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While conservatives often identify with nationalist movements, there is a clear distinction between conservative nationalism and the ultra-nationalism of fascism. Conservatism, at its root, is an attitude of political and social quietism. The big plans of the Big Man, the noisy and levelling mass movements, the Führerprinzip, the personality cults, and the strong propensity toward totalitarianism that are central to fascism, are antithetical to the positions of classical conservatism. Conservatism stands for learning from the mistakes of the past, and primum non nocere is an essential conservative principle.
Nonetheless, historically, some conservative traditionalists have been drawn to Fascist movements. Some may have admired the moral and military renewal that Fascist leaders promised. Others may have merely thought fascism a more palatable alternative to socialism or communism. For example, in mid-1930s Britain, conservative media baron Lord Rothermere's Daily Mail enthusiastically backed Sir Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, whilst a number of Tory peers and MPs supported closer ties with Nazi Germany. For a more contemporary example, in a 2003 article in National Review, John Laughland accuses contemporary neoconservative Michael Ledeen of "flirting with fascism", citing examples of the latter's praise for Italian fascist Gabriele D'Annunzio. [3]
The North American conservation movement has its roots in the conservative movement of the late 19th century. These "first wave" environmentalists were generally well-to-do and advocated protection of natural areas due to the fact that these untouched areas were choice spots for vacations away from the dirty cities. In modern times, the "third wave" environmental movement, popularized by Ronald Reagan harkens back to the classical conservative's justification for free markets: simply, free markets are viewed as the best instrument for protecting the environment. Given that pollution is an inefficiency, and given that consumers like "eco-friendly" or "organic" products, it makes sense to the third-wave environmentalist that being environmentally friendly is a boost to sales. "Second-wave" environmentalists, represented by "command-and-control" techniques and the radical social change of the 1960s, were generally not conservative in any sense of the word. Yet the nationalist overtones of the second-wave environmental movement did appeal to many populists and social conservatives, who were not averse to anti-commercial values. Many of these viewed ecological conservation as necessary to preserve traditional values and viewed conservation of resources -- especially public resources -- as part of long-term fiscal conservativism. Mistakenly, many note the generally social democratic and sometimes radical economic goals of Greens and conclude that they have nothing in common with conservatives. In the UK, a Blue-Green Alliance is an alignment of these "green" and "right" forces, although in the U.S. the terms Green Republican or Green Libertarian have come into use to imply the same. Dan Sullivan has written on the convergence of Libertarian and Green views in the U.S. "Greens and Libertarians"
What constitutes conservative politics and policies, obviously, will depend on the traditions and customs of a given country.
In the United States, most persons who call themselves conservatives believe strongly in the Judeo-Christian social tradition and strict construction of the U.S. Constitution. The origins of conservatism in the U.S. can be traced from the Whigs of George Washington through the Federalists of John Adams, and the Republicans of Abraham Lincoln (the ideological heirs to the Federalist legacy). In the Civil War era, other issues dominated, and for the next century conservatives were roughly equally divided among the two major parties. One particularly notable element were the southern Democrats, some of whom bolted the party as the third-party Dixiecrats, backing Strom Thurmond's 1948 presidential candidacy.
Ironically, as the Democratic Party became identified with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s through 1970s, many former southern Democrats joined the Republican Party, even in the face of greater proportional support for civil rights legislation among Republicans, thereby increasingly cementing the Republicans' alignment as a conservative party.
Conservatism is a large political philosophy, and its central tenets may be used as justification for or opposition to civil rights legislation. "Mr. Conservative," U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, in his 1960 Conscience of a Conservative , argues that the reason conservatives split on the issue of civil rights was due to some conservatives advocating ends (integration, even in the face of what they saw as unconstitutional Federal involvement) and some advocating means (constitutionality above all else, even in the face of segregation).
Today in the U.S., geographically the South, the less industrial parts of the Midwest, and the non-coastal West are conservative strongholds.
