National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine militant nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, family values, and opposition to immigration.
It shares characteristics with traditionalist conservatism and social conservatism since all three variations focus on preservation and tradition. As national conservatism seeks to preserve national interests, traditionalist conservatism emphasizes the preservation of social order. Additionally, social conservatism emphasizes traditional family values which regulate moral behavior to preserve one's traditional status in society. National conservative parties often have roots in environments with a rural, traditionalist or peripheral basis, contrasting with the more urban support base of liberal conservative parties. In Europe, most embrace some form of Euroscepticism. In the United States, national conservatism is aligned with Trumpism.
Most conservative parties in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe since 1989 have followed a national conservative ideology.
Ideologically, national conservatism is not a uniform philosophy but adherents have broadly expressed support for nationalism, patriotism, assimilationism, and monoculturalism. At the same time there is expressed opposition to internationalism, racial politics, multiculturalism, and globalism. 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.
National conservative parties are "socially traditional" and support
traditional family values, gender roles, and religion. According to the Austrian political scientist Sieglinde Rosenberger, "national conservatism praises the family as a home and a center of identity, solidarity, and tradition".