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Social conservatism#China

{{Short description|Political ideology advocating traditional values and power structures}}

{{Distinguish|Paternalistic conservatism}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2025}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Conservatism sidebar|variants}}

Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism.{{Cite journal|last=Wiener|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jon Wiener|date=Spring 1973|title=Review: The Politics of Unreason: Right-Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1970|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/202704|journal=The Journal of Interdisciplinary History|publisher=MIT Press|volume=3|issue=4|pages=791{{ndash}}793|doi=10.2307/202704|jstor=202704|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite book|last=Cooper|first=Melinda|title=Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism|publisher=Zone Books|year=2019}} Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutions, such as traditional family structures, gender roles, sexual relations, national patriotism, and religious traditions.{{cite book |author-first=Robert B. |author-last=Smith |title=Social Conservatism, Distractors, and Authoritarianism: Axiological versus instrumental rationality |editor=Harry F. Dahms|date=2014|publisher=Emerald Group Publishing|isbn=978-1-78441-222-7|page=101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5V1BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Social Conservatism |url=https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/social-conservatism/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Populism Studies |language=en-US}} Social conservatism is usually skeptical of social change, instead tending to support the status quo concerning social issues.

Social conservatives also value the rights of religious institutions to participate in the public sphere, thus often supporting government-religious endorsement and opposing state atheism, and in some cases opposing secularism.{{cite book|last=Dean|first=John W.|title=Conservatives Without Conscience|date=11 July 2006|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|language=en|isbn=978-1-101-20137-4|page=77}}{{cite book|last1=Wald|first1=Kenneth D.|last2=Calhoun-Brown|first2=Allison|title=Religion and Politics in the United States|year=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|language=en|isbn=978-0-7425-4041-5|page=240}}{{cite web |last1=Booten |first1=Matthew |title=19 different types of conservatives |url=https://www.politic-ed.com/2020/05/11/19-different-types-of-conservatives/ |website=Politic-Ed |date=11 May 2020 |quote=Social conservatism often opposes state-atheism, however not necessarily atheism itself. They believe that if we allow states to stop believing in God, that societal order will simply break down as a result.}}

Social conservatism, as a movement, is largely an outgrowth of traditionalist conservatism. The key difference is that traditional conservatism is broader and includes philosophical considerations, whereas social conservatism is largely focused on just moralism.

Social conservatism and other ideological views

There is overlap between social conservatism and paleoconservatism, in that they both support and value traditional social forms.{{cite book|last1=Rowland|first1=Howard S.|title=Things to Think About|date=2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4535-7128-6|page=171|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFi3g3qSfsAC&pg=PA171|language=en}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}

Social conservatism is not to be confused with economically interventionist conservatism, where conservative ideas are combined with Keynesian economics and a welfare state as practised by some European conservatives (e.g. one-nation conservatives in the United Kingdom, Gaullists in France). Some social conservatives support free trade and laissez faire market approaches to economic and fiscal issues, but social conservatives may also support economic intervention where the intervention serves moral or cultural aims. Historian Jon Wiener has described social conservatism as historically the result of an appeal from "elitist preservationists" to lower-class workers to 'protect' wealth from immigration.{{Cite book|last=West|first=Ed|title=Small Men on the Wrong Side of History: The Decline, Fall and Unlikely Return of Conservatism|year=2020}}

Many social conservatives support a balance between protectionism and a 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.{{Cite book|last=Robin|first=Corey|title=The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump|publisher=Oxford University Press}}

Social conservatism by country

= Australia =

{{Further information|Conservatism in Australia}}

Mainstream conservatism in Australia generally incorporates liberalism, hence liberal conservatism being the primary ideology of the major centre-right coalition in Australia, the Liberal-National Coalition. Therefore, the Coalition, while having members with some socially conservative views, is not considered socially conservative. However, both social conservatism and right-wing populism are present among right-wing minor parties, such as Pauline Hanson's One Nation, the United Australia Party (UAP) and Katter's Australian Party (KAP) amongst others.

Nevertheless, the National Right (also known as the "Conservative" faction or the "Right" faction) serves as the party's social conservative faction, although the party is still considered a broad church conservative party and factions do collaborate with each other; for example, the New South Wales Liberal Party often chooses a leadership team consisting of both a member of the more centrist Moderate faction and a member of the Right.

