Conservatism is one of the leading political ideologies that has many modifications and forms. Historically, it is distinguished as follows: the emergence of certain conservative ideas in Antiquity; final formation in the Middle Ages in the form of a class worldview of the hereditary feudal aristocracy with key values: God, monarch, Motherland; transformation in the late eighteenth century. into the broad ideology of European traditionalism, the essence of which is expressed by Edmund Burke’s maxims: “change to preserve” and “custom is more important than reason”.
Only a political and ideological system that affirms the preservation of the nation in the value aspects that ensure its survival should be considered conservative:
1)
religion-centeredness
(man is a religious being, so religion is the basis of social life);
2)
anti-centrism
(established socio-political institutions as the wisdom of predecessors are a source of personal freedom and require careful transformation);
3)
culture-centeredness
(culture, customs of each nation are more important than the individual mind, because a person is not primarily I, but We);
4)
sociocentrism
(a person is a free, but social, ethno-national being, therefore, in addition to rights, he or she also has duties to the dead and unborn; the cells of society are the family and the community);
5)
hierarchy
(people are different, so only competent, properly formed leaders, the elite, should be in charge);
6)
realism
(conservatism grows out of an understanding of the life of the people, and is not imposed on them as a ready-made doctrine, a utopia).
Dependence on three basic social worldviews forms different ideological types of conservatism:
1)
imperial conservatism
– a modification of the enslaving worldview aimed at creating empire states (for example, religious fundamentalism or Muscovite Eurasianism);
2)
cosmopolitan conservatism
as a variant of covert imperialism, aimed at creating colonial or quasi-colonial states (universalist clericalism or right-wing neoliberalism);
3)
nationalist conservatism
as the realization of the ideology of national freedom (free man and people) in one’s own national state (national-centered monarchism or republicanism).
In this third case, conservatism appears as one of the main currents of nationalist political thinking, thinking in national categories, which is structured by the national idea (the idea of the nation’s statehood on its own land) and the national imperative: everything that benefits the nation and does not contradict Christianity is good, everything that harms the nation and Christianity is evil.
It should also be added that conservatism is a diverse and deeply rooted ideology that emphasizes the importance of stability, order, and continuity in public life. Throughout its history, it has evolved to include different forms and approaches to preserving social values and institutions. On the one hand, it can be seen as a cautious approach to reforms, which is expressed in Edmund Burke’s ideas about the need to “change to preserve.” On the other hand, there are more radical forms of conservatism that seek a return to an idealized past or even the creation of empires or nation-states based on conservative principles.
It is important to note that conservatism is not a monolithic ideology, but rather a mosaic of different views that are united by a common value for preserving and restoring traditional social guidelines and values. Despite its complexity and internal divisions, conservatism continues to play a key role in the political landscape of many countries, offering a vision of social order based on a belief in stability, hierarchy, and community.