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Defining Conservatism

Here's how some organizations, individuals, Web sites, and reference works have defined a conservative. Perhaps one of them closely matches your political beliefs, or is similar to your definition of a conservative.

Conservatism. A political ideology generally characterized by a belief in individualism and minimal government intervention in the economy and society; also a belief in the virtue of the status quo and general acceptance of traditional morality. -- Mark O. Dickerson & Tom Flanagan in An Introduction to Government and Politics, 5th Edition

A conservative tends to be for the free market in economic affairs, and against what he calls "big government" -- an excessive federal bureaucracy that intervenes in a wide range of social and economic areas. Conservatives prefer a kind of individualistic self-sufficiency. On social issues conservatives are pro-family, anti-abortion, and in general support traditional moral values and religion. Conservatives usually favor a strong military. -- iAmericanSpirit Political Dictionary

Conservatives seek a social structure that helps to bring out the best in human nature and suppress man's lower or base impulses. Conservatives support capitalism as a way of steering our natural pursuit of self-interest toward the material betterment of society at large. Finally, conservatives support autonomy when it is attached to personal responsibility -- when people are held accountable for their actions. However, they also believe in the indispensability of moral incubators -- the family, the church, civic institutions such as the Boy Scouts and The American Legion -- that aim to foster civic virtue and show people how to use freedom well. -- Dinesh D'Souzas (<)

Conservatives tend to uphold tradition and oppose major changes in laws and institutions. Change, when thought to be necessary, should be gradual and minimal. Conservatives generally oppose "big government" and support free-market economic policies and low taxes. A conservative is a person to the right of center on the U.S. political spectrum. Of the two main political parties, the Republican Party is regarded as being the more conservative. -- Election Glossary, Public Broadcasting System (PBS)

[Conservatives] traditionally stand for low taxes, a strong military, traditional values, and little intervention by government in everyday life. -- Harvard University Institute of Politics Glossary of Political Terms

Conservatism is generally associated with the following views: Personal responsibility. General opposition to "big government" policies or state economic interventionism. Support for Judeo-Christian religious and moral values. Support for strong law enforcement and strong penalties for crimes. Restraint in taxation and regulation of businesses. Support for a strong military, and well-defended protected borders with regulated immigration. Support for drug prohibition. -- Word iQ

Conservatives generally believe that there exists a transcendent moral order, to which we ought to try to conform the ways of society. Conservatives uphold the principle of social continuity. They prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't know. Order and justice and freedom, they believe, are the artificial products of a long and painful social experience, the results of centuries of trial and reflection and sacrifice. Conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability. Human nature suffers irremediably from certain faults, the conservatives know. Man being imperfect, no perfect social order can ever be created. -- Russell Kirk (>) in The Conservative Mind

Conservative. A political point of view characterized by relatively high support for activist government intervention to enforce traditional morality or social values coupled with relatively high opposition to activist government when it comes to intervening in economic or business affairs. -- Paul M. Johnson (Auburn University)

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What Is A Conservative?

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