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What Is a Conservative Politician?

Lee Johnson
Lee Johnson

A conservative politician is somebody who works professionally in the field of politics and shares views associated with conservatives. A conservative is likely to be a member of the conservative party, sometimes called the Republican Party in the United States. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are two examples of conservatives, but a politician can be defined as anybody working professionally to help run a local or national government. Most people can be defined as either having conservative or liberal views, but some people and politicians have views that don’t fit into either category clearly.

Politicians are responsible for the running of the government, either at a local or a national level. The president or prime minister of a country is a politician, along with everybody who works for him or her. Town mayors and legislators are other examples of politicians. Generally speaking, politicians are responsible for the creation, abolishing, and maintenance of a country’s laws, and this is usually done according to the politicians’ political leanings. A conservative will have to debate issues with liberals and other people with opposing views before passing legislation or assuming power.

Ronald Reagan was a well-known conservative president.
Ronald Reagan was a well-known conservative president.

If a person working in the government holds conservative viewpoints, he or she can be defined as a conservative politician. Some of the principles conservatives have believed in are capitalism and the free market, limited governmental interference, and personal responsibility. A conservative politician is likely to be anti-abortion, pro-religion, and oppose same sex marriage. Conservatives also are likely to dispute the fact that humans have caused global warming, promote the use of fossil fuels, and disagree with embryonic stem cell research. These are stereotypical conservative viewpoints, however, and are not held by every conservative.

Conservative politicians support a lower degree of government interference in the economy and traditional cultural values.
Conservative politicians support a lower degree of government interference in the economy and traditional cultural values.

Anybody who works as part of the government, either helping to run the government or discussing legislation, and holds views akin to those of the conservative party can be described as a conservative politician. Most conservatives are active members of the conservative party, which is a group of people who share conservative beliefs and work to promote those beliefs in government. If a politician who is part of the conservative party gets into power, he or she will introduce legislation to support the beliefs held by the conservative party. This could be anything from a ban on abortion to the implementation of the death penalty to punish murderers.

Liberals are said to be members of the political “left” and conservatives are part of the political “right.” A conservative politician can be said to have “right wing” views, and a liberal politician holds “left wing” views. An extreme right wing politician could be described as a “fascist” and an extreme left wing politician could be described as a “communist.” Most politicians do not hold extreme views like this, but instead lean to one side or the other.

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    • Ronald Reagan was a well-known conservative president.
      Ronald Reagan was a well-known conservative president.
    • Conservative politicians support a lower degree of government interference in the economy and traditional cultural values.
      By: Photo_Ma
      Conservative politicians support a lower degree of government interference in the economy and traditional cultural values.