neoconservatism

Topic

A political ideology, associated with Rupert Murdoch, that is described as being on the decline within the Republican party in favor of populism.


First Mentioned

9/7/2025, 7:42:02 AM

Last Updated

9/7/2025, 7:46:52 AM

Research Retrieved

9/7/2025, 7:46:52 AM

Summary

Neoconservatism is a political movement that originated in the United States during the 1960s, evolving from liberal hawks disenchanted with the Democratic Party's foreign policy. It is characterized by advocating for a strong military, interventionist foreign policy to promote democracy and American national interests, and domestically, an emphasis on law, order, and traditional values. Within the contemporary political landscape, particularly in Rupert Murdoch's media empire, neoconservatism is described as a waning ideological force, with its influence diminishing in favor of ascendant populism, exemplified by events such as the firing of Tucker Carlson.

Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
  • Type

    Political movement

  • Origin

    United States

  • Founding Period

    1960s

  • Intellectual Roots

    Anti-Stalinist Left

  • Associated Magazine

    Commentary

  • Key Figure (Godfather)

    Irving Kristol

  • Core Tenet (Foreign Policy)

    Promotion of democracy and American national interest through interventionism and strong military

  • Core Tenet (Domestic Policy)

    Emphasis on law, order, traditional cultural values, and rejection of the welfare state

  • Current Status (as per All-In Podcast)

    Waning ideological force within the right

Timeline
  • The political movement began in the United States among liberal hawks disenchanted with the Democratic Party's foreign policy. (Source: web_search_results)

    1960s

  • The term "neoconservative" was popularized by socialist leader Michael Harrington. (Source: web_search_results)

    1973

  • Irving Kristol published an article in The Weekly Standard explaining the three foundational elements of the neoconservative viewpoint. (Source: web_search_results)

    2003

  • Neoconservatism is observed as a waning ideological force within Rupert Murdoch's media empire, giving way to ascendant populism, exemplified by the firing of Tucker Carlson. (Source: fdb82f63-85f0-430e-b962-67668fa45241)

    Recent

Web Search Results
  • Neo-Conservatism - Political Ideologies In Action - LibGuides

    Neoconservatism (commonly shortened to neocon) is a political movement born in the United States during the 1960s among conservative-leaning Democrats who became disenchanted with the party's foreign policy. The term "neoconservative" refers to those who made the ideological journey from the anti-Stalinist Left to the camp of American conservatism. Neoconservatives typically advocate the promotion of democracy and American national interest in international affairs, including by means of

  • Neoconservatism - Wikipedia

    Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party "Democratic Party (United States)") along with the growing New Left and counterculture of the 1960s. Neoconservatives typically advocate the unilateral promotion of democracy and interventionism "Interventionism (politics)") in international relations together with a militaristic and realist [...] Critics of neoconservatism have used the term to describe foreign policy and war hawks who support aggressive militarism or neocolonialism. Historically speaking, the term neoconservative refers to Americans who moved from the anti-Stalinist left to conservatism during the 1960s and 1970s. The movement had its intellectual roots in the magazine Commentary "Commentary (magazine)"), edited by Norman Podhoretz. They spoke out against the New Left, and in that way helped define the movement. [...] ## Terminology [edit] The term neoconservative was popularized in the United States during 1973 by the socialist leader Michael Harrington, who used the term to define Daniel Bell, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Irving Kristol, whose ideologies differed from Harrington's. Earlier during 1973, he had described some of the same ideas in a brief contribution to a symposium on welfare sponsored by Commentary.

  • Neoconservatism | Research Starters - EBSCO

    In contemporary political discourse, neoconservatism is usually understood as a viewpoint that advocates for a strong military and an interventionist foreign policy that projects, or even imposes, domestic values onto foreign countries. Neoconservatism is considered a distinctly American political philosophy, and it is associated with support for using America's unmatched military might to spread democratic values around the world and neutralize threats to American interests, even before they [...] Neoconservatism is a political ideology primarily associated with the advocacy of a strong military and an interventionist foreign policy aimed at spreading democratic values globally. Emphasizing the use of American military power to address perceived threats, neoconservatives, often referred to as "neocons," believe in preemptive action to protect U.S. interests. The movement emerged in the late 20th century, with influential figures like Irving Kristol, who is regarded as its "godfather," [...] In 1973, American author and democratic socialist Michael Harrington became the first to label this emerging form of political thought as "neoconservatism." Kristol's retrospective interpretation of the neoconservative viewpoint, as explained in his 2003 article in The Weekly Standard, stressed three foundational elements: a belief in steady economic growth, rejection of the welfare state, and support for traditional democratic values. While neoconservatism has come to hold strong associations

  • 4.2.2 Neoconservatism – Political Ideologies and Worldviews

    Neoconservatism is a distinct political movement that has its roots in a group of New York intellectuals who attended City College of New York in the 1930s and 1940s. Among them was Irving Kristol, who has been called the Godfather of Neoconservatism. Neoconservatism has been particularly influential in American politics, though Canadian conservatives have taken in some neoconservative influences as well. The ‘neoconservative persuasion’, as Kristol called it, was decidedly anti-communist. [...] Second, neoconservatism is distrustful of international organizations and sees them as a possible bridge to tyrannical world government. This is especially the case when they attempt to constrain behavior that neoconservatives see as in the United States of America (thereafter: America)’s best interest . [...] Domestically, neoconservatism stresses the importance of law, order, and traditional cultural values. In practice, neoconservatives have acted on these values by supporting strong and active police forces, harsh criminal punishments, and government censorship of pornography and other materials that would threaten traditional values. Neoconservatives see education and public morality as proper concerns of the state , and neoconservatives believe that a healthy democratic culture can only be

  • Neoconservatism Unmasked - Cato Unbound

    Defining neoconservatism is no easy task given that its exponents deny that it’s a systematic political philosophy. Neocons such as Irving Kristol prefer to characterize neoconservatism as a “persuasion,” a “mode of thinking,” or a “mood.” At best, they say, it’s a syncretic intellectual movement influenced by thinkers as diverse as Plato, Trotsky, and Hayek. Daniel Bell captured the syncretic nature of neoconservatism when he described himself as a “socialist in economics, a liberal in [...] politics, and a conservative in culture.” On one level, neoconservatism certainly is a syncretic “mode of thinking,” but I shall demonstrate here that neoconservatism is in fact a comprehensive political philosophy shaped most fundamentally by the ideas of Leo Strauss via Irving Kristol. [...] First, though, let us examine how the neocons present themselves, particularly in relation to the broader conservative intellectual movement and the Republican Party. Irving Kristol once boasted that neoconservatism is the first variant of twentieth-century conservatism that is “in the ‘American grain.’” The implication of this extraordinary claim is that Goldwater conservatism—with its proclaimed attachment to individual rights, limited government, and laissez-faire capitalism, and its