Neoconservatism: some theoretical and terminological clarifications

Abstract

I divide this essay into three main sections. First, I identify the core members of the neoconservative movement, as a way of demarcating one of the main actors of this study. Second, I present a characterization of American ideological tendencies (mainly conservatives) in order to correctly place neoconservatism within the U.S. ideological spectrum. Third, I examine four interconnected elements of the neoconservative movement: its origins, organizations, publications and ideology. My main purpose here is to identify neoconservatism as a type of "intellectual community," a group of people that share, in general terms, common origins, who participate in the same organizations, who write with analogous perspectives about similar topics, who are involved in the publication of several journals that disseminate their ideas, and who share a basic political ideology or world view.