Paleoconservatism

Paleoconservatism (sometimes shortened to paleocon) is a term for a conservative political philosophy found primarily in the United States stressing tradition, limited government, civil society, anti-colonialism, anti-corporatism and anti-federalism, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton Williamson, Jr. describes paleoconservatism as "the expression of rootedness: a sense of place and of history, a sense of self derived from forebears, kin, and culture — an identity that is both collective and personal". Paleoconservatism is not expressed as an ideology and its adherents do not necessarily subscribe to any one party line.

Paleoconservatives in the 21st century often highlight their points of disagreement with neoconservatives, especially regarding issues such as military interventionism, illegal immigration and large amounts of legal immigration, affirmative action, and foreign aid, to which they are opposed. They also criticize social welfare and social democracy, which some refer to as the "therapeutic managerial state", the "welfare-warfare state" or "polite totalitarianism". They see themselves as the legitimate heirs to the American conservative tradition.

Paul Gottfried is credited with coining the term in the 1980s. He says the term originally referred to various Americans, such as conservative and traditionalist Catholics and agrarian Southerners, who turned to anticommunism during the Cold War. Paleoconservatism is closely linked with distributism.

Paleoconservative thought has developed within the pages of the Rockford Institute's Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. Pat Buchanan was heavily influenced by its articles and helped create another paleocon publication, The American Conservative. Its concerns overlap those of the Old Right that opposed the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as American social conservatism of the late 20th century expressed, for example, in the book Single Issues by Joseph Sobran.