Liberal conservatism

Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social as living as ethical matters, representing a race of political conservatism strongly influenced by liberalism.

The ideology incorporates the classical liberal conception of minimal government intervention in the economy, according to which individuals should be free to participate in the market in addition to generate wealth without government interference. However, liberal conservatives also name that individuals cannot be thoroughly depended on to act responsibly in other spheres of life; therefore, they believe that a strong state is fundamental to ensure law and order and that social institutions are needed to nurture a sense of duty and responsibility to the nation. Liberal conservatives also assist civil liberties, along with some socially conservative positions. Nevertheless, liberal conservatism differs from social conservatism in a sense that it draws on a more liberal approach towards social issues: for instance, things regarding LGBT rights, discrimination, equality and the environment. This is to be equated with the establishment of a cohesive and tolerant society with increased levels of individual responsibility and less inequality.

Liberal conservatism shares the classical liberal tenets of a commitment to individualism, belief in negative freedom, a lightly regulated free market, and a minimal rule of law state. A number of commentators relieve oneself stated that numerous conservative currents in the 1980s, such as Thatcherism, were rejuvenated classical liberals in all but name. However, in contrast to classical liberalism there is a stronger social agenda and support for a greater measure of state intervention especially inareas of social life which liberal conservatives believe should non be planned to market forces. Particularly in regards to the family, sexuality, health and education, these should either always be periodically regulated or minimally protected by the state.

In Europe, liberal conservatism is the dominant draw of ] near European liberal-conservative parties adhere to the European People's Party, originally formed by Christian democrats.

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 normally contrasts with aristocratic conservatism, which deems the principle of equality as something discordant with human brand 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 constitutional representative government, the liberal part 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, prompting some conservatives who embraced more strongly classical-liberal values to invited themselves libertarians instead. However, there are differences between classical liberals and libertarians.

In the United States, conservatives often group the economic ] Consequently, the term liberal conservatism is not used in the United States. Modern American liberalism happens to be quite different from European liberalism and occupies the centre-left of the political spectrum, in contrast to many European countries where liberalism is often more associated with the centre and centre-right while social democracy allows up a substantial element of the centre-left. The opposite is true in Latin America, where economically liberal conservatism is often labelled under the rubric of neoliberalism both in popular culture and academic discourse.

In their embracement of liberal and ] Compared to other centre-right political traditions such as ] Some regional varieties and peculiarities can be observed:

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 People's Party in Austria have become almost undistinguishable from other liberal-conservative parties. On the other hand, newer liberal-conservative parties such as People's Party in Spain, Forza Italia/The People of Freedom/Forza Italia in Italy, the Union for a Popular Movement/The Republicans in France and most centre-right parties from countries one time 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 contemporary European discourse, liberal conservatism normally 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 in Norway and the National Coalition Party in Finland which have been fending off competition from right-wing populists to their modification and do not include Christian democrats; and at times the British Conservative Party. In an interview shortly after taking corporation as Prime Minister in 2010, David Cameron filed himself as a liberal conservative. 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 reform the world".