Conservatism in North America

Conservatism in North America is a political philosophy that varies in form, depending on the country and the region, but that has similar themes and goals. Academic study into the differences and similarities between conservatism in North American countries has been undertaken on numerous occasions. Reginald Bibby has asserted that the primary reason that conservatism has been so strong and enduring throughout North America is because of the propagation of religious values from generation to generation. This connection is strongest in mainstream Protestantism in the United States, and both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism in Canada.{{Cite book|title=Religion and Canadian Society: Traditions, Transitions, and Innovations|author=Lori G. Beaman|author-link=Lori G. Beaman|publisher=Canadian Scholars' Press|date=2006|page=230|isbn=978-1-55130-306-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VP5F2TQKyygC&q=%22Conservatism+in+North+America%22}} "Reginald Bibby identifies a pervasive religious conservatism in North America demonstrated by the intergenerational transmission of religious traditions, which, in the United States, are more likely to be mainstream Protestantism, or, in Canada, mainstream Protestantism and Roman Catholicism."

According to Louis Hartz, nations that developed from settler colonies were European "fragments" that froze the class structure and underlying ideology prevalent in the mother country at the time of their foundation. He considered Latin America and French Canada to be fragments of feudal Europe, and the United States and English Canada as liberal fragments.The Founding of New Societies: Studies in the History of the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Canada, and Australia (1964), Louis Hartz However Gad Horowitz, writing that Hartz had acknowledged a Tory influence in English Canada, claimed a conservative tradition had developed there as well.[http://www.emp.ca/downloads/er/er-6-68.pdf "Conservatism, Liberalism, and Socialism in Canada: An Interpretation" (1966), Gad Horowitz] American conservatism is different from European conservatism, with its combination of traditionalism and libertarianism, and has its roots in American traditions and classical liberalism of the 18th and 19th centuries,[https://books.google.com/books?id=apstK1qIvvMC&dq=ian%20adams%20political%20ideology%20today&pg=PA32 Political ideology today (2001), Ian Adams, p. 32] although Canada also developed an American-style conservatism that competed with the older Tory conservatism.[http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/183745915-ernest-manning-and-george-grant-who-is-the-real-conservative "Ernest Manning and George Grant: Who is the Real Conservative" (2004), Ron Dart.] A right-wing conservatism, or "Latin conservatism", developed in Latin America and Quebec. Today, conservative and conservative liberal parties in North America cooperate through the International Democrat Union.[http://www.idu.org/default.aspx International Democrat Union] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010221128/http://www.idu.org/default.aspx |date=October 10, 2009 }}

Canada

Conservatism in Canada is generally considered to be primarily represented by the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada in federal party politics, and by various centre-right and right-wing parties at the provincial level. The first party calling itself "Conservative" in what would become Canada was elected in the Province of Canada election of 1854.

Far-right politics have never been a prominent force in Canadian society.{{Cite journal | doi=10.1080/13537113.2015.1032033|title = Canadian Multiculturalism and the Absence of the Far Right| journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics| volume=21| issue=2| pages=213–236|year = 2015|last1 = Ambrose|first1 = Emma| last2=Mudde| first2=Cas|s2cid = 145773856}} Canadian conservative ideology is rooted in British "Tory-ism", rather than American liberalism.{{cite book|author=Seymour Martin Lipset|title=Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AW5UAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-63981-4|pages=48–52}}{{cite book|author=James H. Marsh|title=The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wR_-aSFyvuYC&pg=PA547|year=1999|publisher=The Canadian Encyclopedia|isbn=978-0-7710-2099-5|pages=547–49}} Stemming from the resettlement of United Empire Loyalist after the American Revolutionary War with traditionalist conservatism views alongside pro-market liberalism ideals,{{cite book|author1=James Bickerton|author2=Alain-G. Gagnon|title=Canadian Politics: Sixth Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2ErAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA270|year=2014|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-0703-3|page=270}} is the reason that unlike the conservatives in the United States, Canadian conservatives generally prefer the Westminster system of government.[http://www.cerium.ca/article2218.html How Canadian conservatism differs from the American version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820024035/http://www.cerium.ca/article2218.html |date=2009-08-20 }} Online video conference by Conservative senator Hugh Segal: cerium.ca website. The United States of America is a federal republic with a presidential democracy, while Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy.

