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Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. There are also a number of Conservative political parties in various countries. All of these are primarily (though not necessarily exclusively) identified with the political right.

Among the significant usages of the term "conservatism" are:

1. Classical conservatism or institutional conservatism - Opposition to rapid change in governmental and societal institutions. This kind of conservatism is anti- ideological insofar as it emphasizes means (slow change) over ends (any particular form of government). To the classical conservative, whether one arrives at a right- or left-leaning government is less important than whether change is effected through rule of law rather than through revolution and sudden innovation.

2. Ideological conservatism or right conservatism - In contrast to the anti-ideological classical conservatism, right conservatism is, as its name implies, ideological. It is typified by three distinct subideologies: social conservatism, fiscal conservatism, and economic conservatism. Together, these subideologies comprise the conservative ideology in most English-speaking countries: separately, these subideologies are incorporated into other political positions.

Social conservatism is generally dominated by defense of existing social norms and values, of local customs and of societal evolution, rather than social upheaval, though the distinction is not absolute. Applied to foreign policy, a mild social conservatism manifests itself in Rudyard Kipling's defense of the Indian natives against British imperialism and in American opposition to the "forced democratization" of post-war Iraq, but conversely, betraying the complexity of ideology, the vast majority of American conservatives in keeping with their accepted values fully support the current effort at democratization or, rather, liberation (in the sense that liberty increases dramatically). In its more extreme foreign-policy manifestations, social conservatism breeds nationalism, tending towards isolationism, on the order of Pat Buchanan's anti-immigration, anti- internationalist stance.

Fiscal conservatism is the stance that the government must "live within its means". Above all, fiscal conservatives oppose excessive government debt; this belief in balanced budgets tends to be 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.

This belief in small government combines with fiscal conservatism to produce a broader economic conservatism, which wishes to minimize government intervention in the economy. This amounts to support for laissez faire economics. This economic conservatism comes from two schools of thought: the classical conservative's pragmatism and the libertarian's notion of "rights." The classical conservative maintains that free markets work best, while the libertarian contends that free markets are the only ethical markets.

Economic and fiscal conservatism coupled with social liberalism is called (at least in the U.S.) libertarianismThis article deals with the libertarianism as defined in America and several other nations. For a discussion of the meaning of the term libertarian that is traditional in Europe, see libertarian socialism. For the use of the term "libertarianism" in the p, or (in its more extreme form) anarcho-capitalismAnarcho-capitalism is a view that regards all forms of the state as unnecessary and harmful, particularly in matters of justice and self-defense, while being highly supportive of private property. It synthesizes certain ideas from the tradition of classic. Economic liberalism coupled with social conservatism is typically referred to as populismAt the most basic level, populism is a political ideology that holds that the common person is oppressed by an elite in society, which exists only to serve its own interests, and therefore, the instruments of the State need to be grasped from this self-se or fascismBenito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Fascism (in Italian, fascismo , capitalized, refers to the right-wing authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. The name comes from fascia which may mea.

3. Neoconservatism -- strictly a U.S. term -- refers to the views of a subclass of conservatives who support a more assertive foreign policy coupled with one or more other facets of ideological conservatism. Historically, conservatives tend to be mildly isolationist, but with the rising internationalism represented by such groups as NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NATO , sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance is an international organization for defense collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed or the UN, neoconservatismNeoconservatism is a somewhat controversial term referring to the political goals and ideology of the "new conservatives" in the United States. Compared to other U. conservatives, neoconservatives are characterized by an aggressive stance on foreign polic is on the rise. The "unipolar" assertions of columnist Charles Krauthammer are an example of neoconservatism. Neoconservatism underlies the policy of the George W. Bush administration in the Middle East, including (but not limited to) the 2003 Iraq War and its aftermath.

4. " Compassionate conservatism" a term popularized by George W. Bush, is held by many conservatives to be redundant, and a public-relations buzzword. Insofar as the presidency of George W. Bush has increased welfare substantially in the form of what is historically the greatest expansion of Medicare ever and in the form of the No Child Left Behind act, it may be that compassionate conservativism is simply the synthesis of social conservatism and fiscal liberalism.

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