Social conservatism in the United States

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Social conservatism in the United States is generally defined by promotion of what its proponents perceive to be traditional social norms and values.


Social conservatives emphasize what they describe as traditional views of social units such as the family, church, or locality. Social conservatism may entail opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

In the 1920s, religious fundamentalists like William Bell Riley and William Jennings Bryan led the battle against the teaching of evolution, a battle which fundamentalists are still fighting today, when fundamentalist Protestants often advocate the teaching of creationism in the public schools.

Conservatives tend to strongly identify with American nationalism and patriotism. They denounce anti-war protesters and hail the police and the military. Conservatives hold that military institutions embody admirable values like honor, courage, devotion, and loyalty, and also admire their tradition and ritual pageantry.

Historically, free market and social conservative elements were politically separate (but also not necessarily opposed) in the United States. An alliance of convenience was generated between them in the last half of the twentieth century under the doctrine of Fusionism, created by the ex-communist Frank Meyer, editor of the National Review.[1]

Electoral politics[edit]

In American politics, the Republican Party is the largest political party with some socially conservative ideals incorporated into its platform. Voters who are concerned with socially conservative issues often support the Republican Party, although there are also socially-conservative Democrats who break ranks with the party platform. Despite this, there have been instances where the Republican Party's nominee has been considered too socially progressive by social conservatives. This has led to the support of third party candidates from parties such as the Constitution Party, whose philosophies more closely parallel that of social conservatism.[2] While many social conservatives see third parties as a viable option in such a situation, some high-profile social conservatives see the excessive support of them as dangerous. This fear arises from the possibility of vote splitting.[3] Social conservatives, like any other interest-group, usually must find a balance between pragmatic electability and ideological principles when supporting candidates.[4]

Commentator Randall Hoven of The American Thinker has remarked, "Using the National Journals ratings of Senators in 2007, the correlation coefficient between "economic" scores and "social" scores is 90%. That means they almost always go together; financial conservatives are social conservatives and vice versa".[5]

The American Tea Party movement, despite being mostly made up of stringent Social Conservatives, is economically conservative but generally avoids social conservative issues, and this is a deliberate strategy.[6] The Tea Party Patriots is officially neutral[7] on social conservatism. While social conservatism emphasizes faith and family as core values, the Tea Party Patriots identifies its "Core Values" as "Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, Free Markets."[8] Some branches are opposed[9] to social conservatism. However, independent polls have repeatedly shown that Tea Party supporters are nearly indistinguishable in their views from traditional Republican social conservatives, despite their choice to emphasize economic issues.[10][11][12][13] While not allying itself exclusively with the Christian conservative movement,[14] members of the Tea Party movement identify with the Christian conservative movement more strongly than the general American populace (44%[15] compared to 34%[16] of the population), and some social conservative leaders have denounced it for its "libertarian" and "irreligious" views.[17] Nearly 80% of those in the Tea Party movement are members of the Republican party.[18]


  1. ^ "Articles - The End of Republican 'Fusionism'?". RealClearPolitics. 2008-03-01. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  2. ^ "huffingtonpost news story on NY23". 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  3. ^ Drake, Bruce. "Romney tells Tea Party not to split vote". Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  4. ^ Third Party Alternative to McCain (Although no third party siphoned any significant percentage from McCain, such voter sentiment truly existed during the campaign)
  5. ^ "A Libertarian Defense of Social Conservatism". American Thinker. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  6. ^ "Tea parties stir evangelicals' fears - Ben Smith". Politico.Com. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  8. ^ "Mission Statement and Core Values". Tea Party Patriots. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  9. ^ "» Tea Party Leaders Release Letter Urging House and Senate GOP to Avoid Social Issues". 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  10. ^ ANALYSIS February 23, 2011 (2011-02-23). "Tea Party and Religion - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life". Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  11. ^ Siegel, Elyse (Released June 2, 2010). "More Than Half Of Tea Party Supporters Say Gays And Lesbians Have Too Much Political Power (POLL)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 1, 2010. 
  12. ^ New poll looks at tea party views toward minorities The Seattle Times; June 1, 2010
  14. ^
  18. ^ "Tea Party Supporters Overlap Republican Base". Retrieved 2011-03-30.