Extended Commentary: The Devolution of Conservatism: From Edmund Burke to Donald Trump

Abstract

Building on the distinction between Burkean and revanchist conservatism, this article examines the component parts of Movement Conservatism—the economic, racial, religious-cultural, national security, and politically strategic—that comprise a diverse coalition of interest groups and ideological dispositions that are united in the conviction that “big government” constitutes the most serious problem of our time. There are both elite and populist elements to this movement, which join the economic interests of corporations and plutocrats with the grievances of common folks, also known as “the base.”