Abstract

American conservatism has always differed from the European conservatism of Edmund Burke. Bereft of rooted traditions, organic hierarchy, or state-based religion—all those things that built the European scaffolding for intellectual reaction—American conservatives have had to reconcile themselves to an alarmingly individualistic and populist society. That's not to say that America was born and will remain a liberal country, the way political scientists like Louis Hartz once confidently prognosticated during the 1950s. Rather, it means that to be conservative demands picking up on some not-so-native-born traditions (Catholicism) or turning populist in style—making for strange alliances and belief systems that don't necessarily hinge together too well.

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