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Social conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes the government has a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. However, the accepted meaning of traditional morality often differs 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 principles to which at least a majority of social conservatives adhere.
A second meaning of the term has developed in the Nordic countries and Continental Europe. Here it refers to liberal conservatives supporting modern European welfare states.
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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 conservatives in many countries generally:
- favor the pro-life position in the abortion controversy
- oppose expansion of civil marriage and child adoption rights to couples in homosexual relationships
- promote public morality and traditional family values
- promote the nuclear family model as society's foundational unit
- oppose secularism and privatization of religious belief
Social conservatism and economic systems
There is no necessary link between social and fiscal conservatism. In fact, some social conservatives are otherwise apolitical or even left-wing on fiscal issues. For example, social conservatives may also support a degree of government intervention in the economy, and as such will tend to support the concept economic intervention to further this aim. This concern for material welfare, like advocacy of traditional mores, will often have a basis in the religion of the social conservatives in question. Examples include the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, the Family First and Democratic Labor Party of Australia, 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 has a strong cultural conservative strain which social conservatism, in and of itself, is not necessarily allied with. For example, John Burger, writing in Crisis Magazine in 2005, said:
"The presence of a significant population of culturally Catholic immigrants offers hope that their culture will permeate a decadent American society and contribute to the re-evangelization of native-born Catholics. . . Abortion is still illegal in most Latin American countries. And in most areas, it’s not even part of a person’s consciousness." 1
Social conservatism and confessionalism
Many Christian Democratic Parties and Muslim parties around the world are socially conservative.
Social conservatism and nationalism
In Europe, some social conservative parties also support nationalism, regionalism and to a certain extent xenophobia, based on ideas according to which the national wealth and the traditional values would lose from free immigration and free trade.
However, these positions are contradictory with Christian religious beliefs and repetitively criticized by representatives of Catholic and Protestant churches. Dominant conservative parties, also called moderate right parties refrain from nationalism, trying to integrate citizens from ethnic minorities.
List of social conservative political parties
Australia
- Democratic Labor Party
- Family First Party
- Christian Democratic Party
- A large number of Liberal Party, National Party, and to a lesser extent Labor Party members in Australia are also considered socially conservative.
Austria
Belgium including far right and separatist ideas
Canada
- Family Coalition Party of Ontario
- Christian Heritage Party of Canada
- A large number of Conservative Party members in Canada are considered socially conservative.
Chile
France
- Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) Union for a Popular Movement
- Forum des républicains sociaux (FRS), Forum of Social Republicans
and, including far right and nationalist ideas
- Mouvement pour la France (MPF), Movement for France
- Front National (FN), National Front
- Mouvement National Républicain (MNR), National Republican Movement
Germany
- Christlich-Soziale Union (CSU), Christian Social Union of Bavaria
- Partei Bibeltreuer Christen (PBC), Party of Bible-abiding Christians
India
Ireland
Italy
- Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e di Centro (UDC), Union of Christian and Centre Democrats
- Alleanza Nazionale (AN), National Alliance
and, with nationalist and separatist ideas
Japan
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Poland
Philippines
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
See also
- Christian Democracy
- Conservatism
- Paleoconservatism
- Pro-life
- Communitarian
- Traditionalist world view (American)
- Social conservatism (Canada)
- Distributism
- Social progressivism
References
Further reading
- Carlson, Alan, The Family in America: Searching for Social Harmony in the Industrial Age (2003) ISBN 0-7658-0536-7
- Carlson, Alan, 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 0-89526-46 4-1
- 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.
External links
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