Conservatism is structured from this event. In Reflections on the French Revolution (790), the Anglo-Irish political theorist Edmund Burke, both liberal and conservative, condemns the revolutionary ideology for the simplicity of its conception of the world and society and expresses its preference for a regime that preserves certain liberal gains while remaining based on respect for national traditions and local customs. In the conservative ideology, there are different levels of traditionalists but they all agree that there has to be traditionalism in our society in order to lead a country correctly. Traditionalism is the attachment to traditions, beliefs, customs, values, usages, and ideas transmitted by tradition. Convinced that society must preserve its political, moral, and religious forms at all costs, traditionalists seek to perpetuate them from generation to generation (Merriam Webster Thesaurus). It considers that traditions are the legitimate expression of the true needs of society and, consequently, the principl
e of reason can only be superficial, inappropriate, and unhealthy. It seems to contradict the principles of democratization. In politics, democratization is the process that allows a regime to evolve towards democracy or strengthen its democratic character. If it is an authoritarian regime, a dictatorship, or any non-democratic regime evolving towards democracy, we are talking about a democratic transition (Oxford Dictionaries.com).
However, conservatism is a complex ideology to fully understand. Non-conservatives consider it as an authoritarian ideology that allows a group of the elite to lead, creating a block against democratization, while conservatives would have desired to be described as common sense (Andrew Heywood, Palgrave, 207) with traditions to respect and apply. Nevertheless, when analyzed, it can be said that conservatives use tradition as one of their key elements to preserving order and security from the instability of democracy, making both defenses of tradition and reaction against democratization linked.