What do conservatives believe?

Answer 1

Broadly speaking, there are two trains of thought in conservatism in the modern USA.

One emphasizes limited government, low taxes, fiscal restraint and pro-growth/business policies. Those whose ideology is primarily formed around those ideas are generally termed fiscal conservatives, or dismissively "Country Club Conservatives/Republicans."

Another strong branch in conservative thinking is based around traditional Judeo-Christian morals, and traditional American values. Usually called Social Conservatives or Cultural Conservatives, sometimes labeled "Christian Conservatives," though many are not Christian.
In a single term, they believe in traditional values. This can vary from country to country. In many Old World countries, this meant belief in a monarchy or government with a king or queen at its head. In the United States, conservatives do not want a monarchy, so the definition of a conservative focuses on other traditional values. Most conservatives want to preserve the values and the institutions that support them that have been established for a long time, however "a long time" might be defined in the history of that country. (A long time in the United Kingdom but not very long in the United States.)

As socialistic and progressive ideologies have threatened traditional free market capitalism, conservatives--who in other times and places were not necessarily friendly to free markets--have come to be significant defenders of free markets. This has led to a cross fertilization between conservatism and traditional or classical liberalism. (Nineteenth century liberals favored free-market capitalism.)

Among the important institutions that conservatives support is the military. This grows out of the strong, idealistic identification of conservatives with their country (i.e., patriotism). The military--whatever suspicions conservatives might have about branches of government that seem to be undermining traditional values--is an arm of the government that is charged with physically protecting the homeland from encroachments on the honor and strength of the country.

Another touchstone for conservatives, although its specific content varies from nation to nation, is allegiance to whatever is seen to make the country unique or to hold it together politically and culturally. This might be the king's divine right to rule or his figurehead status under a constitutional monarchy or, as in the United States, the special status of the U.S. Constitution itself. This is because these institutions or the "Law of the Land," as the Constitution is often called, are used to create and legitimize political and economic stability.

Another pillar of conservatism is traditional religion and morality. While this can lead, and in various times and places has led, to religious bigotry, the main purpose of this leg of conservatism is to support social stability by upholding common agreement on morality. In this way, other religions can be accepted as long as they agree to sufficiently similar moral positions. This ties in with the legal stability already refered to. Conservatives thus believe that fixed or slow-changing rules create a stable society as opposed to one where everything changes so often that for all intents and purposes there are no rules. Hand in hand with this is the felt need for strength as a nation against external threats, just as internal changeability is seen as a threat to internal order.

Patriotism, rule of law, morality, and stability are watchwords of conservatism. In the modern context, this commonly means support for nationalism and free-market capitalism.