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Liberal conservatism
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== Overview, definitions and usage == Both ''conservatism'' and ''liberalism'' have had different meanings over time in different centuries. The term ''liberal conservatism'' has been used in quite different ways. It usually contrasts with [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] conservatism, which deems the principle of equality as something discordant with human nature and emphasizes instead the idea of natural inequality. As conservatives in democratic countries have embraced typical liberal institutions such as the [[rule of law]], [[private property]], the [[market economy]] and [[constitution]]al [[Representative democracy|representative]] government, the liberal element of liberal conservatism became consensual among conservatives. In some countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, the term ''liberal conservatism'' came to be understood simply as ''conservatism'' in popular culture,{{sfn|Johnston|2007|p=155}} prompting some conservatives who embraced more strongly [[Classical liberalism|classical-liberal]] values to call themselves ''[[Libertarian conservatism|libertarians]]'' instead.<ref>Grigsby, Ellen: Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science. Cengage Learning, 2011.</ref> However, there are differences between classical liberals and libertarians.{{sfn|van de Haar|2015|p=71}} In their embrace of liberal and [[free market]] principles, European liberal conservatives are clearly distinguishable from those holding [[National conservatism|national-conservative]], fully [[Social conservatism|socially conservative]] and/or outright [[Populism|populist]] views, let alone a [[Right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] posture. Being liberal often involves stressing free market economics and the belief in individual responsibility together with the defense of [[civil and political rights|civil rights]] and support for a limited [[welfare state]].{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} Compared to other centre-right political traditions such as [[Christian democracy]], liberal conservatives are less socially conservative and more economically liberal, favouring low taxes and minimal state intervention in the economy.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} At the European level, Christian democrats and most liberal conservatives are affiliated to the [[European People's Party]] (EPP), while liberals (including conservative and social liberals) to the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party]] (ALDE Party). In this context, some traditionally Christian-democratic parties (such as [[Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams|Christian-Democratic and Flemish]] in Belgium, the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] in the Netherlands, the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] in Germany and the [[Austrian People's Party|People's Party]] in Austria) have become almost undistinguishable from other liberal-conservative parties. On the other hand, newer liberal-conservative parties (such as [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] in Greece, the [[Social Democratic Party (Portugal)|Social Democratic Party]] in Portugal, the [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] in Spain, {{Lang|it|[[Forza Italia]]|italic=no}}/[[The People of Freedom]]/{{Lang|it|[[Forza Italia (2013)|Forza Italia]]|italic=no}} in Italy, the [[Union for a Popular Movement]]/[[The Republicans (France)|The Republicans]] in France and most centre-right parties from countries once belonging to the [[Eastern Bloc]] and [[Yugoslavia]]) have not adopted traditional labels, but their ideologies are also a mixture of conservatism, Christian democracy and liberalism. In the modern European discourse, ''liberal conservatism'' usually encompasses centre-right political outlooks that reject at least to some extent social conservatism. This position is also associated with support for moderate forms of [[social safety net]] and [[environmentalism]] (see also [[green conservatism]] and [[green liberalism]]). This variety of liberal conservatism has been espoused by Nordic conservatives (the [[Moderate Party]] in Sweden, the [[Conservative Party (Norway)|Conservative Party]] in Norway and the [[National Coalition Party]] in Finland) which have been fending off competition from right-wing populists to their right and do not include Christian democrats; and at times the British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]. In an interview shortly after taking office as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] in 2010, [[David Cameron]] introduced himself as a liberal conservative.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cameron |first=David |title=I am a Liberal Conservative |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8685185.stm |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 August 2012 |date=2010-05-16}}</ref> During his first speech to a party conference in 2006, Cameron had defined this as believing in individual freedom and [[human rights]], but being skeptical of "grand schemes to remake the world".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5407714.stm "Full text of David Cameron's speech to the Conservative Party conference"], BBC, October 2006</ref> === Relation to American conservatism === {{Conservatism US|Schools}} In the United States, conservatives often combine the economic [[individualism]] of classical liberals with a [[Edmund Burke|Burkean]] form of conservatism that emphasizes the natural inequalities between men, the irrationality of human behavior as the basis for the human drive for order and stability and the rejection of natural rights as the basis for government.<ref>Grigsby, Ellen: Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science. Cengage Learning, 2011. p.106-112</ref> From a different perspective, [[Conservatism in the United States|American conservatism]] (a "hybrid of conservatism and classical liberalism") has exalted three tenets of Burkean conservatism, namely the diffidence toward the power of the state, the preference of liberty over equality and for [[patriotism]] while rejecting the three remaining tenets, namely loyalty to traditional institutions and hierarchies, skepticism regarding progress and elitism.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDd5tKWT4D4C |title=The Right Nation: Why America is Different |first1=Adrian |last1=Wooldridge |first2=John |last2=Micklethwait |year=2011 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |via=Google Books |isbn=9780241958896}}</ref>{{clarify|This passage needs clarification, as it references three “tenets“ then introduces two clauses both containing two subjects, and thus is completely opaque which of the four choices given is among the three claimed tenets. As written, it appears to introduce only two (albeit each of which contains two referants): “loyalty to” two constructs, and skepticism regarding two others.|date=August 2021}} Consequently, the term ''liberal conservatism'' is not used in the United States. [[Modern liberalism in the United States|Modern American liberalism]] happens to be quite different from [[Liberalism in Europe|European liberalism]] and occupies the [[Centre-left politics|centre-left]] of the political spectrum, in contrast to many European countries where liberalism is often more associated with the [[Centrism|centre]] and [[Centre-right politics|centre-right]] while [[social democracy]] makes up a substantial part of the centre-left. The opposite is true in [[Latin America]], where [[Economic liberalism|economically liberal]] conservatism is often labelled under the rubric of [[neoliberalism]] both in popular culture and academic discourse.<ref>Bethell, Leslie: The Cambridge History of Latin America: Latin America since 1930. Cambridge University Press, 1991.</ref> Although [[libertarian conservatism]] has similarities to liberal conservatism with both being influenced by classical liberal thought,{{sfn|van de Haar|2015|p=71}} libertarian conservatism is far more [[anti-statist]] than liberal conservatism and is much more hostile to government intervention in both social and economic matters.{{sfn|Heywood|2004|p=337}} Combining [[Cultural conservatism|conservative cultural]] principles but with less social intervention and a more ''[[laissez faire]]'' economic system. [[Neoconservatism]] is sometimes described as the same or similar to liberal conservatism in Europe.<ref>{{cite book|editor1=Oleksii Stus |editor2=Dmytro Finberg |editor3=Leonid Sinchenko |title=Ukrainian Dissidents: An Anthology of Texts |quote= The tendency of neoconservatism (liberal conservatism) is most clearly represented by the literary ...|date=2021 |page=346 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9783838215518 }}</ref> However, [[Peter Lawler (academic)|Peter Lawler]] has regarded neoconservatism in the United States as conservative liberalism and distinguished it from liberal conservatism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lawler |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Lawler (academic) |year=2002 |title=Liberal Conservatism, Not Conservative Liberalism |url=http://www.mmisi.org/ir/39_01_2/lawler.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=[[The Intercollegiate Review]] |language=en |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=59-60 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727094427/http://www.mmisi.org/ir/39_01_2/lawler.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-27 |access-date=2025-03-05}}</ref>
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