Portal:Conservatism

The Conservatism Portal

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional values, accepting that technology and society can shift, but the moral values and principles should not. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to the way things were. The first established use of the term in a political context was by François-René de Chateaubriand in 1819, following the French Revolution. Political science often credits the Irish politician Edmund Burke with many of the ideas now called conservative.

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Sir John Alexander Macdonald (1815 – 1891) was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century. Macdonald served almost nineteen years as Canadian Prime Minister; he is surpassed in tenure only by William Lyon Mackenzie King.

When in 1864 no party proved capable of governing for long, Macdonald agreed to a proposal from his political rival, George Brown, that the parties unite in a Great Coalition to seek federation and political reform. Macdonald was the leading figure in the subsequent discussions and conferences, which resulted in the British North America Act and the birth of Canada as a nation on 1 July 1867. Macdonald was designated as the first Prime Minister of the new nation, and served in that capacity for most of the remainder of his life. Macdonald is credited with obtaining Confederation despite many obstacles, and expanding what was a relatively small colony to cover the northern half of North America.

Did you know...

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  ...that Virginia Lamp Thomas (pictured), wife of United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, collected résumés for appointments in the George W. Bush Administration while working at the Heritage Foundation?
• ... that author Jonathan Krohn gave a two-minute speech at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at age thirteen?
• ...that the conservative Thai Social Action Party was founded in 1974 by politician and former Prime Minister of Thailand Kukrit Pramoj?
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The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians.

—George Orwell, in a letter to Malcolm Muggeridge (4 December 1948)

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In the news

• January 22: conservative Sauli Niinistö wins the first round in Finland's presidential election. ABC News
• November 16: amid economic unrest in Spain, polls show conservative Mariano Rajoy with a substantial lead over the ruling Socialists going into Sunday's election. Newsmax
• October 29: the US Republican Party nomination campaign heats up in the key state of New Hampshire, where Rick Perry (pictured) calls for the repeal of its gay marriage law. Reuters
• September 23: Prediction markets show the likelihood of a Rick Perry nomination as a US presidential candidate is now in free fall. The Ticket
• September 22: US congressman Thad McCotter ends his presidential bid. OpenGlobe
• August 30, 2011: Japan's parliament elects Yoshihiko Noda as prime minister. Fox News
• August 11, 2012: US Republican Mitt Romney selects Paul Ryan as his running mate. Fox News

Selected anniversaries in May

May 4th

• 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

May 7th

• 1940 – the Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.

May 24th

• 1988 – Section 28 is enacted in Great Britain with the effect of prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities.

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The European People's Party (EPP) is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives. The EPP is the most influential of the European parties. It has been the largest party in the European Parliament since 1999, the European Council since 2002 and is also by far the largest party in the current European Commission. As a central part of its 2009 campaign for the European elections, the EPP approved at the April Congress in Warsaw its 'Election Manifesto'. At the Congress Warsaw, the EPP endorsed Barroso for a second term and President of the Commission.

Credit: Boing

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