Social Conservatism - Social Conservatism and Other Ideological Views

Social Conservatism and Other Ideological Views

There is no necessary link between social and fiscal conservatism; some social conservatives such as Mike Huckabee, George W. Bush, and Michael Gerson are otherwise apolitical, centrist or liberal on economic and fiscal issues. Social conservatives may sometimes support economic intervention where the intervention serves moral or cultural aims. Many Social Conservatives support a balance of fair trade with a true free market . This concern for material welfare, like advocacy of traditional mores, will often have a basis in religion. Examples include the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, the Family First Party and Katter's Australian Party, and the communitarian movement in the United States.

There is more overlap between social conservatism and paleoconservatism, in that they both have respect for traditional social forms. However, paleoconservatism bears a closer resemblance to New Deal Democrats in domestic policies and is isolationist in foreign policy.

Karen Stenner has argued that social conservatism is seen as a form of authoritarianism, in contrast with traditionalist conservatism. This position was echoed in John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience. Social conservatism is often associated with the position that the government should have a greater role in the social affairs of its citizens, generally supporting whatever it sees as morally correct choices and discouraging or outright forbidding those it considers morally wrong ones.