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Introduction
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilisation in which it appears. In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote and preserve a range of institutions, such as the nuclear family, organised religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy. Conservatives tend to favour institutions and practices that enhance social order and historical continuity.
Edmund Burke, an 18th-century Anglo-Irish statesman who opposed the French Revolution but supported the American Revolution, is credited as one of the forefathers of conservative thought in the 1790s along with Savoyard statesman Joseph de Maistre. The first established use of the term in a political context originated in 1818 with François-René de Chateaubriand during the period of Bourbon Restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution and establish social order.
Conservatism has varied considerably as it has adapted itself to existing traditions and national cultures. Thus, conservatives from different parts of the world, each upholding their respective traditions, may disagree on a wide range of issues. One of the three major ideologies along with liberalism and socialism, conservatism is the dominant ideology in many nations across the world, including Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Poland, Russia, and South Korea. Historically associated with right-wing politics, the term has been used to describe a wide range of views. Conservatism may be either libertarian or authoritarian, populist or elitist, progressive or reactionary, moderate or extreme. (Full article...)
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The party emerged in 1834 out of the original Tory Party, which dates to 1678. The party was one of two dominant parties in the nineteenth century, along with the Liberals. It changed its name to Conservative and Unionist Party in 1912 after merging with the Liberal Unionist Party, although that name is rarely used and it is generally referred to as simply the Conservative Party.
Conservative prime ministers led governments for 57 years of the 20th century, including Winston Churchill (1940–45, 1951–1955) and Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990). Thatcher's tenure led to wide-ranging economic liberalisation, placing the Conservatives firmly as the most free market and eurosceptic of the three major parties. The party was returned to government in 2010 beginning with the more liberal leadership of David Cameron.
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It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.
— Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminati Papers (1980)
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La Gaceta was established on August 4, 1912, by Alberto García Hamilton, an Uruguayan publisher who left for neighboring Argentina following a political dispute. La Gaceta earned a reputation for conservatism, and was opposed to populist leader Hipólito Yrigoyen during the 1920s, as well as to the pro-development administration of Arturo Frondizi, who had the paper censored in 1960.
Credit: Jlazarte
Did you know...
- ... that the presidential campaign of Chuck Baldwin (pictured) began only two weeks before the 2008 Constitution Party Convention yet still edged the campaign of political veteran Alan Keyes in the delegate count?
- ... that Polish party Forward Poland rejected an alliance with Declan Ganley's Libertas?
- ... that during World War I, future Norwegian politician and railroad chairman Egil Werner Erichsen was hit by the Spanish flu, but did not spend one day in bed?
Selected anniversaries in September
- 1854 – the United States Republican Party is founded. The party opposed the expansion of slavery, called for free homesteads to farmers ("free soil"), and sought to modernize banking, railroads, and industry.
- 1871 – the Brazilian Parliament passes the Law of Free Birth, a measure championed by Rio Branco
- 1994 – the Contract with America is signed by Republican Party members on the steps of the United States Capitol.
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