Muhafazakârlığa Yönelik İki Yaklaşım: Ana Temalar Ekseninde Siyasî ve Durumsal Muhafazakârlık

Definitions of conservatism are made on two basic approaches. The first of these approaches is “political conservatism”, which qualifies conservatism as a political ideology. On the other hand, “situational conservatism” as second approach regards it as a general attitude and behavior to life. In this article, first of all, the discussion of “conservatism” is made over these two approaches. Secondly, the selected main themes of conservatism which are tradition, change, religion, family and society, state and authority, property, and moral order are discussed and compared. The comparison is made of the common and different aspects of political and situational conservatism through these terms. As a result of comparison, it was seen that the approach of political and situational conservatism to these themes largely similar. However, there are some differences between the approaches. For instance, in political conservatism, tradition is rather viewed as a concrete reality representing religious institutions, clubs, universities, foundations and other similar institutions. On the other hand, situational conservatism considers tradition as norms and values that shape attitudes and behaviors. When it was considered in the context of change, situational conservatism can be articulated to other ideologies and can be the protector of the existing doctrines of these ideologies. In this state, differently from political conservatism, it gets position above ideologies. Also, when approaches compared in the context of authority, it is seen that political conservatism is sometimes evaluated as authoritarian or paternalist. The most important reason for such evaluations is the emphasis on authority by political conservatism. As a result, it is possible to say that situational conservatism has a more individual attitude. However, political conservatism represents a more institutionalized system of thought.