Conservatism in North America

Conservatism in North America is a political philosophy that varies in form, depending on the country and the region, but that has similar themes and goals. Academic study into the differences and similarities between conservatism in North American countries has been undertaken on numerous occasions. Reginald Bibby has asserted that the primary reason that conservatism has been so strong and enduring throughout North America is because of the propagation of religious values from generation to generation. This connection is strongest in mainstream Protestantism in the United States, and both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism in Canada.^[1]

According to Louis Hartz, nations that developed from settler colonies were European "fragments" that froze the class structure and underlying ideology prevalent in the mother country at the time of their foundation. He considered Latin America and French Canada to be fragments of feudal Europe, and the United States and English Canada as liberal fragments.^[2] However Gad Horowitz, writing that Hartz had acknowledged a Tory influence in English Canada, claimed a conservative tradition had developed there as well.^[3] American conservatism is different from European conservatism, with its combination of traditionalism and libertarianism, and has its roots in American traditions and classical liberalism of the 18th and 19th centuries,^[4] although Canada also developed an American-style conservatism that competed with the older Tory conservatism.^[5] A right-wing conservatism, or "Latin conservatism", developed in Latin America and Quebec. Today, conservative and conservative liberal parties in North America cooperate through the International Democrat Union.^[6]

^ Lori G. Beaman (2006). Religion and Canadian Society: Traditions, Transitions, and Innovations. Canadian Scholars' Press. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-55130-306-2. "Reginald Bibby identifies a pervasive religious conservatism in North America demonstrated by the intergenerational transmission of religious traditions, which, in the United States, are more likely to be mainstream Protestantism, or, in Canada, mainstream Protestantism and Roman Catholicism."
^ The Founding of New Societies: Studies in the History of the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Canada, and Australia (1964), Louis Hartz
^ "Conservatism, Liberalism, and Socialism in Canada: An Interpretation" (1966), Gad Horowitz
^ Political ideology today (2001), Ian Adams, p. 32
^ "Ernest Manning and George Grant: Who is the Real Conservative" (2004), Ron Dart.
^ International Democrat Union Archived October 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

[1] Lori G. Beaman (2006). Religion and Canadian Society: Traditions, Transitions, and Innovations. Canadian Scholars' Press. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-55130-306-2. "Reginald Bibby identifies a pervasive religious conservatism in North America demonstrated by the intergenerational transmission of religious traditions, which, in the United States, are more likely to be mainstream Protestantism, or, in Canada, mainstream Protestantism and Roman Catholicism."

[2] The Founding of New Societies: Studies in the History of the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Canada, and Australia (1964), Louis Hartz

[3] "Conservatism, Liberalism, and Socialism in Canada: An Interpretation" (1966), Gad Horowitz

[4] Political ideology today (2001), Ian Adams, p. 32

[5] "Ernest Manning and George Grant: Who is the Real Conservative" (2004), Ron Dart.

[6] International Democrat Union Archived October 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

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