Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929)
Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950)
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972)
Walter Eucken (1891–1950)
Robert Menzies (1894–1978)
Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977)
Wilhelm Ropke (1899–1966)
Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992)
Michael Oakeshott (1901–1990)
Ayn Rand (1905–1982)
Raymond Aron (1905–1983)
Milton Friedman (1912–2006)
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (1919–1999)
Irving Kristol (1920–2009)
Helmut Schoeck (1922-1993)
Francis Fukuyama (born 1952)
List of conservative-liberal parties or parties with conservative-liberal factions
Current parties
Argentina: Union of the Democratic Centre, Christian Democratic Party
Australia: Liberal Party of Australia
Belgium: Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Reformist Movement, New Flemish Alliance, Libertarian, Direct, Democratic, People's Party
Brazil: Progressive Party, Social Democratic Party (factions), Liberal Party, New Party
Bulgaria: National Movement for Stability and Progress
Canada: British Columbia Liberal Party, Coalition Avenir Québec, Saskatchewan Party
Chile: Evópoli
Croatia: Croatian Social Liberal Party
Czech Republic: Mayors and Independents, TOP 09, Civic Democratic Party, ANO 2011
Denmark: Venstre–Liberal Party of Denmark
Estonia: Estonian Reform Party
El Salvador: Nuevas Ideas, GANA
Faroe Islands: Union Party, People's Party
Finland: National Coalition Party, Centre Party
France: The Republicans, Horizons
Germany: Free Democratic Party
Ghana: New Patriotic Party
Greece: New Democracy
Greenland: Feeling of Community
Iceland: Independence Party
Ireland: Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael
Israel: Likud, Telem, New Hope
Italy: Forza Italia
Japan: Liberal Democratic Party
Latvia: Unity
Lithuania: Liberal Movement, Freedom and Justice
Luxembourg: Democratic Party
Moldova: Liberal Party, Liberal Reformist Party
Netherlands: People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, JA21
New Zealand: New Zealand National Party
Norway: Progress Party
Philippines: Liberal Party (factions), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino
Poland: Civic Platform
Portugal: Social Democratic Party
Romania: National Liberal Party
Russia: People's Freedom Party, Democratic Choice
Serbia: People's party
Slovakia: Freedom and Solidarity, For the People
Slovenia: Slovenian Democratic Party
South Africa: Democratic Alliance
South Korea: Minsaeng Party, Democratic Party of Korea (factions)
Spain: People's Party, Catalan European Democratic Party, Basque Nationalist Party
Switzerland: FDP.The Liberals
Sweden: Liberals
Thailand: Democrat Party
Turkey: Good Party
Ukraine: Civil Position
United Kingdom: Conservative Party
United States: Republican Party
Historical parties
Austria: Constitutional Party, Federation of Independents, Freedom Party of Austria
Belarus: Belarusian Peasant Party
Brazil: National Democratic Union
Canada: Liberal-Conservative Party
Chile: National Party
Czech Republic: Civic Democratic Alliance, Public Affairs
El Salvador: National Coalition Party
France: Feuillant, Thermidorians, Doctrinaires, Resistance Party, Union for the New Republic/Union of Democrats for the Republic/Rally for the Republic, Independent Republicans/Republican Party/Liberal Democracy, Union for French Democracy Republican Party, Union for a Popular Movement, Agir
Germany: German People's Party
Iceland: Liberal Party (1927), Liberal Party (1998)
Ireland: Fianna Fail, Progressive Democrats
Israel: General Zionists, Liberal Party
Italy: Italian Liberal Party, Italian Liberal Right, Forza Italia, Civic Choice
Japan: New Party Sakigake
Latvia: Latvian Way, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way
Lithuania: National Resurrection Party, Liberal and Centre Union
Mexico: Liberal Party
Netherlands: Liberal State Party, Party of Freedom
New Zealand: United Party
Norway: Frisinnede Venstre
Poland: Liberty, League of the Right of the Republic, Liberal Democratic Congress, Poland Together
Romania: Democratic Liberal Party, Liberal Reformist Party
Russia: Democratic Choice of Russia
Serbia: Serbian Progressive Party
Slovakia: Democratic Party
South Korea: Korea Democratic Party, Democratic Nationalist Party, Democratic Party (1955), New Democratic Party, Reunification Democratic Party, Democratic Party (1990), United Democratic Party (1995), National Congress for New Politics, Democratic Party (South Korea, 2000), People Party (2016), Party for Democracy and Peace, New Alternatives
Spain: Liberal Party, Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
Switzerland: Free Democratic Party, Liberal Party
Turkey: Motherland Party
United Kingdom: Whigs, Liberal Unionist Party, National Liberal Party
United States: Whig Party
See also
Libertarian conservatism
Muscular liberalism
Notes
References
Bibliography
Liberalism
Centre-right ideologies
Right-wing ideologies
Political culture
Political ideologies
Political science terminology