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National conservatism

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National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity, communitarianism and the public role of religion. It shares aspects of traditionalist conservatism and social conservatism, while departing from economic liberalism and libertarianism, as well as taking a more pragmatic approach to regulatory economics and protectionism.[1][2][3][4] It opposes the basic precepts of enlightenment liberalism such as individualism and the universality of human rights, and in America and Europe is majoritarian populist.[5] National conservatives usually combine conservatism with nationalist stances, emphasizing cultural conservatism, family values and opposition to illegal immigration or opposition to immigration per se.[6][7][8] National conservative parties often have roots in environments with a rural, traditionalist or peripheral basis, contrasting with the more urban support base of liberal conservative parties.[9]

In Europe, national conservatives usually embrace some form of Euroscepticism.[10] In post-communist central and eastern Europe specifically, most conservative parties since 1989 have followed a national conservative ideology.[11] Most notable is Viktor Orbán in Hungary, who has explicitly described his Fidesz's ideology as being national conservative in character and whose government is involved in the funding and spread of national conservative institutions across Europe and the United States, such as the Danube Institute, the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, The European Conservative magazine and the National Conservatism Conference.[6][7][12][13][14][15][16] In the United States, Trumpism can be considered a variety of national conservatism,[17][18][19] which also gives its name to the National Conservatism Conference, organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation.[20]

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Ideology

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National conservatism focuses on "threats to moral order and the loss of moral bearing due to liberalism's relativism."[21]: 1089  It rejects the basic precepts of enlightenment liberalism such as individualism and the universality of human rights. In America and Europe, national conservatives are majoritarian populist, and advocate for fewer limits on limiting the power of elected representatives to "smash the liberal state."[5] It opposes modernity, liberalism, and anarchism, instead valuing Europe's Christian heritage[21]: 1099  and "defending" Western civilization.[21]: 1093  National conservatism is silent on classical conservative thought expressed by Michael Oakeshott and Edmund Burke.[21]: 1099  In The Virtue of Nationalism, Yoram Hazony criticizes Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke for creating a "dream world" where the "Jewish and Christian world" have "no place to exist".[17] National conservatism disagrees with liberalism and socialism over the interpretation of key historical developments, such as the Enlightenment, modernization, and emancipation and key political events such as 1789, 1968, and 1989. National conservatism distances itself from fascism, viewing it along with liberalism and socialism as aspects of modernity and thus "disconnect human designs from normative order", instead calling for the "restoration and order" of social, moral, and political structures.[21]: 1099  Patrick Deneen argues that the "current elite" should be replaced with "a better aristocracy brought about by a muscular populism" to advance the "common good", with the common good loosely defined as "integration" which includes the reuniting of church and state.[17] In his 2022 book Conservatism: A Rediscovery, Hazony, who has been considered by some observers as one of the intellectuals behind the re-launch of national conservatism, wrote that "in the political arena, conservatism refers to a standpoint that regards the recovery, restoration, elaboration, and repair of national and religious traditions as the key to maintaining a nation and strengthening it through time.[22][23][24][25]

Social policies

Ideologically, national conservatism is not a uniform philosophy but adherents have broadly expressed support for nationalism, patriotism, assimilationism and monoculturalism. At the same time there is expressed opposition to internationalism, racial politics, multiculturalism and globalism.[26][27][28] National conservatives adhere to a form of cultural nationalism that emphasizes the preservation of national identity as well as cultural identity. As a result, many favor assimilation into the dominant culture, restrictions on immigration and strict law and order policies.[7][6]

National conservative parties support traditional family values, gender roles and the public role of religion,[6][29] being critical of the separation of church and state. According to the Austrian political scientist Sieglinde Rosenberger, "national conservatism praises the family as a home and a center of identity, solidarity, and tradition".[29] It opposes the "1968 agenda" of gender-related emancipation.[21]: 1099 

Economic policies

National conservative parties in different countries do not necessarily share a common position on economic policy. Their views may range from support of corporatism, mixed economy and protectionism to a more laissez-faire approach. In the first, more common case, national conservatives can be distinguished from liberal conservatives,[30] for whom free market economic policies, deregulation and tight spending are the main priorities. Some commentators have indeed identified a growing gap between national and economic liberal conservatism: "Most parties of the Right [today] are run by economically liberal conservatives who, in varying degrees, have marginalised social, cultural and national conservatives."[30]

