ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at some important aspects of conservatism in comparative perspective. It focuses on a comparison of United States and United Kingdom conservatism, with emphasis on why the UK Conservative Party has modified and moderated its message while the Republican Party in the US has struggled relatively unsuccessfully with the same issues. The chapter lays out the varieties of conservatism among US conservative elites, an area that often divides the activists in the movement. The Tea Party movement within the Republican Party provides a push towards conservatism by supporting conservative candidates and vilifying non-conservatives. There are large numbers of religious people in the US who identify with conservatism and the Republican Party, while the numbers of such people in the UK is quite limited. Social conservatives have a broader take on conservatism than religious conservatives in that they emphasize a wider array of traditional values, with emphasis on family life and the preservation of traditional social customs.