Social conservatives in Australia often need to take a broad church stance while governing. For example, former New South Wales Liberal Party leader and state premier, Dominic Perrottet, a conservative Catholic, despite having voted against legalising same-sex marriage in 2018 and opposing abortion, followed Labor leader Chris Minns' in supporting a 2023 state-wide ban on gay conversion therapy,{{cite web | url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/premier-dominic-perrottet-to-back-ban-on-gay-conversion-practices/655d8171-eca1-4929-a694-af25ef48ea9b | title=NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet agrees to gay conversion therapy ban }} whilst also vowing to protect religious freedom and preaching.{{cite web | url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/we-won-t-ban-preaching-perrottet-puts-caveats-on-gay-conversion-law-20230222-p5cmtc.html | title=NSW election 2023: Perrottet puts caveats on gay conversion law | date=22 February 2023 }}

During the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey of 2018, which successfully sought to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia, the Coalition government led by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull allowed its members a conscience vote on the issue. While many (including Turnbull) were in favour, some were opposed, but supported holding a plebiscite on the matter. Federal Coalition MPs who opposed same-sex marriage during the debate included former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison and many others. However, when the plebiscite was successful (with 61.6% in favour), a vote needed to be held in both chambers of Parliament. The Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 was tabled in the Senate and was subsequently passed in the House of Representatives, with just three votes against (excluding the members who abstained). Due to their respective electorates delivering a majority "yes" vote (as well as the entire country), members such as Dutton (who voted "no" in the plebiscite) voted in favour of the bill after his seat of Dickson voted 65.16% in favour.

= Canada =

{{Main|Social conservatism in Canada}}

In Canada, social conservatism, though widespread, is not as prominent in the public sphere as in the United States. It is prevalent in all areas of the country but is seen as being more prominent in rural areas. It is also a significant influence on the ideological and political culture of the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Compared to social conservatism in the United States, social conservatism has not been as influential in Canada. The main reason is that the neoconservative style of politics as promoted by leaders such as former Prime Ministers such as Paul Martin and Stephen Harper have focused on fiscal conservatism, with little or no emphasis on moral or social conservatism.John Middlemist Herrick and Paul H. Stuart, eds. Encyclopedia of social welfare history in North America (2005) p. 143 Without a specific, large political party behind them, social conservatives have divided their votes and can be found in all political parties.David M. Haskell, Through a lens darkly: how the news media perceive and portray evangelicals (2009) p 57

Social conservatives often felt that they were being sidelined by officials in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and its leadership of so-called "Red Tories" for the last half of the twentieth century and therefore many eventually made their political home with parties such as the Social Credit Party of Canada and the Reform Party of Canada. Despite the Reform Party being dominated by social conservatives, leader Preston Manning, seeking greater national support for the party, was reluctant for the party to wholly embrace socially conservative values. This led to his deposition as leader of the party (now called Canadian Alliance) in favor of social conservative Stockwell Day.Murray Dobbin, Preston Manning and the Reform Party (1991) The party's successor, the Conservative Party of Canada, despite having a number of socially conservative members and cabinet ministers, has chosen so far not to focus on socially conservative issues in its platform. This was most recently exemplified on two occasions in 2012 when the current Conservative Party of Canada declared they had no intention to repeal same-sex marriage or abortion laws.{{cite news|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/13/same-sex-marriages-declared-legal-and-valid-by-justice-minister-rob-nicholson/|title=Same-sex marriages declared legal and valid by federal justice minister Rob Nicholson|date=13 January 2012|work=National Post}}

= China =

Chiang Kai-shek, a former president of Republic of China, could be seen as a social conservative who was critical of liberal values and defended the union of Confucian traditions and modernism. Under his rule, the Kuomintang led the New Life Movement.

After the Chinese Communist Revolution, social conservatism in China increased due to the rise of New Confucianism and others after the 1970s to 1980s during the Chinese economic reform.

Bloomberg News described the period of China, where Xi Jinping is General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, as "Conservative Era"; Faced with a shrinking population, China's most powerful leader since Chairman Mao Zedong has urged women to cultivate a "culture" of childbirth and take on a more domestic role.{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-10/taylor-swift-wows-chinese-women-tired-of-xi-s-conservative-era |title=Taylor Swift wows Chinese women tired of Xi's conservative era |date=February 9, 2024 |work=Bloomberg News }} CCP general secretary Xi has adopted a more conservative social view since he began his third leadership in 2022. He reflects traditional and patriarchal views of women in speeches and policies. This is related to China's low birth rate problem.{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/6330091/china-population-xi-childbirth-culture/ |title=Facing Population Decline, China's Xi Promotes 'Childbirth Culture' for Women |date=31 October 2023 |magazine=Time }}

=Islamic world=

{{Further|Sharia|Conservatism in Islam}}

Most Muslim countries are somewhat more socially conservative (such as Tajikistan and Malaysia) than neighbouring countries that are not Muslim. However, due to their interpretation of Islamic law also known as Shariah, they have some differences from social conservatism as understood in the nations of West Europe, North America and Oceania.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

== Arab world ==

{{Further|Arab world|Islam|Censorship}}

The Arab world has recently{{when|date=October 2021}} been more conservative in social and moral issues due to the Arab spring.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} An example of a socially conservative party is the Justice and Development Party of Morocco.