In the UK, contemporary conservatives may trace their roots to both the Tories of Canning and the early Whigs (who opposed the monarchy). The Tories, who continued to represent the interests of the aristocracy, in contrast to the Whiggish mercantile class, dominated British politics from the 1770s and the 1830s. It is during this period that Edmund Burke, the so-called "Father of Modern Conservatism," articulated the anti-monarchial conservative position through the Whig party.
Nominally, the modern Conservative party was founded out of the Tory party by Sir Robert Peel in the 1840s, splitting almost immediately, over the issue of protectionism. The anti-protectionist faction joined with some Whigs and radicals to form the Liberal coalition, which was to dominate for much of the rest of the nineteenth century. In the twenty-two years between 1852 and 1874, the Conservative Party, which continued to be known colloquially as the Tory party, enjoyed less than four years of power. However, after the Liberals split over Home Rule in Ireland, the Conservatives returned to prominence under Benjamin Disraeli, and were in power for twelve of the next twenty years. Power alternated between the Conservatives and the Liberals for the next two decades, until a coalition between the two parties was formed during the first World War. This, along with the rise of the Labour Party, led to the collapse of the Liberals in the 1920s. A number of former Liberals, including Winston Churchill, chose to join the Tory Party, under Stanley Baldwin, instead of Labour. During the 1930s, the Conservatives dominated Ramsay Macdonald's "National" government and instituted the protectionist policies they had attempted to introduce in the 1920s. After Macdonald resigned the Conservatives were openly in government, but many of the traditional Conservative policies of economic intervention in the interests of business leaders and land-owners were dropped from the party's platform, in favour of more ameliorative welfare policies. After the second World War, under a movement that would come to be known as " One Nation Conservatism ", the Conservative party made a number of concessions to the socialist policies of the left. This was partly in order to regain power, but also the result of the early successes of central planning and state-ownership forming a cross-party consensus. In the early 1970s, Edward Heath attempted to restore traditional Conservative economic policies by under-pining them with a socially responsible outlook, but found little support in the private sector and soon retreated to the post-war consensus. With the advent of Margaret Thatcher, the Tories were seen as having returned to their traditional policies. However, some Conservatives saw the Thatcher administration as lacking the traditional Conservative policies of charity and responsibility, while others, outside of the traditional ranks of the Conservative Party, saw Thatcherism as the intellectual successor to classical liberalism, particularly with regard to its belief in free trade and laissez-faire economics. Thatcher's core economic policies have since formed a broad, Conservative consensus in British politics, similar to the Labour consensus that dominated from the 1940s until the 1970s, and the Liberal consensus of the 1860s to the 1910s.
Conservatism in the UK and US should not be confused with conservatism abroad. Conservatism is not necessarily democratic: in fact, insofar as democracy is absolutism and "tyranny of the majority," conservatism is inherently undemocratic. A case in point is the radical "democracy" of Marxism (of the USSR, Communist China, Cuba, etc.), opposed by the conservative. However, the conservative would not find the government of Iran or, more appropriately, of Pakistan to be inherently objectionable. Neither Islam nor theocracy are incompatible with conservatism, provided rule of law still exists. Yet where Iran or Pakistan trample the rule of law – there the conservative would object.
Conservative goals can vary not only between countries, but in the same country over time. Many U.S. conservatives (especially the onetime Southern Democrats: see Dixiecrat) once supported enforced racial segregation, but no conservative today can realistically enter office holding this position and few true conservatives still hold it, seeing it as something which prevents free people from fully participating in the benefits of a capitalist economy, among other problems.
Although most conservatives today agree on the value of free markets and reducing regulation (although to a much lesser extent than favored by libertarians), there is great disagreement on support for traditional morality vs. opposition to government intervention in the private realm. Many conservatives feel it is proper for government to take strong actions against homosexuality, abortion, and drug abuse. Other conservatives are concerned that such actions constitute unwarranted intrusion on personal freedom.
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