The Authoritarian New Right Wants to Supplant Conservatism
And why it's not going to happen
A recent trend I've noticed on the right is the increasing attention on a 'New Right' that seeks to supplant conservatism as we know it. In this view, the New Right would take over the right-of-center side of politics, and implement a new authoritarian strongman version of reactionary politics when in power. This would supposedly right all the wrongs of society, and make everything great again. Personally, this vision sounds too much like fascism for me, but some people don't seem to mind too much.
The recent article The future belongs to Right-wing progressives by Mary Harrington in Unherd, subtitied 'Conservatism is finished', is the latest article exploring this phenomenon. It even begins with 'reactionary as I am, it gives me no pleasure to report that conservatism is finished'. It then goes on to describe the policies of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who is supposedly popular among the 'online Right' for his authoritarian strongman leadership, as well as his embrace of Bitcoin and technology in general. It ends by speculating that a similar techno-futurist and authoritarian New Right might take hold in Britain, after the Conservatives are likely decimated at this year's election and people get tired of Keir Starmer's Labour in a few years' time. (Seriously, when did the West follow El Salvador's political fashions?) Supposedly, the reason why this New Right might take hold is because 'theirs is a political subculture with optimism and a story about the future'.
I first saw this kind of article, describing a right-wing desire to reject traditional conservatism, around two years ago. The article We Need To Stop Calling Ourselves Conservatives, by John Daniel Davidson in The Federalist, was the most memorable one from back then. It begins by boldly stating that 'the conservative project has failed, and conservatives need to forge a new political identity that reflects our revolutionary moment'. It basically argues that there's not much good in American culture to preserve anymore, given that battles over things like gay marriage have been lost. (Note that opposition to gay marriage and other LGBT issues are very prominent throughout the article.) It then praises the New Right's willingness to wield government power to shape society and culture, ending with arguing for extreme policy positions like abortion bans with no exceptions, ending no-fault divorce, starving liberal universities of funding, and of course, a willingness to severely compromise First Amendment free speech rights to shut down LGBT activism.
Of course, some in the right have long had this kind of authoritarian wishlist. It's just that nobody has ever been able to get elected on this kind of platform. Which is why, in conjunction with their wild dreams of authoritarian power, they also envision an electoral realignment that would magically deliver them into power for a generation or more. A recent article in The Federalist, titled Is Trump Riding A Realignment Wave?, makes the case for this kind of realignment happening, basing its arguments on a single poll showing Trump doing better with black and Hispanic voters compared with 2020. Never mind the fact that Trump is basically level with Biden in overall polling, he might still somehow set the stage for a Republican re-alignment in the years to come, in the New Right's fantasy. And it's not as if the New Right has anyone better either: the recent primaries show that alternatives like DeSantis simply don't have anywhere as much support as Trump.
The reason why the New Right's fantasy remains, at least for the moment, a fantasy, is because of simple electoral math. Conservative parties are sustained by a coalition of voters that includes classical liberals, Burkean conservatives as well as the kind of reactionaries who fantasize about reactionary strongman politics. If the party is taken over by reactionary strongmen and used to implement their will, the classical liberals and Burkean conservaties would surely walk away. Even Trump, who arguably has not entirely abandoned classical liberal norms yet, is suffering from a fracturing of the Republican Party, with many 'Haley Republicans' still refusing to commit to vote for him this year. There's a good reason why Trump won't embrace a national abortion ban. That parts of his base strongly disagree with him reflects how deluded they are about what is possible electorally. The simple fact is, conservative parties can't win without at least some moderates and classical liberals. Even Trump knows this.
Which is why, even in the longer run, it is relatively easy to stop the New Right's authoritarian fantasies from becoming reality one day. We just need to keep emphasizing classical liberal values, and defend genuine Burkean conservatism from the reactionary stuff. This way, the New Right would never have a working majority, even if they tried to take over the major parties of the right. They would just remain in perpetual opposition until their energy withers away. (Remember, the New Right's authoritarian strongman mentality requires being in power to be sustainable.) Moreover, the integration of classical liberal values and moderate conservative philosophy into a moderately progressive reformist program would also provide a meaningful, positive alternative that would be, I believe, much more attractive to most people than the New Right's strongman fantasies. Now, that's a story about the future to be optimistic about.
TaraElla is a singer-songwriter and author, who is the author of the Moral Libertarian Manifesto and the Moral Libertarian book series, which argue that liberalism is still the most moral and effective value system for the West.
She is also the author of The Trans Case Against Queer Theory and The TaraElla Story (her autobiography).