United States

Conservatism is a major political ideology in the United States. American conservatism is different from European conservatism, and it has its roots in American Republicanism and classical liberalism.{{Cite book|last=Harrison|first=Brigid C. |title=Power & society an introduction to the social sciences|date=2017|isbn=978-1-337-02596-6|edition=14th |location=Boston, MA|oclc=1200495650}} In contemporary American politics, it is usually associated with the Republican Party. Characteristics of conservative principles include limited government, respect for American traditions, support for Judeo-Christian values,{{Cite book |title=Crisis of conservatism? : the Republican Party, the conservative movement and American politics after Bush|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press |editor=Joel D. Aberbach |editor2=Gillian Peele|isbn=978-0-19-983026-8|location=Oxford|oclc=741613249}} moral universalism,{{Cite book|last=Farmer|first=Brian R. |title=American conservatism : history, theory and practice|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Press|isbn=1-904303-54-4|location=Newcastle, UK.|oclc=61218162}} individualism and defense against perceived threats posed by communism and socialism. Economically, U.S. conservatives support fiscal conservatism, economic liberalism, laissez faire capitalism, and opposition to government intervention in economy. In foreign policy, American conservatives usually advocate a strong national defense. They support the doctrine of "American exceptionalism", a belief that the U.S. is unique among nations and that its standing and actions do and should guide the course of world history.

Although there has always been a conservative tradition in America, the modern American conservative movement began during the 1950s. Russell Kirk popularized conservatism after publishing The Conservative Mind (1953). Two years later, in 1955, William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review, a conservative magazine that included traditionalists, such as Kirk, along with libertarians and anti-communists. This bringing together of separate ideologies under a conservative umbrella was known as fusionism. The term was invented by Frank Meyer. Politically, the conservative movement in the U.S. has often been a coalition of various groups, which has sometimes contributed to its electoral success and other times been a source of internal conflict.

Modern conservatism saw its first national political success with the 1964 nomination of Barry Goldwater, a U.S. Senator from Arizona and author of The Conscience of a Conservative (1960), as the Republican candidate for president. In 1980, the conservative movement was able to attract disaffected Southern Whites (who were formerly Democrats), neoconservatives (former Cold War liberal Democrats), and evangelical Christians, to nominate and elect the Republican candidate Ronald Reagan, a conservative, as president. The 1980s and beyond is known as the Reagan Era, a conservative decade. Today's conservatives regard Reagan as the iconic conservative hero. Subsequent electoral victories included gaining a Republican congressional majority in 1994 and the election of George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

The conservative movement has been advanced by influential think tanks such as The Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, Hoover Institution, Hudson Institute and Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Fox News are often described as conservative.

Since the 1970s, the two major American political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, have become increasingly polarized, with the Democrats described as "liberal" and "left wing" and the Republicans as "conservative" and "right wing". The alt-right has pushed the Overton window to the right,{{Cite journal |last=Daniels |first=Jessie |date=February 2018 |title=The Algorithmic Rise of the "Alt-Right" |journal=Contexts |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=60–65 |doi=10.1177/1536504218766547 |issn=1536-5042|doi-access=free }} making conservative positions seem more centrist.{{Cite news |url=http://theweek.com/articles/745125/2017-year-when-every-unthinkable-idea-became-thinkable-again |title=2017 is the year when every unthinkable idea became thinkable again |date=2017-12-26 |access-date=2018-09-30}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/2017/12/21/16806676/strikethrough-how-trump-overton-window-extreme-normal |title=How Trump makes extreme things look normal |work=Vox |access-date=2018-09-30}}{{Cite news |url=https://medium.com/@JamesFourM/roger-stone-the-propaganda-moving-the-overton-window-e5cde07a5e2c |title=Roger Stone & the Propaganda Moving the Overton Window |last=McKenzie |first=Jay |date=2018-08-15 |access-date=2018-09-30}}

