Editing Liberal conservatism (section)

== Classical conservatism and economic liberalism ==
[[File:EdmundBurke1771.jpg|thumb|upright|150px|[[Edmund Burke]]]]
Historically, [[conservatism]] in the 18th and 19th centuries comprised a set of principles based on concern for established [[tradition]], respect for [[authority]] and [[religious values]]. This form of [[Traditionalist conservatism|traditionalist]] or classical conservatism is often considered to be exemplified by the writings of [[Joseph de Maistre]] in the post-[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] age. Contemporaneous [[liberalism]], now recalled as [[classical liberalism]], advocated both [[political freedom]] for individuals and a [[free market]] in the economic sphere. Ideas of this sort were promulgated by [[John Locke]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Voltaire]], [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Ben Franklin]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Thomas Paine]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]], [[Jeremy Bentham]] and [[John Stuart Mill]], who are respectively remembered as the fathers of [[liberalism]], including [[economic liberalism]], the [[separation of church and state]], [[social liberalism]] and [[utilitarianism]].

[[File:Alexis de tocqueville cropped.jpg|thumb|150px|upright|[[Alexis de Tocqueville]]]]
According to scholar Andrew Vincent, the maxim of liberal conservatism is "economics is prior to politics".{{sfn|Vincent|2009|pp=65-66}} Others emphasize the openness of historical change and a suspicion of tyrannical majorities behind the hailing of individual liberties and traditional virtues by authors such as [[Edmund Burke]] and [[Alexis de Tocqueville]]<ref>Lakoff, Sandoff, "Tocqueville, Burke, and the Origins of Liberal Conservatism." ''The review of politics'' '''60'''(3), pp. 435–464, 1998. {{doi|10.1017/S003467050002742X}}</ref> as the basis of current liberal conservatism which can be seen both in the works of [[Raymond Aron]] and [[Michael Oakeshott]]. However, there is general agreement that the original liberal conservatives were those who combined conservative social attitudes with an economically liberal outlook, adapting a previous aristocratic understanding of natural inequalities between men to the rule of [[meritocracy]], without directly criticizing privileges of birth as long as individual liberties were guaranteed. Over time, the majority of conservatives in the [[Western world]] came to adopt free market economic ideas as the [[Industrial Revolution]] progressed and the monarchy, aristocracy and clergy lost their wealth and power, to the extent that such ideas are now generally considered as part of conservatism. Nonetheless, the term ''liberal'' is used in most countries to describe those with free-market economic views. This is the case in [[continental Europe]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Slomp |first=Hans |date=2011-09-26 |title=Europe, a Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LmfAPmwE6YYC&q=EU+left-wing+liberal+parties |publisher=ABC-Clio |pages=106–108 |isbn=9780313391828 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Australia<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldfarb |first1=Michael |title=Liberal? Are we talking about the same thing? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-10658070 |access-date=6 July 2016 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=20 July 2010}}</ref> and [[Latin America]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=MacLean |first1=James |title="The Two Meanings of "Liberalism" |url=http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jmaclean/es.liberal.html |access-date=6 July 2016 |archive-date=20 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720050932/http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jmaclean/es.liberal.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>