Fusionism (politics)
Encyclopedia
Fusionism is an American political term for the combination or "fusion" of traditional conservatives
with some libertarians
and some social conservatives
, forming the American conservative movement.
editor Frank Meyer, who believed that the holders of various disparate conservative and libertarian beliefs should work together to combat the threats of Cold War
communism
, increasing government power domestically, and what was seen as a decline in civil society
(especially during the Great Society
era of the mid-1960s). The three basic precepts of fusionism are these: 1) American foreign policy should seek to end totalitarian regimes; 2) the domestic functions of government, and especially of the federal government, should be strictly limited; and 3) the moral precepts traditionally associated with Christianity (sometimes the formulation includes Judaism as well) should be upheld.
Fusionism saw its height during the presidency
of Ronald Reagan
, who had brought together the divided factions after Gerald Ford
's loss in the 1976 election
. Rich Lowry
has argued that Reagan maintained a fusionist 'sweet spot
' of both ideological flexibility and respect for conservative principles. In the immediate aftermath of the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994
, fusionism was also at its height. The social conservative
element of the Republican Party
was seen on the ascent (at least with respect to domestic politics) during the reign of George W Bush. Increased spending angered traditional conservatives, fiscal conservatives
, and libertarians. In addition, the long standing tensions between neoconservatives
and paleoconservatives
bubbled over in the wake of the Iraq War.
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan said during a June 2009 the Hudson Institute
conference speech:
While both these principles are traditionally conservative, they equal emphasis of traditional morality and free markets is a characteristic of fusionism.
Following the Republican Party's defeat in the 2006 midterm elections
, some were calling for a new "fusionism" between libertarians and liberals in the Democratic Party
to address what is seen as increasing governmental interference in private activity. The results of the 2008 elections
and the financial crisis of 2007–2010 have brought renewed tension between the libertarians and the social conservatives with centrist economic views.
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
with some libertarians
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
and some social conservatives
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
, forming the American conservative movement.
History and positions
The strategy was advocated and named "fusionism" by National ReviewNational Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
editor Frank Meyer, who believed that the holders of various disparate conservative and libertarian beliefs should work together to combat the threats of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, increasing government power domestically, and what was seen as a decline in civil society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
(especially during the Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
era of the mid-1960s). The three basic precepts of fusionism are these: 1) American foreign policy should seek to end totalitarian regimes; 2) the domestic functions of government, and especially of the federal government, should be strictly limited; and 3) the moral precepts traditionally associated with Christianity (sometimes the formulation includes Judaism as well) should be upheld.
Fusionism saw its height during the presidency
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, who had brought together the divided factions after Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
's loss in the 1976 election
United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
. Rich Lowry
Rich Lowry
Richard A. Lowry is the editor of National Review, a conservative American news magazine, and a syndicated columnist.-Career:...
has argued that Reagan maintained a fusionist 'sweet spot
Sweet spot
Sweet spot may refer to:*Sweet spot *Sweet spot *Sweet spot...
' of both ideological flexibility and respect for conservative principles. In the immediate aftermath of the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994
Republican Revolution
The Republican Revolution or Revolution of '94 is what the media dubbed Republican Party success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate...
, fusionism was also at its height. The social conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
element of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
was seen on the ascent (at least with respect to domestic politics) during the reign of George W Bush. Increased spending angered traditional conservatives, fiscal conservatives
Fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political term used to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance...
, and libertarians. In addition, the long standing tensions between neoconservatives
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
and paleoconservatives
Paleoconservatism
Paleoconservatism 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...
bubbled over in the wake of the Iraq War.
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan said during a June 2009 the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
conference speech:
While both these principles are traditionally conservative, they equal emphasis of traditional morality and free markets is a characteristic of fusionism.
Following the Republican Party's defeat in the 2006 midterm elections
United States House elections, 2006
- House of Representatives prior to the election :As of November 7, 2006, the U.S. House of the 109th Congress was composed of 229 Republicans, 201 Democrats and 1 Independent . There were also four vacancies...
, some were calling for a new "fusionism" between libertarians and liberals in the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to address what is seen as increasing governmental interference in private activity. The results of the 2008 elections
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
and the financial crisis of 2007–2010 have brought renewed tension between the libertarians and the social conservatives with centrist economic views.
Prominent Fusionists
- William F. Buckley – founder of National ReviewNational ReviewNational Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
; Founder of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)Young Americans for FreedomYoung Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians... - Barry GoldwaterBarry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
– RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and U.S. presidential candidateUnited States presidential election, 1964The United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's... - Frank Meyer – editor of National Review
- Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
– fortieth president of the United States; Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)Young Americans for FreedomYoung Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
Honorary National Chairman 1962 - 2004 - Ralph E. Reed, Jr.Ralph E. Reed, Jr.Ralph Eugene Reed, Jr., is a conservative American political activist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the Republican nomination for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia but lost the primary election on July 18, 2006,...
– former executive directorExecutive directorExecutive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of the Christian Coalition; Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)Young Americans for FreedomYoung Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
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Critics of Fusionism
- L. Brent Bozell, Jr. – traditionalist CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
political author ; Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)Young Americans for FreedomYoung Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
Alum - Russell KirkRussell KirkRussell Kirk was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, literary critic, and fiction author known for his influence on 20th century American conservatism. His 1953 book, The Conservative Mind, gave shape to the amorphous post–World War II conservative movement...
– traditional conservative philosopher - Ayn RandAyn RandAyn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
– novelist and founder of ObjectivismObjectivism (Ayn Rand)Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand . Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception...
, who clashed with traditional conservatives and with libertarians - Murray RothbardMurray RothbardMurray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
– libertarian author and economist; Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)Young Americans for FreedomYoung Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
Alum - Patrick Buchanan – political commentator and prominent paleoconservative; Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)Young Americans for FreedomYoung Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
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