Social conservatism in the United States
Encyclopedia
Social conservatism
in the United States is generally defined by promotion of what its proponents perceive to be traditional social norms and values
. Often citing religion as the basis for their position, modern cultural conservatives, in contrast to small-government
conservatives and states-rights
advocates, turn to the federal government to overrule the states in order to preserve certain moral standards.
and abortion
.
In the 1920s, religious fundamentalists like William Bell Riley
and William Jennings Bryan
led the battle against the teaching of evolution
, a battle which fundamentalists are still fighting today, when fundamentalist Protestants often advocate the teaching of creationism
in the public schools.
Conservatives tend to strongly identify with American nationalism and patriotism. They denounce anti-war protesters and hail the police and the military. Conservatives hold that military institutions embody admirable values like honor, duty, courage, and loyalty, and also admire their tradition and ritual pageantry.
Some conservatives want to use federal power to block state actions they disapprove of. Thus in the 21st century came support for the "No Child Left Behind" program, support for a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage
, and support for federal laws overruling states that attempt to legalize marijuana
or assisted suicide
or use eminent domain to take private property. The willingness to use federal power to intervene in state affairs is the negation of the old state's rights position.
The anti-elitism strain in American social conservatism has taken the form of attacks on elites, experts, scientists, public schools and universities advocating for or enacting policies contrary to their own positions.
Historically, free market and social conservative elements were politically separate (but also not necessarily opposed) in the United States. An alliance of convenience was generated between them in the last half of the twentieth century under the doctrine of Fusionism, created by the ex-communist Frank Meyer, editor of the National Review.
is the largest political party with some socially conservative ideals incorporated into its platform. Voters who are concerned with socially conservative issues often support the Republican Party, although there are also socially-conservative Democrat
s who break ranks with the party platform. Despite this, there have been instances where the Republican Party's nominee has been considered too socially progressive by social conservatives. This has led to the support of third party candidates from parties such as the Constitution Party
, whose philosophies more closely parallel that of social conservatism. While many social conservatives see third parties as a viable option in such a situation, some high-profile social conservatives see the excessive support of them as dangerous. This fear arises from the possibility of vote splitting
. Social conservatives, like any other interest-group, usually must find a balance between pragmatic electability and ideological principles when supporting candidates.
Commentator Randall Hoven of The American Thinker has remarked, "Using the National Journals ratings of Senators in 2007, the correlation coefficient between "economic" scores and "social" scores is 90%. That means they almost always go together; financial conservatives are social conservatives and vice versa".
The American Tea Party movement
is economically conservative but generally avoids social conservative issues, and this is a deliberate strategy. The Tea Party Patriots is officially neutral on social conservatism. While social conservatism emphasizes faith and family as core values, the Tea Party Patriots identifies its "Core Values" as "Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, Free Markets." Some branches are opposed to social conservatism. However, independent polls have repeatedly shown that Tea Party supporters are nearly indistinguishable in their views from traditional Republican social conservatives, despite their choice to emphasize economic issues. While not allying itself exclusively with the Christian conservative movement, members of the Tea Party movement identify with the Christian conservative movement more strongly than the general American populace (44% compared to 34% of the population), and some social conservative leaders have denounced it for its "libertarian" and "irreligious" views. Nearly 80% of those in the Tea Party movement are members of the Republican party.
, Ronald Reagan
and George W. Bush
.
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
in the United States is generally defined by promotion of what its proponents perceive to be traditional social norms and values
Family values
Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
. Often citing religion as the basis for their position, modern cultural conservatives, in contrast to small-government
Small government
A Small government is one which minimizes its own activities. It is a concept important to classical liberalism and libertarianism.-In Hong Kong:...
conservatives and states-rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
advocates, turn to the federal government to overrule the states in order to preserve certain moral standards.
Views
Social conservatives emphasize traditional views of social units such as the family, church, or locality. Social conservatism may entail opposition to same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
.
In the 1920s, religious fundamentalists like William Bell Riley
William Bell Riley
William Bell Riley was known as "The Grand Old Man of Fundamentalism." After being educated at normal school in Valparaiso, Indiana, Riley received his teacher's certificate. After teaching in county schools, he attended college in Hanover, Indiana, where he received an A.B. degree in 1885...
and William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
led the battle against the teaching of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, a battle which fundamentalists are still fighting today, when fundamentalist Protestants often advocate the teaching of creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
in the public schools.
Conservatives tend to strongly identify with American nationalism and patriotism. They denounce anti-war protesters and hail the police and the military. Conservatives hold that military institutions embody admirable values like honor, duty, courage, and loyalty, and also admire their tradition and ritual pageantry.
Some conservatives want to use federal power to block state actions they disapprove of. Thus in the 21st century came support for the "No Child Left Behind" program, support for a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
, and support for federal laws overruling states that attempt to legalize marijuana
Legal issues of cannabis
The legality of cannabis has been the subject of debate and controversy for decades. Cannabis is illegal to consume, use, possess, cultivate, transfer or trade in most countries...
or assisted suicide
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
or use eminent domain to take private property. The willingness to use federal power to intervene in state affairs is the negation of the old state's rights position.
The anti-elitism strain in American social conservatism has taken the form of attacks on elites, experts, scientists, public schools and universities advocating for or enacting policies contrary to their own positions.
Historically, free market and social conservative elements were politically separate (but also not necessarily opposed) in the United States. An alliance of convenience was generated between them in the last half of the twentieth century under the doctrine of Fusionism, created by the ex-communist Frank Meyer, editor of the National Review.
Electoral politics
In American politics, the Republican Party (United States)Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
is the largest political party with some socially conservative ideals incorporated into its platform. Voters who are concerned with socially conservative issues often support the Republican Party, although there are also socially-conservative Democrat
Conservative Democrat
In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a Democratic Party member with conservative political views, or with views relatively conservative with respect to those of the national party...
s who break ranks with the party platform. Despite this, there have been instances where the Republican Party's nominee has been considered too socially progressive by social conservatives. This has led to the support of third party candidates from parties such as the Constitution Party
Constitution Party (United States)
The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...
, whose philosophies more closely parallel that of social conservatism. While many social conservatives see third parties as a viable option in such a situation, some high-profile social conservatives see the excessive support of them as dangerous. This fear arises from the possibility of vote splitting
Vote splitting
Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate....
. Social conservatives, like any other interest-group, usually must find a balance between pragmatic electability and ideological principles when supporting candidates.
Commentator Randall Hoven of The American Thinker has remarked, "Using the National Journals ratings of Senators in 2007, the correlation coefficient between "economic" scores and "social" scores is 90%. That means they almost always go together; financial conservatives are social conservatives and vice versa".
The American Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
is economically conservative but generally avoids social conservative issues, and this is a deliberate strategy. The Tea Party Patriots is officially neutral on social conservatism. While social conservatism emphasizes faith and family as core values, the Tea Party Patriots identifies its "Core Values" as "Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, Free Markets." Some branches are opposed to social conservatism. However, independent polls have repeatedly shown that Tea Party supporters are nearly indistinguishable in their views from traditional Republican social conservatives, despite their choice to emphasize economic issues. While not allying itself exclusively with the Christian conservative movement, members of the Tea Party movement identify with the Christian conservative movement more strongly than the general American populace (44% compared to 34% of the population), and some social conservative leaders have denounced it for its "libertarian" and "irreligious" views. Nearly 80% of those in the Tea Party movement are members of the Republican party.
Geography
Social conservatives are strongest in the South, and in recent years played a major role in the political coalitions of Richard NixonRichard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.