National conservatism focuses on "threats to moral order and the loss of moral bearing due to liberalism's
relativism". It rejects the basic precepts of enlightenment liberalism, such as
individualism and the universality of
human rights. In America and Europe, national conservatives are
majoritarian populists and advocate for fewer limits on the power of elected representatives to "smash the liberal state". It opposes modernity, secularism,
liberalism,
socialism,
communism and
anarchism, instead valuing
Europe’s Christian heritage and "defending"
Western civilization. In his 2022 book
Conservatism: A Rediscovery, Hazony wrote that "in the political arena,
conservatism refers to a standpoint that regards the recovery, restoration, elaboration, and repair of national and religious traditions as the key to maintaining a nation and strengthening it through time." National conservatism distances itself from
fascism, viewing it—along with liberalism and socialism—as aspects of modernity that "disconnect human designs from normative order", instead calling for the "restoration and order" of social, moral, and political structures. National conservatives adhere to a form of
cultural nationalism that emphasizes the preservation of
national identity as well as
cultural identity. As a result, many favor assimilation into the
dominant culture,
restrictions on immigration and strict
law and order policies. being critical of the
separation of church and state. According to the Austrian political scientist
Sieglinde Rosenberger, "national conservatism praises the family as a home and a center of identity, solidarity, and tradition." for whom
free market economic policies,
deregulation, and tight spending are the main priorities. Some commentators have indeed identified a growing gap between national and economically liberal conservatism: "Most parties of
the Right [today] are run by economically liberal conservatives who, in varying degrees, have marginalised
social,
cultural and national conservatives." They often have a negative view of the
United Nations, feeling that its multinational agenda erodes their unique national identity, ==Geography and demographics==