What Is Authoritarian Conservatism?
Authoritarian conservatism is a political ideology that seeks to uphold order, tradition, and hierarchy, often with forcible suppression of radical and revolutionary enemies such as communists, Nazis, and anarchists. Part of the Conservative family.
Definition
Authoritarian conservatism is a political ideology that seeks to uphold order, tradition, and hierarchy, often with forcible suppression of radical and revolutionary enemies such as communists, Nazis, and anarchists.
Definition quoted from Wikipedia: Authoritarian conservatism (text available under CC BY-SA 4.0; checked October 20, 2026).
Core ideas
- Order and authority above popular participation.
- Defense of tradition, religion and hierarchy.
- Restrictions on opposition and dissent.
Core ideas, origins and thinkers: Atlas summary.
Where Authoritarian Conservatism sits on the Atlas maps
| Map dimension | Score (0–100) | Position | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 67 | toward market | |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 94 | strongly toward traditional | |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 79 | toward authoritarian | |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 92 | strongly toward nationalist | |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 51 | near the center |
All nine underlying dimensions
| Dimension | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Economic ownership Collective ownership ↔ Private ownership | 81 | toward private ownership |
| Civil liberties Civil liberty ↔ State restrictions | 69 | toward state restrictions |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 92 | strongly toward nationalist |
| Social and cultural values Progressive ↔ Traditionalist | 100 | strongly toward traditionalist |
| Political governance Democratic ↔ Autocratic | 90 | strongly toward autocratic |
| Equality and hierarchy Egalitarian ↔ Hierarchical | 90 | strongly toward hierarchical |
| Economic management Free market ↔ State planning | 53 | near the center |
| Military intervention Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 51 | near the center |
| Religion and government Secular state ↔ Religious authority | 81 | toward religious authority |
These positions are estimates on the Atlas’s nine-dimension scale, produced by running the tradition’s core principles through the same questions and scoring used for test-takers. They are interpretations for comparison, not objective measurements. How scores are made.
Estimated positions on key questions
| Statement | Position | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| The means of production should ultimately be owned collectively. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Central economic planning is preferable to decentralized market decisions. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| National borders should become less important over time. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Traditional values should guide what society considers right and wrong. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| A strong leader who gets things done matters more than following proper procedures. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| National security can justify restrictions on what journalists publish. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Reducing the gap between rich and poor should be a major government goal. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Laws should be based on secular reasoning rather than religious teaching. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Non-intervention should be the default even when allies request military assistance. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Organized prayer or worship should be allowed in state-run schools. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
Related ideologies
Main differences from the closest ideologies
- Compared with Absolute Monarchism, Authoritarian Conservatism sits 8 points further toward libertarian on the authority dimension.
- Compared with Monarchism, Authoritarian Conservatism sits 9 points further toward nationalist on the national identity dimension.
- Compared with Ethnonationalism, Authoritarian Conservatism sits 21 points further toward intervention on the foreign policy dimension.
Figures with the closest estimated positions
Closeness of estimated positions only; this does not mean these people identify with Authoritarian Conservatism.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Authoritarian conservatism
- Wikipedia: Authoritarian Conservatism (Wikipedia search)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Conservatism
Position last reviewed: not yet reviewed individually.