Mexico

In Mexico, political conservatism originally arose in reaction to the Mexican War of Independence. Because of his prominence in the Mexican Conservative Party, Lucas Alamán has been called "the most organized intelligence behind Conservatism in Mexico."{{Cite book|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Mexico|author=Michael S. Werner|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date=2001|page=131|isbn=978-1-57958-337-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qxp-GWiDPioC&q=%22Conservatism+in+Mexico%22}} Throughout the presidency of Miguel Alemán Valdés between 1946 and 1952, the politics of the country experienced a significant shift towards conservatism.{{Cite book|title=Buñuel and Mexico: The Crisis of National Cinema|author=Ernesto R. Acevedo-Muñoz|publisher=University of California Press|date=2003|page=59|isbn=978-0-520-23952-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-Q1iOxo00wC&q=%22Conservatism+in+Mexico%22}} Gastón García Cantú has performed the most extensive study of Mexican conservatism to date.{{Cite book|title=Clerical Ideology in a Revolutionary Age: The Guadalajara Church and the Idea of the Mexican Nation, 1788-1853|author=Brian Francis Connaughton Hanley|publisher=University of Calgary Press|date=2003|page=10|isbn=978-1-55238-083-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJxP3VBlECkC&q=%22Conservatism%20in%20Mexico%22&pg=PA10}}

Central America

Before the 1930s, Central American countries generally had dichotomous politics divided along conservative-liberal lines, but the effects of the Great Depression in the area caused most of these opposing parties to merge in order to maintain authority.{{Cite book|title=Authoritarians and Democrats: Regime Transition in Latin America|author=James M. Malloy|author2=Mitchell A. Seligson|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|date=1987|page=202|isbn=978-0-8229-5387-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vcphS1rw_wYC&q=Conservatism+Cuba}} Traditionally, political conservatism in the area has been ideologically linked with Protestantism, but this connection has been questioned in recent years.{{Cite book|title=The Politics of the Spirit: The Political Implications of Pentecostalized Religion in Costa Rica and Guatemala|author=Timothy J. Steigenga|publisher=Lexington Books|date=2003|page=142|isbn=978-0-7391-0446-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sI9TXnrhsDgC&q=%22Conservatism+in+Central+America%22}} One of the most prominent historical representatives of conservatism in Central America was Rafael Carrera, the first President of Guatemala. Not only did he effectively suppress liberal reforms in his own country, but he contributed greatly to the unity and influence of conservatism in each of the countries throughout Central America.{{Cite book|title=Latin American Politics and Development|author=Howard J. Wiarda|author2=Harvey F. Kline|publisher=Westview Press|date=2007|page=507|isbn=978-0-8133-4327-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5sWAAAAYAAJ}}

=Belize=

Belize is generally a conservative country as demonstrated by their laws which make abortion and male homosexuality illegal.{{Cite book|title=Adventure Guide to Belize|author=Carol O'Donnell|author2=Vivien Lougheed|publisher=Hunter Publishing, Inc|date=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/adventureguideto00vivi/page/75 75]|isbn=978-1-58843-289-6|url=https://archive.org/details/adventureguideto00vivi|url-access=registration}} The primary conservative party in Belize since the country's first parliamentary election as an independent state in 1984 has been the United Democratic Party.{{Cite book|title=Frommer's Belize|author=Eliot Greenspan|publisher=Frommer's|date=2006|page=274|isbn=978-0-471-92261-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HrdThoY_LrIC}} Nonetheless, the other major political party, the People's United Party, has a very similar political ideology. Historically, both parties have tended to be more conservative while in power than when in opposition.{{Cite book|title=Belize: Reefs, Rain Forests, and Mayan Ruins|author=Dick Lutz|author-link=Dick Lutz|publisher=Dimi Press|date=2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/belizereefsrainf00lutz/page/141 141]|isbn=978-0-931625-42-8|url=https://archive.org/details/belizereefsrainf00lutz|url-access=registration}}

