Libertarian Conservatism

Libertarian conservatism, also known as conservative libertarianism (and sometimes called right-libertarianism), includes political ideologies that meld libertarianism and conservatism. Frank Meyer, a co-founder of National Review has called this fusionism.

Within the context of U.S. politics, a conservative libertarian is a person that adheres to the constitution as a libertarian does, but will do so in a conservative manner. Conservative libertarians are conservative in political nature, such as foreign policy, homeland security, and economics while strictly interpreting the constitution as it states. They tend to believe in equal rights, individual liberty, and equal opportunity for all. Conservative libertarians leave it up to the individual to determine what is right and wrong for themselves, and leave it up to the states to deal with many illegal or unjustified actions. Conservative libertarianism is also a political position that deals with morality and ethical beliefs, based that all people are created equal. It is also a position that does not allow religious beliefs to get in the way of allowing all people (regardless of their background, ethical standpoints, or religious standpoints) the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Freedom & Virtue: The Conservative Libertarian Debate, edited by George W. Carey, contains essays which describe "the tension between liberty and morality" as "the main fault line dividing the two philosophies." According to Carey's collection, conservatives hold that shared values, morals, standards, and traditions are necessary for social order while libertarians consider individual liberty to be the highest value.

Laurence M. Vance wrote:

Some libertarians consider libertarianism to be a lifestyle rather than a political philosophy... These "lifestyle" or "cosmopolitan" libertarians, some of whom – to the detriment of their cause – are condescending, pompous snobs, are not content with personally and culturally conservative libertarians (like Ron Paul) tolerating diversity; they want them to likewise celebrate depravity. They apparently don’t know the difference between libertarianism and libertinism.

However, Edward Feser emphasized that libertarianism does not require individuals to reject traditional conservative values.

Thomas DiLorenzo wrote that libertarian conservatives (or "libertarian constitutionalists") believe that the way to limit government is to enforce the United States Constitution. DiLorenzo criticized them, writing, "The fatal flaw in the thinking of the libertarian/conservative constitutionalists stems from their unawareness or willful ignorance of how the founders themselves believed the Constitution could be enforced: by the citizens of the free, independent, and sovereign states, not the federal judiciary."

Lew Rockwell described the period when he and others advocated what they called "paleoism", which was "short for paleoconservatism (known for its alleged isolationism and heartland-style defense of localism) and paleolibertarianism (a term I used to distance Old Right libertarianism from the branch that cared nothing about stopping federal consolidation and US imperialism)."

Nelson Hultberg wrote that there is "philosophical common ground" between libertarians and conservatives. "The true conservative movement was, from the start, a blend of political libertarianism, cultural conservatism, and non-interventionism abroad bequeathed to us via the Founding Fathers." He said that such libertarian conservatism was "hijacked" by neoconservatism, "by the very enemies it was formed to fight – Fabians, New Dealers, welfarists, progressives, globalists, interventionists, militarists, nation builders, and all the rest of the collectivist ilk that was assiduously working to destroy the Founders' Republic of States."

United States Congressman Ron Paul has been described as combining libertarian and conservative "small government" ideas and showing how the Constitution defends the individual and most libertarian views. In 1975, Ronald Reagan stated, "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism" but some libertarians criticize Reagan for unlibertarian policy positions.