What Is Conservative Populism?
Conservative populism combines appeals to ordinary people against political and cultural elites with conservative positions on culture, religion, immigration and national identity. Part of the Conservative family.
Definition
Conservative populism combines appeals to ordinary people against political and cultural elites with conservative positions on culture, religion, immigration and national identity.
Atlas definition: written by The Ideology Atlas. Writers and movements define ideologies in different ways; this is a short working definition. Further reading: Wikipedia: Right-wing populism.
Core ideas
- The people against the establishment.
- Traditional values and national identity.
- Skepticism of experts and international institutions.
Core ideas, origins and thinkers: Atlas summary.
Where Conservative Populism sits on the Atlas maps
| Map dimension | Score (0–100) | Position | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 60 | near the center | |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 71 | toward traditional | |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 37 | near the center | |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 86 | strongly toward nationalist | |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 29 | toward non-intervention |
All nine underlying dimensions
| Dimension | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Economic ownership Collective ownership ↔ Private ownership | 73 | toward private ownership |
| Civil liberties Civil liberty ↔ State restrictions | 45 | near the center |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 86 | strongly toward nationalist |
| Social and cultural values Progressive ↔ Traditionalist | 77 | toward traditionalist |
| Political governance Democratic ↔ Autocratic | 28 | toward democratic |
| Equality and hierarchy Egalitarian ↔ Hierarchical | 61 | near the center |
| Economic management Free market ↔ State planning | 59 | near the center |
| Military intervention Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 29 | toward non-intervention |
| Religion and government Secular state ↔ Religious authority | 60 | near the center |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Opposition parties should be free to compete in elections. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| The means of production should ultimately be owned collectively. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| A national religious authority should have the power to veto legislation. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| People should be free to criticize the government without fear of legal punishment. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| National borders should become less important over time. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Central economic planning is preferable to decentralized market decisions. | Disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Military power should be used proactively when serious external threats are emerging. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Traditional values should guide what society considers right and wrong. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Class distinctions should gradually disappear. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Traditional family structures should receive special recognition in public policy. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
Related ideologies
Main differences from the closest ideologies
- Compared with Cultural Nationalism, Conservative Populism sits 3 points further toward progressive on the social dimension.
- Compared with Right-Wing Populism, Conservative Populism sits 9 points further toward libertarian on the authority dimension.
- Compared with National Conservatism, Conservative Populism sits 10 points further toward progressive on the social dimension.
Figures with the closest estimated positions
Closeness of estimated positions only; this does not mean these people identify with Conservative Populism.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Right-wing populism
- Wikipedia: Conservative Populism (Wikipedia search)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Conservatism
Position last reviewed: not yet reviewed individually.