National conservatism developed its economic alternative to liberalism through political representatives in post-communist Europe, most notably Poland and Hungary, and the emergence of "pro-worker conservatism" in the United States.[21]: 1095  Throughout the 1990s, economic positions of national conservatives were largely fusionist.[21]: 1097  The works of Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin have served as building blocks for the modern national conservative movement's socio-economic policies. Strauss' indictment of capitalism as 'economism' through the reduction of individual needs to consumption plays a role in national conservative thought, which argues for solidarism and an increased statist role in the economy to bring about a moralizing "financial nationalism" in opposition to communism and the individualism in liberalism.[21]: 1097–1098  Depending on the country, this can include increased support of protectionism; increased state social spending for "pro-worker" and "pro-family" conservatism; the re-nationalization of banks and strategic enterprises; and opposing tax breaks.[21]: 1098–1099  It supports 'social nativism' in East Asian state-led development as a socio-economic policy paradigm.[21]: 1093 

Foreign policy

National conservatives usually support a foreign policy that upholds the interests of their nation. They lean towards militarism, unilateralism and isolationism. They reject the internationalism and multilateralism that has characterized the modern global age.[31][32] They often have a negative view of the United Nations, feeling that its globalist agenda erodes their unique national identity,[31][32] as well as the European Union and other international organizations.[17]

Regionalist varieties

Main article: Regionalism (politics)

Regional parties can be nationalist or national conservative, without aligning with the country to which the region belongs. South Tyrol is a notable example, as "national conservative" parties there represent its German-speaking majority and identify with neighbouring Austria, with which South Tyrol shares cultural and historical ties.

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Geography and demographics

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National conservatism has gained ground across the Western world in recent decades, but has been particularly strong in certain countries and among certain demographic groups. Different political cleavages have been studied regarding support for national conservatism.[33]

Costas Panayotakis has argued that the economic inequality engendered by neoliberalism contributed to the rise of national conservatism.[34] Thomas Piketty argues that higher educational attainment and educational polarization has contributed to the rise of national conservatism and right-wing populism.[35]

In the 2020s, national conservatism was described as causing a "new global divide," particularly in the Western World (i.e. the Americas and Europe). Several very close elections pitted a national conservative candidate against a liberal candidate, with national conservative candidates sometimes winning, such as in the 2024 United States presidential election and the 2025 Polish presidential election.[36]

United States

See also: Political polarization in the United States
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Left to right:
National conservative and 45th & 47th President of the United States Donald Trump (2017-2021, 2025-present); Liberal and 49th Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris (2021-2025)

One country particularly affected by political polarization between national conservatism and liberalism is the United States.[36] Although the political divide in the United States is similar to that of much of the rest of the Western world, the United States is also uniquely polarized by race and ethnicity. The United States is heavily polarized by its legacy of slave states and free states, with most states in the Northern United States supporting the liberal Democratic Party and most states in the Southern United States supporting the national conservative Republican Party. Racial polarization is extremely high in the Southern United States, with White Southerners voting for national conservative candidates and African Americans voting for liberal candidates.[39]

In the 2024 United States presidential election, the national conservative candidate Donald Trump defeated the liberal candidate Kamala Harris (who is African American) by 1.5%.[36]

Eastern Europe

See also: Post-communism and Iron Curtain
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Left to right:
AfD in the 2024 European Parliament election in Germany in light blue; Law and Justice in the 2025 Polish presidential election second round in dark blue
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Left to right:
President of Russia Vladimir Putin in 2024; President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022

One particular geographic area where national conservatism has gained ground is post-communist Eastern Europe, east of the former Iron Curtain.[40]

Countries such as Germany and Poland are strongly politically polarized by the Iron Curtain's former geographic boundaries.[41][42]

The national conservative Fidesz party under the leadership of Viktor Orbán is the dominant party in Hungary, another post-Communist European country.[45] In the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election, Fidesz performed strongest in areas with high birthrates[46] and with lower educational or economic attainment,[47][48] while the united opposition did best in Budapest and in a few other urban areas.[49]

Russia itself, under the rule of Vladimir Putin, has waged an irredentist invasion of Ukraine since 2022. Putin has implemented and espoused national conservatism, including through his affiliated United Russia party.[50][51][52] Ukraine, under the leadership of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has defended itself against Russia. Zelenskyy's party, Servant of the People is a liberal, centrist, pro-European political party in Ukraine. Note that Vladimir in Russian translates to Volodymyr in Ukrainian.

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List of national conservative political parties

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Current national conservative parties, or parties with national conservative factions

The following political parties have been characterised as being ideologically influenced by national conservatism:

Defunct or formerly national conservative parties, or parties with national conservative factions

National conservative groups in the European Parliament

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See also

References

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