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 and the particular time period, 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.

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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Ronald Ernest Paul (born 1935) is an American medical doctor and was a Republican U.S. Congressman for the 14th congressional district of Texas, which encompasses the area south and southwest of the Greater Houston region. According to a 1998 study published in the American Journal of Political Science, Paul had the most conservative voting record of any member of Congress since 1937. His son Rand Paul was elected to the United States Senate for Kentucky in 2011, making the elder Paul the first Representative in history to serve alongside a son or daughter in the Senate. Paul has been called the "intellectual godfather" of the Tea Party movement. He has gained prominence for his libertarian positions on many political issues, often clashing with both Republican and Democratic Party leaders. Paul has run for President of the United States twice before, first in 1988 as the nominee of the Libertarian Party and again in 2008 as a candidate for the Republican nomination. On May 13, 2011, he formally announced he would run again in 2012 for the Republican presidential nomination. A 2010 scientific poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports among likely voters found Ron Paul and Barack Obama to be statistically tied in a hypothetical 2012 presidential election contest.

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It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.

— Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminati Papers (1980)

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Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881) was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure. Starting from comparatively humble origins, he served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Although his father had him baptised to Anglicanism at age 12, he was nonetheless Britain's first and thus far only Prime Minister who was born into a Jewish family—originally from Italy. He played an instrumental role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party after the Corn Laws schism of 1846.

Credit: Scewing

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Did you know...

...that the Ronald Reagan Trail is a collection of highways in central Illinois that connect villages and cities that were of importance to Ronald Reagan?

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

... that Holby City woman is a voter demographic in the United Kingdom that was considered influential to the outcome of the 2010 United Kingdom general election?

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Selected anniversaries in December

1860 – the Reform War ends with the surrender of conservative General Miguel Miramón outside of Mexico City
1937 – a bipartisan coalition releases the "Conservative Manifesto" which was critical of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies.