What is Social Conservatism?
Social conservatism is the part of conservative thought that focuses on moral and cultural questions. Social conservatives believe that stable families, religious faith and shared moral norms are the foundation of a healthy society. They often oppose or seek to limit abortion, euthanasia and recreational drug use, and many support a traditional definition of marriage. Social conservatism is not tied to one economic program. Some social conservatives favor free markets, while others support family benefits and a stronger social safety net.
Core beliefs
- The family based on marriage is the basic unit of society.
- Human life deserves legal protection from conception to natural death.
- Religion and moral tradition should have a respected place in public life.
- Parents, not the state, have primary responsibility for raising children.
- Law and culture shape character, so public morality matters.
- Rapid social change can weaken communities and the institutions that support them.
History
Social conservatism draws on older religious and philosophical traditions, including Christian, Jewish and Islamic moral teaching. Edmund Burke stressed that manners and morals are part of a nation's inheritance. In the twentieth century, social conservatism became an organized political force in response to rapid changes in family life, sexuality and religion after the 1960s. In the United States, Russell Kirk wrote about the moral order behind political life, and the activist Phyllis Schlafly led a successful campaign against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. In 1979 the minister Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which helped establish the religious right as a major voter bloc. In Europe, social conservative ideas often found a home inside Christian democratic parties and in movements linked to national churches.
Variants
Religious social conservatism grounds its views in faith and church teaching. Secular social conservatism argues from social science and experience, holding that some traditions survive because they work. Some social conservatives combine their views with free-market economics, while others, sometimes called 'family-first' or 'common good' conservatives, favor public support for families and workers. Social conservatism also takes different forms in different countries, depending on the main religious traditions there.
Criticisms
Critics on the left argue that social conservatism restricts personal freedom, especially for women and LGBT people, and that it uses law to impose one set of religious beliefs on a diverse society. Libertarians argue from the right that the state should not regulate private moral choices at all. Some secular critics argue that its policies conflict with the separation of church and state. Some economists and social scientists also question whether laws can reverse long-term trends in family life.
In practice
Social conservative ideas have influenced laws on abortion, marriage, divorce, adoption, drug policy, school curricula and religious freedom in many countries. Social conservative voters have been an important base for center-right parties in the United States, in parts of Europe and in Latin America. Policies often associated with it include tax credits for families, restrictions on abortion, protections for religious schools and conscience exemptions for medical workers.