Ideology
NeoconservatismRight
Pairs conservative views on national security and traditional values with an active foreign policy, often favoring strong armed forces, promotion of democracy abroad and market-oriented economics at home.
Core ideas
- Military strength and moral clarity are needed to defend and spread liberal democracy.
- An active foreign policy is preferred to isolation or only narrow national interest.
- Traditional values and institutions matter to a healthy society.
- Markets are valuable, but social engineering by government often backfires.
- Domestic and international threats should be faced directly.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
On the Economy axis (Collectivize to Privatize) the profile is at 20, well toward the Privatize end. Government is at 60, a mild lean toward Security. Diplomacy is at 20, strongly toward the Nationalism end of Internationalism to Nationalism. Society is at 20, toward the Traditional end of Progressive to Traditional. The test measures only the distance across these four axes and takes the nearest profile. It does not measure how interventionist an ideology is abroad, which is part of the real definition.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
History
Neoconservatism arose in the 1960s and 1970s. Historically the term refers to a group of academics who moved from the anti-Stalinist left to conservatism, including some from Trotskyist circles; many others began as moderate socialists. It began as a reaction against liberals' repudiation of the Cold War and the New Left. The journal The Public Interest (1965 to 2005) and the magazine Commentary were central outlets. Irving Kristol, later called the godfather of neoconservatism, distinguished it from older conservatism by its forward-looking attitude. The word was used in earlier decades, popularized in 1973 by the socialist writer Michael Harrington as criticism, and adopted by Kristol himself in 1979.
Associated thinkers
- Irving Kristol
Common misunderstandings
- It is not just conservatism with a new name. Its signature idea is an activist foreign policy, which many older conservatives rejected.
- It is not neoliberalism. The two names sound alike, but one is chiefly about foreign policy and culture and the other about markets and economic policy.
Related ideologies
Is Neoconservatism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Neoconservatism?
A strand of conservatism that began in the 1960s and 1970s among former liberals and leftists. It favours a strong military, an active foreign policy that promotes democracy, traditional values and market economics at home.
Is Neoconservatism left or right?
Right. It sits on the right on security and values, and favours markets, though it came out of the left. The test files it as right. A single axis hides its main feature, which is foreign policy.
Neoconservatism vs Paleoconservatism?
Paleoconservatives stress nation, tradition and limited foreign engagement, and distrust interventions abroad. Neoconservatives accept the welfare state in part and favour spreading democracy through an active foreign policy. The two have argued over this since the 1980s.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Neoconservatism?
The test compares your scores on four of the twelve axes (Economy, Government, Diplomacy, Society) with a stored profile for each of the 38 ideologies. The profile at the shortest distance across those four is your match.