What we call Trumpism is essentially a branch of conservatism. Therefore, understanding American conservatism is key to understanding Trumpism. In today’s world, conservatism takes different forms across regions: the United States and Latin America represent one strand, while European countries like the United Kingdom and France represent another. The ideological conflict between these strands is, at its core, a long-term struggle between conservatism and liberalism. With this in mind, understanding conservatism is crucial to making sense of current global dynamics.
Russell Kirk, in his The Conservative Mind, emphasized that conservatism is not an abstract ideology or rigid dogma, but rather a moral consensus rooted in historical experience, common sense, and tradition. He placed particular emphasis on the importance of tradition, moral order, private property, religious faith, and limited government.
Generally speaking, conservatism emphasizes tradition, social order, family, religion, and virtue. It views society as an organic whole, not merely a collection of atomized individuals. Liberalism, by contrast, focuses more on individual rights, liberty, equality, and progress, often advocating government intervention to address social issues. When it comes to the role of government, conservatives typically advocate for limited government, emphasizing free markets and individual responsibility. They argue that excessive government intervention threatens personal liberty and undermines social stability. Liberals, on the other hand, tend to support a more active government, believing it has a duty to provide social welfare, regulate the economy, and safeguard civil rights.
The two ideologies also differ significantly in their attitudes toward change. Conservatives favor gradual, cautious reform that respects historical continuity and tradition, warning that radical change often leads to disastrous outcomes. Liberals are more inclined to pursue social justice and progress through active reform and even disruptive activism. It is therefore not surprising that liberal movements are often associated with street protests and radical tactics. The Black Lives Matter movement and the recent attempted assassination of Charlie Kirk serve as real-world examples of this trend.
American conservatism is not a monolith, but rather a constellation of intellectual traditions and schools of thought. Key figures include Edmund Burke, often regarded as the father of modern American conservatism. He opposed the radical upheaval of the French Revolution and advocated for gradual reform rooted in respect for tradition. John Adams, an early American statesman, supported republicanism but remained wary of the potential pitfalls of pure democracy. John C. Calhoun, a 19th-century political theorist, emphasized states’ rights and decentralized government as a means of protecting minority interests.
Neoconservatism, as a political ideology, emerged in the mid-20th century. It advocates for an assertive foreign policy and domestic cultural conservatism, diverging in some ways from the traditional conservatism advocated by Kirk. Traditional conservatism emphasizes national interests, the balance of power, and caution in foreign interventions, especially those driven by ideology. It stresses the importance of maintaining internal stability and avoiding costly, unpredictable overseas entanglements. In contrast, neoconservatism promotes a more interventionist foreign policy, driven by the belief that the United States has a responsibility to spread universal values, such as democracy, human rights, and free markets, around the world. Neoconservatives argue for proactive military interventions, seeking to address emerging threats through "preemptive" actions.
The divergence between neoconservatism and traditional conservatism is particularly evident in their views on government. Traditional conservatives advocate limited government primarily as a means to protect tradition, property, and liberty while opposing radical state interventions. Although neoconservatives also claim to support limited government, in practice, they are more willing to wield state power to advance their domestic and international agendas.
In this context, Burkean thought represents the original, foundational form of conservatism.
Burke is widely regarded as the intellectual father of modern American conservatism. His complex and profound ideas are best illustrated through his critique of the French Revolution and his distinctive views on society, government, and change.
First, Burke was deeply critical of the Enlightenment's exaltation of abstract reason. He argued that human reason is inherently limited and that society is not a blank slate to be redesigned at will. A healthy society, in his view, is the cumulative product of generations of wisdom and experience, manifested in tradition, customs, and even prejudice. These seemingly “irrational” traditions, he contended, represent a collective intelligence that is far more trustworthy than any utopian blueprint created by one generation. Hence, he placed great importance on respecting history, tradition, and existing institutions.
Second, Burke distinguished between two fundamentally different approaches to change: gradual reform and radical revolution. Traditional American conservatism generally favored gradual reform, yet did not oppose all the changes. Burke supported American independence because he believed the colonists were defending the inherited liberties rooted in British tradition and further developed in the colonies. He saw their cause as a historically grounded effort, a "change for the sake of preservation" that intended to repair and preserve the established order, not to overthrow it entirely.
Third, American conservatism has long opposed revolutions. Burke himself vehemently opposed the French Revolution, believing it sought to destroy all existing institutions of religion, aristocracy, law, and custom, in favor of abstract principles like “human rights”. He predicted that such destruction would lead to chaos, anarchy, and ultimately dictatorship, a prediction that proved true with the rise of the Reign of Terror and Napoleon.
Fourth, Burke rejected the social contract theory popularized by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others. He saw society not as a voluntary agreement among individuals, but as a living organism. In one of his most famous statements, he described society as “a partnership … not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born”. This idea implies that social responsibility spans generations; we are stewards of a cultural inheritance that must be preserved for future generations.
Fifth, the traditional American conservative view of representative democracy holds that elected officials are not merely delegates tasked with executing the immediate wishes of their constituents. Rather, their duty is to exercise independent judgment and represent the long-term interests and moral principles of the nation as a whole.
Sixth, American conservatism emphasizes the balance between liberty and order. Burke believed that genuine freedom must be accompanied by order and morality. He once said, “liberty, too, must be limited in order to be possessed”. He cautioned that liberty without restraint could easily devolve into chaos and tyranny.
Burke himself is a fascinating figure. An Irishman by birth, he was educated at Trinity College Dublin, a land known for its resistance to British rule. Yet, he spent most of his professional life in London. His enduring influence on American thought stems not from his nationality or official role, but from his writings, ideas, and political philosophy.
Burke was sharply critical of the British toward its North American colonies. He supported the Americans’ cause, not out of revolutionary fervor, but because he believed Britain was violating its own constitutional principles, especially the ancient English tenet of “no taxation without representation”. This stance earned him significant admiration in America, where many of the Founding Fathers considered him a philosophical ally.
Burke’s most famous work, Reflections on the Revolution in France, was published shortly after the revolution began and offered a searing critique of its violence and radicalism. The book had a profound impact on American intellectuals, especially those wary of democracy’s excesses, such as John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. They saw in Burke’s warnings a confirmation of their own fears about unchecked radicalism. This book later became the theoretical cornerstone used by American conservatives to distinguish themselves from radical revolutionary thought in Europe.
So great was Burke’s influence in the United States that he is often called the godfather of American conservative thought. In light of the public reaction following the attempted assassination of Charlie Kirk, it is clear that Trumpism will continue to shape American politics, and it will do so in a way that bears the unmistakable imprint of conservatism.
Final analysis conclusion:
Trumpism is fundamentally a branch of conservatism. Therefore, understanding American conservatism, especially the Burkean tradition, is essential for understanding Trumpism. Burke’s influence on American political philosophy is so profound that he is often regarded as the founding father of conservative thought in the United States. The political and social reverberations following the assassination of Charlie Kirk suggest that Trumpism is likely to gain even more influence in the years to come, and that its ideological foundation will continue to reflect deeply conservative principles.