== Pakistan ==

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal is an alliance of socially conservative and Islamist political parties in Pakistan.

=India=

== Hindu social conservatism ==

{{Further|Shiv Sena|Bharatiya Janata Party|Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|Hindu nationalism|Hindutva}}

Hindu social conservatism in India in the twenty first century has developed into an influential movement, represented in the political arena by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. Hindu social conservatism, also known as the Hindutva movement, is spearheaded by the voluntary non-governmental organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The core philosophy of this ideology is nativism, and it sees Hinduism as a national identity, rather than a religious one. Due to an inclination towards nativism, much of its platform is based on the belief that Islamic and Christian denominations in India are the result of occupations, and, therefore, these groups should be uprooted from the Indian subcontinent by converting their members back to Hinduism.

In terms of political positions, Hindu social conservatives in India seek to institutionalize a Uniform Civil Code (which is also a directive under Article 44 of the Constitution of India) for members of all religions,{{cite web |author=Press Trust of India |url=http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=23591 |title=Muslim leaders oppose uniform civil code |publisher=Express India |date=2 August 2003 |access-date=18 August 2014 |archive-date=25 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925185807/http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=23591 }} over the current scheme of different personal laws for different religions. For instance, polygamy is legal for Muslims in India, but not Hindus.

== Muslim social conservatism ==

{{Further|Lakshar-e-Taiba}}

There are several socially conservative Muslim organisations in India, ranging from groups such as the Indian Union Muslim League which aim to promote the preservation of Indian Muslim culture as a part of the nation's identity and history.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

= South Africa =

Social conservatism had an important place in Apartheid South Africa ruled by the National Party. Pornography,JCW Van Rooyen, Censorship in South Africa (Cape Town: Juta and Co., 1987), gamblingBet and board in the new South Africa. (legalisation of gambling could lead to growth of casinos, lotteries)(Brief Article)The Economist (US) | 5 August 1995 and other activities that were deemed undesirable were severely restricted. The majority of businesses were forbidden from doing business on Sunday.Apartheid mythology and symbolism.

desegregated and re-invented in the service of nation building in the new South Africa: the covenant and the battle of Blood/Ncome River

= United States =

{{Main|Social conservatism in the United States}}

Social conservatism in the United States is a right-wing political ideology that opposes social progressivism. It is centered on the preservation of what adherents often call 'traditional' or 'family values', though the accepted aims of the movement often vary amongst the organisations it comprises, making it hard to generalise about ideological preferences. There are, however, a number of general principles to which at least a majority of social conservatives adhere, such as opposition to abortion and opposition to same-sex marriage.{{cite web|last1=Riley|first1=Jim|title=Liberalism & Conservatism|url=http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/libcons.htm|website=academic.regis.edu|access-date=4 July 2017|archive-date=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114163741/http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/libcons.htm}}{{cite book|last1=Farney|first1=James Harold|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odcZbJnUN3cC&pg=PA13|title=Social Conservatives and Party Politics in Canada and the United States|date=2012|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-1260-0|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Cramer|first=Clayton E.|title=Social Conservatism in An Age of Revolution: Legislating Christian Morality in Revolutionary America|year=2016}} Sociologist Harry F. Dahms suggests that Christian doctrinal conservatives (anti-abortion, anti-same-sex marriage) and gun-use conservatives (such as supporters and members of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA)) form two domains of ideology within American social conservatism.{{cite book |author-first=Robert B. |author-last=Smith |title=Social Conservatism, Distractors, and Authoritarianism: Axiological versus instrumental rationality |editor=Harry F. Dahms |date=2014|publisher=Emerald Group Publishing|isbn=978-1-78441-222-7|page=101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5V1BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|language=en}}

The Republican Party is the largest United States political party with socially conservative ideals incorporated into its platform. Other socially conservative parties include the American Solidarity Party, and the Constitution Party .

Social conservatives are strongest in the South, where they are a mainstream political force with aspirations to translate those ideals using the party platform nationally. Supporters of social conservatism played a major role in the political coalitions of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.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.

