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National conservatism
National conservatism is a variant of conservatism that prioritizes the defense of national and cultural identity, often based on a theory of the family as a model for the state. It is oriented towards upholding national sovereignty, which includes opposing illegal immigration or immigration per se and having a strong military.
National conservatism departs from economic liberalism and libertarianism and takes a more pragmatic approach to regulatory economics and protectionism. It opposes the basic precepts of enlightenment liberalism such as individualism and the universality of human rights, and in America and Europe is majoritarian populist. National-conservative parties often have roots in rural environments, contrasting with the more urban support base of liberal-conservative parties.
In Europe, national conservatives usually embrace some form of Euroscepticism. In post-communist central and eastern Europe specifically, most conservative parties since 1989 have followed a national conservative ideology. Most notable is Viktor Orbán in Hungary, who has explicitly described his Fidesz's ideology as being national conservative in character and whose government is involved in the funding and spread of national conservative institutions across Europe and the United States, such as the Danube Institute, the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, The European Conservative magazine and the National Conservatism Conference. In the United States, Trumpism can be considered a variety of national conservatism, which also gives its name to the National Conservatism Conference, organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation.
National conservatism focuses on "threats to moral order and the loss of moral bearing due to liberalism's relativism". It rejects the basic precepts of enlightenment liberalism, such as individualism and the universality of human rights. In America and Europe, national conservatives are majoritarian populists and advocate for fewer limits on the power of elected representatives to "smash the liberal state". It opposes modernity, secularism, liberalism, socialism, communism and anarchism, instead valuing Europe’s Christian heritage and "defending" Western civilization. National conservatism is silent on classical conservative thought expressed by Michael Oakeshott and Edmund Burke. In The Virtue of Nationalism, Yoram Hazony criticizes Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke for creating a "dream world" in which the "Jewish and Christian world" have "no place to exist". National conservatism disagrees with liberalism and socialism over the interpretation of key historical developments, such as the Enlightenment, modernization, and emancipation, and key political events like those that occurred in 1789, 1968, and 1989. National conservatism distances itself from fascism, viewing it—along with liberalism and socialism—as aspects of modernity that "disconnect human designs from normative order", instead calling for the "restoration and order" of social, moral, and political structures. Patrick Deneen argues that the "current elite" should be replaced with "a better aristocracy brought about by a muscular populism" to advance the "common good", with the common good loosely defined as "integration" that includes the reunification of church and state. In his 2022 book Conservatism: A Rediscovery, Hazony, who has been considered by some observers as one of the intellectuals behind the re-launch of national conservatism, wrote that "in the political arena, conservatism refers to a standpoint that regards the recovery, restoration, elaboration, and repair of national and religious traditions as the key to maintaining a nation and strengthening it through time."
Ideologically, national conservatism is not uniform; adherents have broadly expressed support for nationalism, patriotism, cultural assimilationism, and monoculturalism. At the same time, there is expressed opposition to internationalism, racial politics, multiculturalism, and globalism. National conservatives adhere to a form of cultural nationalism that emphasizes the preservation of national identity as well as cultural identity. As a result, many favor assimilation into the dominant culture, restrictions on immigration and strict law and order policies.
National conservative parties support traditional family values, gender roles, and the public role of religion, being critical of the separation of church and state. According to the Austrian political scientist Sieglinde Rosenberger, "national conservatism praises the family as a home and a center of identity, solidarity, and tradition." It opposes the "1968 agenda" of gender-related emancipation.
National conservative parties in different countries do not necessarily share a common position on economic policy. Their views may range from support of corporatism, mixed economy, and protectionism to a more laissez-faire approach. In the first, more common case, national conservatives can be distinguished from liberal conservatives, for whom free market economic policies, deregulation, and tight spending are the main priorities. Some commentators have indeed identified a growing gap between national and economically liberal conservatism: "Most parties of the Right [today] are run by economically liberal conservatives who, in varying degrees, have marginalised social, cultural and national conservatives."
National conservatism developed its economic alternative to liberalism through political representatives in post-communist Europe, most notably Poland and Hungary, and the emergence of "pro-worker conservatism" in the United States. Throughout the 1990s, economic positions of national conservatives were largely fusionist. The works of Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin have served as building blocks for the modern national conservative movement's socio-economic policies. Strauss's indictment of capitalism as 'economism' through the reduction of individual needs to consumption plays a role in national conservative thought, which argues for solidarism and an increased statist role in the economy to bring about a moralizing "financial nationalism" in opposition to communism and the individualism of liberalism. Depending on the country, this can include increased support of protectionism; increased state social spending for "pro-worker" and "pro-family" conservatism; the re-nationalization of banks and strategic enterprises; and opposing tax breaks. It supports "social nativism" in East Asian state-led development as a socio-economic policy paradigm.
