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Social conservatism

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Social conservatism is an authoritarian political ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. The accepted goals and ideologies related to preserving traditions and morality often varies from group to group within social conservatism. Thus, there are really no policies or positions that could be considered universal among social conservatives. There are however a number of general principles to which at least a majority of social conservatives adhere, such as support for puritanical morality and traditional family values, often based on a specific understanding of Abrahamist values, and opposition to sexual permissiveness.

As an application of these general principles, social conservatives in many countries generally: favor the pro-life position in opposing euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and abortion; oppose both eugenics (inheritable genetic modification) and human enhancement (transhumanism) while supporting bioconservatism; support abstinence-only education, school prayers, gun ownership and defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, thus opposing same-sex marriage; support the continued prohibition of recreational or medically non-beneficial drugs; oppose prostitution and brothels, polygamy, gay adoption, premarital sex, and non-marital sex; and object to pornography and what they consider to be indecency and promiscuity. Some may also oppose the teaching of evolution in public schools, preferring creationism.

Overview

In the United States during the mid to late 20th century, the notion of preserving traditional values was seen by many social conservatives as an ideal that had been gradually eroded by a number of federal legislative passages and US Supreme Court decisions. This resulted in a shift in mainstream social conservatism typified by an increase in grassroots activism and lobbying efforts in an attempt to preserve traditional values at the federal level. This ideology generally saw social change as suspicious, and believed in returning what were referred to as fundamental values. A second meaning of the term social conservatism developed in the Nordic countries and continental Europe. There it refers to liberal conservatives supporting modern European welfare states. Social conservatism is distinct from cultural conservatism which focuses on cultural aspects of the issues, such as protecting one's culture, although there are some overlaps.

Social conservatism and other ideological views

There is no necessary link between social and fiscal conservatism; some social conservatives such as Mike Huckabee, George W. Bush, and Michael Gerson are otherwise apolitical, centrist or liberal on economic and fiscal issues. Social conservatives may sometimes support economic intervention where the intervention serves moral or cultural aims. Many Social Conservatives support a balance of fair trade with a true free market . This concern for material welfare, like advocacy of traditional mores, will often have a basis in religion. Examples include the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, the Family First Party and Katter's Australian Party, and the communitarian movement in the United States.

There is more overlap between social conservatism and paleoconservatism, in that they both have respect for traditional social forms. However, paleoconservatism bears a closer resemblance to New Deal Democrats in domestic policies and is isolationist in foreign policy.

Social conservatism is seen as a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the national government should have a greater role in the social affairs of its citizens, generally supporting whatever it sees as morally correct choices and discouraging or outright forbidding those it considers morally wrong ones.

Social conservatism in different countries

Canada

Main article: Social conservatism in Canada

In Canada, social conservatism is a political attitude that is widespread, though not as pronounced as in the United States. It represents conservative positions on issues of family, sexuality and morality. In the European and North American context believe in natural law, and traditional family values and policies.

Compared to the situation in the United States, social conservatism has not been as influential in Canada. The main reason is that Right-wing, neoliberal politics as promoted by leaders such as Paul Martin and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have not been linked to moral or social conservatism. That is, there is no large political party behind it, and social conservatives have divided their votes.

In modern Canadian politics, social conservatives often felt that they were being sidelined by officials in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Many of them felt shunned by a party that was largely led and run by Red Tories for the last half of the twentieth century. Many eventually made their political home with the Reform Party of Canada and its forerunner the Social Credit Party of Canada. Despite Reform leader Preston Manning's attempts to broaden the support of the Reform movement through populism, the party was dominated by social conservatives. Manning's reluctance to allow his party to wholly embrace socially conservative values contributed to his deposition as leader of the new Canadian Alliance in favour of Stockwell Day.

United States

Main article: Social conservatism in the United States

Social conservatism is generally focused on the preservation of family values, primarily within the family but also with respect to society as a whole. Today's mainstream social conservatives, in contrast to "small-government" conservatives and "states-rights" advocates, have increasingly appealed to federal legislators and Presidential candidates with the notion that the federal government should bear the responsibility to overrule the states in order to preserve their stated ideal of traditional values; this is not to take away from the fact that a significant portion of "small-government" and "states-rights" conservatives also share many of the ideals of mainstream social conservatives. The exception in how these conservative groups differ tends to be with respect to the role of the federal government versus the role of local government, where the "states-rights" conservatives tend to advocate for social reform and/or preservation of traditional values at the state and local levels.