=Guatemala=

Conservatism in Guatemala has always been closely linked with the country's Roman Catholic clergy.{{Cite journal|journal=Overland Monthly, and Out West Magazine|title=Glimpse at a Central American Republic|author=Bret Harte|author-link=Bret Harte|volume=14|page=217|date=1875}} Between the declaration of Guatemala's independence in 1821 and the Liberal Revolution of 1871, the country's politics were dominated by conservatism.{{Cite book|journal=The Third Wave of Democratization in Latin America: Advances and Setbacks|title=Democracy on Ice: The Multiple Challenges of Guatemala's Peace Process|author=Mitchell A. Seligson|author-link=Mitchell A. Seligson|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2005|page=203|isbn=978-0-521-82461-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZqI15_yRU4C&q=%22Conservatives+in+Guatemala%22}} In the mid-twentieth century, Francisco Javier Arana served as a unifying force for conservatives in Guatemala after his own presidency.{{Cite book|title=The CIA in Guatemala: The Foreign Policy of Intervention|author=Richard H. Immerman|publisher=University of Texas Press|date=1983|page=58|isbn=978-0-292-71083-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uigKBMGMmjMC}}

=Panama=

When Panama was separated from Colombia in 1903, the newly independent country of Panama was initially controlled by a military junta led by José Agustín Arango and Manuel Amador Guerrero. Although the junta included a few token liberal members, the administration was heavily conservative.{{Cite book|title=Panama Fever: The Epic Story of One of the Greatest Human Achievements of All Time--The Building of the Panama Canal|author=Matthew Parker|publisher=Random House of Canada|date=2007|page=270|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cm7rqUZ2VOwC|isbn=978-0-385-51534-4}} Politics in the country were strongly divided along conservative-liberal lines in the following years.{{Cite book|title=The United States and the Republic of Panama: American Imperialism|publisher=Ayer Publishing|date=1970|author=William David McCain|author-link=William David McCain|page=64|isbn=978-0-405-02036-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5YjpSZ5AdYC&pg=PP1}} Conservatives were in power until a military coup in 1968.{{Cite book|title=Post-Invasion Panama: The Challenges of Democratization in the New World Order|author=Orlando J. Pérez|publisher=Lexington Books|date=2000|page=125|isbn=978-0-7391-0120-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjx9fudZpuoC&pg=PP1}}

Caribbean

The main conservative political body in the Caribbean is the Caribbean Democrat Union (CDU) which was formed in 1986 by Anglo-Caribbean leaders to unify conservative political parties in the region.{{Cite book|title=The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of Central America and the Caribbean|author=Phil Gunson|author2=Greg Chamberlain |author3=Andrew Thompson |page=63|publisher=Routledge|date=1991|isbn=978-0-415-02445-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qF4OAAAAQAAJ}} The CDP is a suborganization of the International Democrat Union (IDU).{{Cite book|title=The Quest for Security in the Caribbean: Problems and Promises in Subordinate States|author=Ivelaw L. Griffith|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|date=1993|page=[https://archive.org/details/questforsecurity00grif/page/235 235]|isbn=978-1-56324-089-8|url=https://archive.org/details/questforsecurity00grif|url-access=registration}} In Beyond a Boundary, C. L. R. James argues that the influence of cricket and English literature have been instrumental in strengthening conservativism in the Caribbean.{{Cite book|title=C.L.R. James: A Remembrance|author=Brian Stoddart|author-link=Brian Stoddart|journal=Liberation Cricket: West Indies Cricket Culture|page=384|publisher=Manchester University Press|date=1995|isbn=978-0-7190-4315-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XX67AAAAIAAJ}}

