conservatism
Preferring the familiar
Conservatism is a political philosophy favoring tradition, established institutions, and gradual rather than radical change.
Conservatives typically emphasize individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and traditional social values.
The word also describes any disposition toward preserving existing conditions: His conservatism about investing meant he avoided risky stocks.
What counts as conservative shifts with time and place—today's mainstream was often yesterday's radical reform.
One opposing radical overthrow
- retrogradeMoving in reverse direction
- traditionalismAdherence to inherited customs
- monarchismAdvocacy for royal sovereignty
- ultraconservativeExtremely resistant to change
reactionary · restorationist · revanchism · nostalgic · backward-looking
Traditional practices or import taxes
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- ceremoniesFormal observances with ritual
time-honored · orthodoxy · continuity · veneration · patrimony · old-fashioned · conventionality · establishment
Politically conservative faction
- republicanAdvocate against hereditary rule
- neoconservativeHawkish interventionist ideology
- libertarianismMinimal-government political philosophy
- federalistAdvocate for distributed governance
nationalism · populism · partisanship · paleoconservative · fiscal · free-market · deregulation · originalism
State of balance
- constancyUnchanging faithfulness over time
- steadinessState of being constant
- durabilityResistance to wear
- permanenceQuality of lasting indefinitely
continuity · order · hierarchy · reliability · firmness · unchanging · persistence · dependability
Careful, wise judgment
- risk-aversePreferring safety over uncertainty
- circumspectionCareful consideration of consequences
- warinessCautious distrust
- restraintControl over impulses
deliberation · judiciousness · carefulness · hesitation · forethought · precaution · discretion · guardedness
Maintaining something's condition
- restorationReturning something to condition
- custodianshipResponsibility for care, protection
- legacyWhat's passed down
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
heirlooms · artifacts · monuments · archives · relics · manuscripts · antiques · stewardship
counterrevolutionary
One opposing radical overthrow
- retrogradeMoving in reverse direction
- traditionalismAdherence to inherited customs
- monarchismAdvocacy for royal sovereignty
ultraconservative · reactionary · restorationist · revanchism · nostalgic · backward-looking
customs
Traditional practices or import taxes
ceremonies · time-honored · orthodoxy · continuity · veneration · patrimony · old-fashioned · conventionality · establishment · rituals
right-wing
Politically conservative faction
- republicanAdvocate against hereditary rule
- neoconservativeHawkish interventionist ideology
- libertarianismMinimal-government political philosophy
federalist · nationalism · populism · partisanship · paleoconservative · fiscal · free-market · deregulation · originalism · constitutionalism
equilibrium
State of balance
- constancyUnchanging faithfulness over time
- steadinessState of being constant
- durabilityResistance to wear
permanence · continuity · order · hierarchy · reliability · firmness · unchanging · persistence · dependability · balance
prudence
Careful, wise judgment
- risk-aversePreferring safety over uncertainty
- circumspectionCareful consideration of consequences
- warinessCautious distrust
restraint · deliberation · judiciousness · carefulness · hesitation · forethought · precaution · discretion · guardedness · tentativeness
preservation
Maintaining something's condition
- restorationReturning something to condition
- custodianshipResponsibility for care, protection
- legacyWhat's passed down
inheritance · heirlooms · artifacts · monuments · archives · relics · manuscripts · antiques · stewardship · safeguarding
- political ideologiesanarchism, liberalism, liberal, libertarian, socialism
- political sciencepolitical science, political theory, political behavior, political economy, political institutions
- -ismsatomism, postmodernism, feminism, Marxism, Darwinism
- ideologiescapitalism, communism, liberalism, socialism, anarchism
- politicsdemocracy, campaigning, campaigns, democrats, bill
- US Politicsballot, liberalism, bill, constitutionalism, campaign
conservatismliberalism
Philosophy valuing reform, tolerance
progressivism · leftism · socialism · radicalism · left-wing politics
conservatismprogressivism
Philosophy advocating societal reform
reformism · modernism · radicalism · innovation · futurism
conservatismnonconformity
Rejection of prevailing norms
unorthodoxy · nonconformism · open-mindedness · bohemianism · broad-mindedness
- conservative valuesBeliefs favoring established norms
- conservative dressRestrained, traditional clothing
- social conservativesRight-leaning morality advocates
- political conservativeOne favoring established institutions
- law of conservation of energyEnergy cannot be created/destroyed
- water conservationMinimizing freshwater waste strategically