Portal:Conservatism

Introduction

Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in which it appears. In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote and preserve a range of institutions, such as the nuclear family, organized religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy. Conservatives tend to favor institutions and practices that enhance social order and historical continuity.

The 18th-century Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke, who opposed the French Revolution but supported the American Revolution, is credited as one of the forefathers of conservative thought in the 1790s along with Savoyard statesman Joseph de Maistre. The first established use of the term in a political context originated in 1818 with François-René de Chateaubriand during the period of Bourbon Restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution and establish social order.

Conservatism has varied considerably as it has adapted itself to existing traditions and national cultures. Thus, conservatives from different parts of the world, each upholding their respective traditions, may disagree on a wide range of issues. One of the three major ideologies along with liberalism and socialism, conservatism is the dominant ideology in many nations across the world, including Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Singapore, and South Korea. Historically associated with right-wing politics, the term has been used to describe a wide range of views. Conservatism may be either libertarian or authoritarian, populist or elitist, progressive or reactionary, moderate or extreme. (Full article...)

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The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist. It is currently the second-largest party in the Norwegian Parliament, with 41 seats. Founded by Anders Lange in 1973 largely as an anti-tax movement, the party highly values individual rights and supports the downsizing of bureaucracy and increased market economy, although it also supports an increased use of the uniquely Norwegian Oil Fund to invest in infrastructure. The party in addition seeks a more restrictive immigration policy and tougher integration and law and order measures. Long-time chairman Carl I. Hagen was from 1978 to 2006 the leader and centre of the party. The current leader of the Progress Party is Siv Jensen (pictured), who was the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the 2009 parliamentary election. In the 1997 parliamentary election, the party for the first time became the second largest political party in Norway, a position it also held following the elections in 2005 and 2009.

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To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.
— Michael Oakeshott, On Being Conservative (1962)

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La Gaceta was established on August 4, 1912, by Alberto García Hamilton, an Uruguayan publisher who left for neighboring Argentina following a political dispute. La Gaceta earned a reputation for conservatism, and was opposed to populist leader Hipólito Yrigoyen during the 1920s, as well as to the pro-development administration of Arturo Frondizi, who had the paper censored in 1960.

Credit: Jlazarte

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Did you know...

...that Ginni Thomas (pictured), wife of Supreme Court associate justice Clarence Thomas, collected résumés for appointments in the George W. Bush administration while working at The Heritage Foundation?

... that author Jonathan Krohn gave a two-minute speech at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference at age thirteen?

... that Canadian Conservative Party candidate Bernard Trottier won a seat in the 41st Canadian Parliament by defeating the incumbent Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Official Opposition, in the 2011 federal election?

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Selected anniversaries in March

7th

1871 – José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco is elected Prime Minister of Brazil
1871 – Otto von Bismarck becomes chancellor of the newly formed German Empire
1962 – Young Americans for Freedom sponsor a rally which draws 18,000 people and has been described as the "birthday of the conservative movement."

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