conservatism, political doctrine that emphasizes the value of traditional institutions and practices.

Conservatism is a preference for the historically inherited rather than the abstract and ideal. This preference has traditionally rested on an organicconception of society—that is, on the belief that society is not merely a loose collection of individuals but a living organismcomprising closely connected, interdependent members.Conservatives thus favor institutions and practices that have evolved gradually and aremanifestations ofcontinuity and stability. Government’s responsibility is to be the servant, not the master, of existing ways of life, and politicians must therefore resist the temptation to transform society and politics. This suspicion of government activism distinguishes conservatism not only fromradical forms of political thought but also fromliberalism, which is a modernizing, antitraditionalist movement dedicated to correcting the evils and abuses resulting from the misuse of social and political power. InThe Devil’s Dictionary (1906), the American writerAmbrose Bierce cynically (but not inappropriately) defined theconservative as “a statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.” Conservatism must also be distinguished from the reactionary outlook, which favors the restoration of a previous, and usually outmoded, political or social order.

It was not until the late 18th century, in reaction to the upheavals of theFrench Revolution (1789), that conservatism began to develop as a distinct political attitude and movement. The termconservative was introduced after 1815 by supporters of the newly restoredBourbonmonarchy inFrance, including the author and diplomatFranƈois-Auguste-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand. In 1830 the British politician and writerJohn Wilson Croker used the term to describe the British Tory Party (seeWhig and Tory), andJohn C. Calhoun, anardent defender ofstates’ rights in theUnited States, adopted it soon afterward. The originator of modern,articulated conservatism (though he never used the term himself) is generally acknowledged to be the British parliamentarian and political writerEdmund Burke, whoseReflections on the Revolution in France (1790) was a forceful expression of conservatives’ rejection of the French Revolution and a major inspiration for counterrevolutionary theorists in the 19th century. For Burke and other pro-parliamentarian conservatives, the violent, untraditional, and uprooting methods of the revolution outweighed and corrupted its liberating ideals. The general revulsion against the violent course of the revolution provided conservatives with an opportunity to restore pre-Revolutionary traditions, and several brands of conservative philosophy soon developed.

This article discusses theintellectual roots and political history of conservatism from the 18th century to the present. For coverage of conservative ideas in the history of political philosophy,seepolitical philosophy.