What are the differences between conservatism in the United States and various countries of Europe?

Quora answer to "What are the differences between conservatism in the United States and various countries of Europe?"

Conservatism exists everywhere, and shares many similar characteristics (emphasis on free market solutions, reduced taxation, socially conservative, etc.) to its representations in the U.S. There are significant variations, however, in each culture that make each manifestation of conservatism unique, so beyond some broad generalizations the differences can be substantial; you would need to do a careful analysis of the evolution of conservatism in each country to fully appreciate the nuances. It would be incorrect, however, to say that the U.S. is "more conservative" than any European country. Some examples below.

CDU/CSU of Germany (currently has the most influence in Germany): Christian Democratic Union of Germany

Conservative Party of Norway (currently has the most influence in Norway): Conservative Party (Norway)

Conservative Prarty of the UK (currently has the most influence in Parliament): Conservative Party (UK)

See also: Conservative parties in Europe

That said, what has been upsetting the center-right apple cart in the U.S. over the past two decades has been the increasing capture of the Republican party by either far-right neoconservatives or far-right Tea Partiers. Although quite often the more extreme elements of these groups are in the minority, it is the rise (and relentless rhetoric) of these minorities that has made the U.S. conservative political spectrum seem more than a bit radical (or batshit crazy, as the case may be) to the rest of the world. There have been times when far-right elements have engineered similar upsets in European countries in recent history, but the far-right dominance of the Republican political narrative seems to have no end in sight, thanks to folks like Trump, Ryan, Cruz and their ilk. Also consider the commandeering of the U.S. House of Representatives by relatively small group of Tea Partiers, who have been both strikingly outside of the mainstream, and enduring in their chokehold. I suspect the reason this right-wing extremism appears from the outside to be more pervasive in the U.S.A. is because of how our political parties and government are structured; if we had more parties and a parliament, for example, there would be much more diverse representation and less ability for extremists to hold everyone else hostage (threatening government shutdowns, insisting on a majority-of-the-majority to authorize legislation in the House, and so on).

My 2 cents.

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