=Other areas=

There are also social conservative movements in many other parts of the world, such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Europe, Mediterranean countries, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

Examples of social conservative political parties

= Argentina =

=Armenia=

= Australia =

=Austria=

=Belgium=

=Bosnia and Herzegovina=

=Brazil=

= Bulgaria =

=Cambodia=

=Canada=

= Chile =

=Czech Republic=

=Denmark=

=El Salvador=

=Estonia=

=Faroe Islands=

=Fiji=

=Finland=

=France=

= Germany =

=Georgia=

= Greece =

=Hungary=

=India=

=Ireland=

=Israel=

=Italy=

  • The People of the Family[http://www.intelligonews.it/articoli/24-marzo-2016/38867/il-programma-del-popolo-della-famiglia-di-mario-adinolfi-c-e-x-come-xenofilia-e-y-come-y-chromosome Il programma del Popolo della Famiglia di Mario Adinolfi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032608/http://www.intelligonews.it/articoli/24-marzo-2016/38867/il-programma-del-popolo-della-famiglia-di-mario-adinolfi-c-e-x-come-xenofilia-e-y-come-y-chromosome |date=18 January 2017 }} (intelligonews) (Il Popolo della Famiglia)
  • Christian Italy[http://www.italiacristiana.it/il-programma-2/ Programma] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307052641/http://www.italiacristiana.it/il-programma-2/ |date=7 March 2017 }} (Italia Cristiana) (Italia Cristiana)
  • Union of the Centre[http://parties-and-elections.eu/italy.html Parties and Elections in Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615231622/http://parties-and-elections.eu/italy.html |date=15 June 2012 }}. Parties-and-elections.eu. Retrieved on 24 August 2013.{{cite book|author=Piero Ignazi|title=Partiti politici in Italia |year=2008|publisher=Il Mulino, Bologna|page=58}}

=Japan=

  • Liberal Democratic PartyInada, Miho; Dvorak, Phred. [https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/09/20/same-sex-marriage-in-japan-a-long-way-away/ "Same-Sex Marriage in Japan: A Long Way Away?"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616022229/https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/09/20/same-sex-marriage-in-japan-a-long-way-away/ |date=16 June 2016 }}. The Wall Street Journal. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2014.{{cite book |last=Lockhart |first=Charles |year=2010 |title=Protecting the Elderly: How Culture Shapes Social Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZcO7LGc5CogC&pg=PA84 |publisher=Penn State Press |page=84 |isbn=978-0-271-02289-5 |access-date=22 November 2020 }}{{cite book |editor1-last=Magara |editor1-first=Hideko |editor2-last=Sacchi |editor2-first=Stefano |year=2013 |title=The Politics of Structural Reforms: Social and Industrial Policy Change in Italy and Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=beLDAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |page=95 |isbn=978-0-85793-292-1 |access-date=22 November 2020 }}{{cite book |editor1-last=Pekkanen |editor1-first=Robert J. |editor2-last=Scheiner |editor2-first=Ethan |editor3-last=Reed |editor3-first=Steven R. |year=2016 |title=Japan decides 2014: the Japanese general election |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6m_eCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |publisher=Springer |pages=104, 106 |doi=10.1057/9781137552006 |isbn=978-1-349-56437-8 |access-date=22 November 2020 }}
  • Komeito{{cite book|editor=Lucien Ellington |title=Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fox9YR80V7sC&q=social+conservative+Komeito&pg=PA168 |quote= ... Because of this political strength, the Liberal Democratic Party has in recent years included the moderate to socially conservative Komeito Party in coalition governments. |date=2009 |page=168 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-162-6 }}

=Luxembourg=

= Mexico =

= Moldova =

=Netherlands=

=New Zealand=

=Norway=

=Philippines=

  • National Unity Party{{Cite magazine |date=January 27, 2019 |author=Pauline Macaraeg |title=Who to Vote For? Get To Know the Political Parties in the Philippines |url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/political-parties-in-the-philippines-a00287-20190127-lfrm |access-date=2025-04-09 |magazine=Esquire Philippines}}
  • Nationalist People's Coalition{{Cite book |chapter=Philippines |title=World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties |publisher=Facts On File |year=1999 |page=887}}{{Cite book |first=Louis |last=Perron |title=Election Campaigns in the Philippines |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |page=361}}

=Poland=

= Portugal =

=Romania=

=Russia=

=Slovakia=

= Spain =

=Serbia=

= Sweden =

=Switzerland=

=Turkey=

=Ukraine=

=United Kingdom=

==Northern Ireland==

  • Democratic Unionist Party{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/04/27/gay-marriage-once-again-blocked-in-northern-ireland-by-socially-conservative-democratic-unionist-party_n_7152810.html |title=Gay Marriage Bill In Northern Ireland Blocked Again By Socially Conservative Democratic Unionist Party |work=Huffingtonpost.co.uk |date=27 April 2015 |access-date=9 January 2019}}
  • Traditional Unionist Voice
  • Aontú

=United States=

Social conservative factions of political parties

{{Unsourced section|date=February 2025}}

See also

{{Portal|Conservatism}}

References

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Bibliography

  • {{cite book|last=Heywood|first=Andrew|year=2017|title=Political Ideologies: An Introduction|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-60604-4}}

Further reading

{{Refbegin|40em}}

  • 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}}.

{{Refend}}

External links

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