That conservatism rejects much of contemporary liberalism is clear enough. Yet many conservatives speak favorably of “liberal democracy” and its defense. Indeed, they sometimes seem to speak this way more than contemporary liberals do. They use the word “illiberal,” meanwhile, to describe many of the ideas and policies they oppose. Some of those typically labeled “conservatives” go so far as to call themselves “classical liberals.” The implication of these usages seems to be that conservatism may stand in friendlier relation to older forms of liberalism.
We posed to four eminent political thinkers the question: Should American conservatism be understood as a branch of liberalism, in that liberal institutions and a liberal society are what it chiefly aims to conserve? Their answers appear below.
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