What is "paleoconservatism"

n. paleoconservative beliefs

Paleoconservatism (sometimes shortened to paleocon) is a conservative political philosophy found primarily in the United States stressing tradition, limited government and civil society, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity.

Paleoconservatives in the 21st century often highlight their points of disagreement with neoconservatives, especially regarding issues such as military interventionism, illegal immigration and high rates of legal immigration, as well as multiculturalism, affirmative action, trade blocs, trade unions, and foreign aid. They also criticize social welfare and social democracy, which some refer to as the "therapeutic managerial state", the "welfare-warfare state" or "polite totalitarianism". They identify themselves as the legitimate heirs to the American conservative tradition.

Elizabethtown College professor Paul Gottfried is credited with coining the term in the 1980s. He says the term originally referred to various Americans, such as conservative and traditionalist Catholics and agrarian Southerners, who turned to anti-communism during the Cold War.

Paleoconservative thought has been published by the Rockford Institute's Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. Politician Pat Buchanan was strongly influenced by its articles and helped create another paleocon publication, The American Conservative. Its concerns overlap those of the Old Right that opposed the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as American social conservatism of the late 20th century expressed, for example, in the book Single Issues by Joseph Sobran.