=Cuba=

In the early 20th century, the concept of conservatism was not well-defined in Cuban politics.{{Cite book|title=From the House to the Streets: The Cuban Woman's Movement for Legal Reform, 1898-1940|author=K. Lynn Stoner|publisher=Duke University Press|date=1991|page=6|isbn=978-0-8223-1149-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LfRQz5N_FvUC&q=%22Conservatism+in+Cuba%22}} In 1913, Mario García Menocal became the third President of Cuba and the first Cuban president representing the Conservative Party of Cuba when the Liberal Party of Cuba split between supporters of Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso and supporters of José Miguel Gómez.{{Cite book|title=The History of Cuba|author=Clifford L. Staten|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofcuba00stat/page/50 50]|isbn=978-0-313-31690-6|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcuba00stat|url-access=registration|quote=Mario Garcia Menocal.}} Still, the conservative-liberal distinction fails to address many of the major political issues in Cuban governmental history.{{Cite book|title=Cuba: The International Dimension|author=Georges A. Fauriol|author2=Eva Loser|publisher=Transaction Publishers|date=1990|page=[https://archive.org/details/cubainternationa00faur/page/192 192]|isbn=978-0-88738-324-3|url=https://archive.org/details/cubainternationa00faur|url-access=registration|quote=Conservatism Cuba.}}

Although Cuba's government remains ideologically communist, evangelical churches have allowed the growth of conservative ideas and groups within religious institutions. Many of these churches influence debates on civil liberties such as abortion and LGBT rights.{{Cite web|title=Religious Conservatism is Shaping the Civil Liberties Debate in Cuba|url=https://nacla.org/news/2021/02/03/religious-conservatism-cuba|access-date=2021-02-23|website=NACLA|language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Sosin |first=Eileen |date=6 April 2023 |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/equal-marriage-has-improved-our-lives-says-lgbt-cubans/ |title=Equal marriage has improved our lives, says LGBT Cubans |publisher=openDemocracy |access-date=24 November 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://theconversation.com/as-cuba-backs-gay-marriage-churches-oppose-the-governments-plan-103198 |title=As Cuba backs gay marriage, churches oppose the government's plan |website=The Conversation |first=María Isabel |last=Alfonso |date=17 September 2018 |access-date=3 August 2022}}

Study of concept

A 2002 conference at the University of Augsburg which was dedicated to this very topic.{{Cite book|title=Conservative Parties and Right-Wing Politics in North America: Reaping the Benefits of an Ideological Victory?|author=Rainer-Olaf Schultze|author2=Roland Sturm |author3=Dagmar Eberle |publisher=VS Verlag|date=2003|page=5|isbn=978-3-8100-3812-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9bkFRFdl4bQC&q=%22Conservatism+in+North+America%22}} There were two main concepts discussed at the conference. The first concept was the connection between the brand of conservatism arising in the 1980s and the 1990s and social democracy. The second concept was simply an exploration of the differences and similarities between conservatism in Canada and the United States. Some feminist scholars have suggested that the prevalence of conservatism throughout North America has resulted in the continent's general post-feminist stance.{{Cite book|title=Feminism and Feminist Thought: A Historical Overview|journal=Gender in Caribbean Development: Papers Presented at the Inaugural Seminar of the University of the West Indies, Women and Development Studies Project|author=Rhoda Reddock|page=72|publisher=Canoe Press|date=1999|isbn=978-976-8125-55-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcdhAZxMdNgC&q=%22Conservatism+in+North+America%22}} "The rise of conservatism in North America and Western Europe has been a severe challenge to the movement there and many argue that these countries are in a phase of post-feminism."

References

External links

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