What is Conservatism?
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, organic society, hierarchy, authority, and property rights. Conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as religion, parliamentary government, and property rights, with the aim of emphasizing social stability and continuity. The first established use of the term in a political context originated in 1780 with French economist and philosopher François-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name Voltaire. Conservatism is generally associated with right-wing politics; however, there have been left-wing variants of the political philosophy. After the French Revolution, the word "conservative" was first used in English in 1790 by journalist William Cobbett, in a review of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. In the United Kingdom, conservative parties includ...