National conservatism
National conservatism is a variant of conservatism that prioritizes the defense of national and cultural identity, often based on a theory of the family as a model for the state. It is oriented towards upholding national sovereignty, which includes opposing illegal immigration or immigration per se and having a strong military.
National conservatism departs from economic liberalism and libertarianism and takes a more pragmatic approach to regulatory economics and protectionism. It opposes the basic precepts of enlightenment liberalism such as individualism and the universality of human rights, and in America and Europe is majoritarian populist. National-conservative parties often have roots in rural environments, contrasting with the more urban support base of liberal-conservative parties.
In Europe, national conservatives usually embrace some form of Euroscepticism. In post-communist central and eastern Europe specifically, most conservative parties since 1989 have followed a national conservative ideology. Most notable is Viktor Orbán in Hungary, who has explicitly described his Fidesz's ideology as being national conservative in character and whose government is involved in the funding and spread of national conservative institutions across Europe and the United States, such as the Danube Institute, the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, The European Conservative magazine and the National Conservatism Conference. In the United States, Trumpism can be considered a variety of national conservatism, which also gives its name to the National Conservatism Conference, organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation.
National conservatism focuses on "threats to moral order and the loss of moral bearing due to liberalism's relativism". It rejects the basic precepts of enlightenment liberalism, such as individualism and the universality of human rights. In America and Europe, national conservatives are majoritarian populists and advocate for fewer limits on the power of elected representatives to "smash the liberal state". It opposes modernity, secularism, liberalism, socialism, communism and anarchism, instead valuing Europe’s Christian heritage and "defending" Western civilization. National conservatism is silent on classical conservative thought expressed by Michael Oakeshott and Edmund Burke. In The Virtue of Nationalism, Yoram Hazony criticizes Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke for creating a "dream world" in which the "Jewish and Christian world" have "no place to exist". National conservatism disagrees with liberalism and socialism over the interpretation of key historical developments, such as the Enlightenment, modernization, and emancipation, and key political events like those that occurred in 1789, 1968, and 1989. National conservatism distances itself from fascism, viewing it—along with liberalism and socialism—as aspects of modernity that "disconnect human designs from normative order", instead calling for the "restoration and order" of social, moral, and political structures. Patrick Deneen argues that the "current elite" should be replaced with "a better aristocracy brought about by a muscular populism" to advance the "common good", with the common good loosely defined as "integration" that includes the reunification of church and state. In his 2022 book Conservatism: A Rediscovery, Hazony, who has been considered by some observers as one of the intellectuals behind the re-launch of national conservatism, wrote that "in the political arena, conservatism refers to a standpoint that regards the recovery, restoration, elaboration, and repair of national and religious traditions as the key to maintaining a nation and strengthening it through time."
Ideologically, national conservatism is not uniform; adherents have broadly expressed support for nationalism, patriotism, cultural assimilationism, and monoculturalism. At the same time, there is expressed opposition to internationalism, racial politics, multiculturalism, and globalism. National conservatives adhere to a form of cultural nationalism that emphasizes the preservation of national identity as well as cultural identity. As a result, many favor assimilation into the dominant culture, restrictions on immigration and strict law and order policies.
National conservative parties support traditional family values, gender roles, and the public role of religion, being critical of the separation of church and state. According to the Austrian political scientist Sieglinde Rosenberger, "national conservatism praises the family as a home and a center of identity, solidarity, and tradition." It opposes the "1968 agenda" of gender-related emancipation.
National conservative parties in different countries do not necessarily share a common position on economic policy. Their views may range from support of corporatism, mixed economy, and protectionism to a more laissez-faire approach. In the first, more common case, national conservatives can be distinguished from liberal conservatives, for whom free market economic policies, deregulation, and tight spending are the main priorities. Some commentators have indeed identified a growing gap between national and economically liberal conservatism: "Most parties of the Right [today] are run by economically liberal conservatives who, in varying degrees, have marginalised social, cultural and national conservatives."
National conservatism developed its economic alternative to liberalism through political representatives in post-communist Europe, most notably Poland and Hungary, and the emergence of "pro-worker conservatism" in the United States. Throughout the 1990s, economic positions of national conservatives were largely fusionist. The works of Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin have served as building blocks for the modern national conservative movement's socio-economic policies. Strauss's indictment of capitalism as 'economism' through the reduction of individual needs to consumption plays a role in national conservative thought, which argues for solidarism and an increased statist role in the economy to bring about a moralizing "financial nationalism" in opposition to communism and the individualism of liberalism. Depending on the country, this can include increased support of protectionism; increased state social spending for "pro-worker" and "pro-family" conservatism; the re-nationalization of banks and strategic enterprises; and opposing tax breaks. It supports "social nativism" in East Asian state-led development as a socio-economic policy paradigm.