• Freedoms: they are strong in the economic sphere but weak in the societal sphere.
• Cardinal values: virtue, order, tradition, civilization.
• Philosophy and principles: Conservatives believe that things are generally good as they are, and that any change could make them worse. They seek to preserve what already exists, defending it as good in itself, and are averse to changes in a system they feel has proven effective. At the heart of the traditional conception of conservatism lies a deep respect for long-established social institutions, seen as essential safeguards against chaos, injustice and cruelty. These social edifices sustain the solidarity, security and strength that humanity needs to resist the excesses of modernity.
• Politics: Conservatives advocate traditional social controls and state intervention to enforce social and moral standards (order, security, values). They support strong national defense. They tend to support more extensive police powers. Socialism is perceived as a brutal break with Western civilization. Conservatives played a decisive role in the fight against communism and the rejection of excessive government interventionism.
• Economy: Conservatives support low taxation and minimal regulation of business. They support honest entrepreneurship and free enterprise, and individuals who work hard to accumulate wealth. But they fear that too much individual freedom will lead to immorality or civilizational decline.

However, we need to distinguish between two types of conservatism.

1. Traditional American conservatism is founded on the idea of "ordered liberty", which aims to merge the sometimes contradictory aspirations of community and individual, individual freedom and responsibility, limited government and free markets. After the Second World War, American conservatism reinvented itself, seeking to reconcile traditional liberal and conservative values. They opposed communism, but also the over-expansion of the American federal government, arguing that the problems it created could not be solved simply by improving its management, but also by restoring moral and religious values.
2. In the United States, from the 2000s onwards, neoconservatives became increasingly involved in justifying military interventionism to implant democracy in the world, particularly after September 11, 2001, drawing a great deal of criticism from traditionalist conservatives.