Social conservatives emphasize traditional views of social units such as the family, church, or locale. Social conservatives would typically define family in terms of local histories and tastes. Social conservatism may entail support for defining marriage as between a man and a woman (thereby banning gay marriage) and laws placing restrictions on abortion.

The Republican Party (United States) is the largest political party with some socially conservative ideals incorporated into its platform.

Social conservatives are strongest in the South, where they are arguably considered a mainstream political force on a national level. In recent years, the supporters of social conservatism played a major role in the political coalitions of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Sarah Palin.

List of social conservative political parties

Australia

Austria

Bangladesh

Belgium

Brazil

Croatia

Canada

Chile

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

and, including far right and nationalist ideas

Germany

Greece

Hungary

India

Indonesia

Iran

Ireland

Israel

Italy

and, with nationalist and separatist ideas

Japan

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Philippines

Poland

Russia

Slovakia

Spain

Serbia

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

Social conservative factions of political parties

See also

References

  1. The Next Digital Divide (utne article)
  2. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/update-social-conservatives-lose-out-in-texas-evolution-vs-creationism-curriculum-debate/ Social conservatism and creationism
  3. "John Fund On Mike Huckabee's Liberal Record". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  4. ""Conservative" Bush Spends More than "Liberal" Presidents Clinton, Carter | Veronique de Rugy and Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Daily Commentary". Cato.org. 2003-07-31. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  5. "Michael Gerson - Compassionate to the End". washingtonpost.com. 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  6. Stenner, Karen (2005). The authoritarian dynamic. Cambridge University Press. p. 86.
  7. http://writ.news.findlaw.com/books/reviews/20060901_cassel.html The Demise of Conservatism, and The Rise of Authoritarianism: A Review of John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience
  8. Zafirovski, Milan (2008). Modern Free Society and Its Nemesis: Democracy, economy, and conservatism. Lexington Books. p. 27.
  9. John Middlemist Herrick and Paul H. Stuart, eds. Encyclopedia of social welfare history in North America (2005) p. 143
  10. David M. Haskell, Through a lens darkly: how the news media perceive and portray evangelicals (2009) p 57
  11. Murray Dobbin, Preston Manning and the Reform Party (1991)
  12. Darren Dochuk, From Bible Belt to Sun Belt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism (W.W. Norton & Company; 2010) shows how migrants to Southern California from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas provided evangelical support for social conservatism.
  13. DAN BILEFSKY (April 13, 2010). "Hungarian Winner Vows Battle Against the Far Right". Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  14. Jörg Flecker. Changing working life and the appeal of the extreme right. ISBN 978-0-7546-4915-1.

Further reading

  • Carlson, Allan, The Family in America: Searching for Social Harmony in the Industrial Age (2003) ISBN 0-7658-0536-7
  • Carlson, Allan, Family Questions: Reflections on the American Social Crisis (1991) ISBN 1-56000-555-6
  • Fleming, Thomas, The Politics of Human Nature, (1988) ISBN 1-56000-693-5
  • Gallagher, Maggie, The Abolition of Marriage: How We Destroy Lasting Love (1996) ISBN 0-89526-464-1
  • Himmelfarb, Gertrude, The De-moralization Of Society (1996) ISBN 0-679-76490-9
  • Hitchens, Peter, The Abolition of Britain. (1999) ISBN 0-7043-8117-6
  • Jones, E. Michael, Degenerate Moderns: Modernity As Rationalized Sexual Misbehavior. (1993) ISBN 0-89870-447-2
  • Kirk, Russell, The Conservative Mind, 7th Ed. (2001) ISBN 0-89526-171-5
  • Magnet, Myron, Modern Sex: Liberation and Its Discontents (2001) ISBN 1-56663-384-2
  • Medved, Diane and Dan Quayle, The American Family: Discovering the Values That Make Us Strong (1997) ISBN 0-06-092810-7
  • Sobran, Joseph, Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions (1983) ISBN 1-199-24333-7.
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