| Main page | Showcase | Project |
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 civilization 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, organized religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy.
The 18th-century Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke, 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, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Singapore, 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,[dubious – discuss] moderate or extreme. (Full article...)
Selected article
Selected quote
The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians.
— George Orwell, in a letter to Malcolm Muggeridge (4 December 1948)
Selected image
In 1905, Calvin Coolidge met and married a fellow Vermonter, Grace Anna Goodhue, who was working as a teacher at the Clarke School for the Deaf. While Grace was watering flowers outside the school one day in 1903, she happened to look up at the open window of Robert N. Weir's boardinghouse and caught a glimpse of Calvin Coolidge shaving in front of a mirror with nothing on but long underwear and a hat. After a more formal introduction sometime later, the two were quickly attracted to each other. They were married on October 4, 1905, in the parlor of her parents' home in Burlington, Vermont.
They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while he was quiet and serious. The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces."
Credit: Brian0918
Did you know...
- ...that the Ronald Reagan Trail is a collection of highways in central Illinois that connect villages and cities that were of importance to Ronald Reagan?
- ...that Geoffrey Wheatcroft, the author of The Strange Death of Tory England, advises British conservatives to learn from the conservatism of the socialist George Orwell?
- ... that, in its campaign against a Romanian World War I alliance with the Entente powers, the newspaper Seara employed conservatives, socialists and anarchists as contributors?
Selected anniversaries in August
- 1993 – the European Young Conservatives is founded by the former national chairman of the UK's Young Conservatives, Andrew Rosindell.
- 1988 – presidential candidate George H. W. Bush utters the phrase, "Read my lips: no new taxes," during his acceptance speech of the Republican nomination. The phrase was used later by Bill Clinton to defeat Bush in the 1992 presidential election campaign.
- 2008 – Sarah Palin becomes the first female Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States.
Topics
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
