The Florida League of Republican Voters® operates within the framework of National Conservatism, a political movement that prioritizes the sovereignty of the United States and the interests of American citizens above all other considerations. National Conservatism embraces faith, patriotism, honor, courage, merit, and tradition as the values necessary to preserve the American Republic. As constitutional conservatives we believe in the principle of limited government, the protections guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, and our system of well-ordered liberties.

This “Statement of Principles” is a revised and edited version of a similar document that was originally drafted on behalf of the Edmund Burke Foundation (https://burke.foundation). The original statement reflects a distinctly Western point of view, while this revised version reflects an American perspective informed by our current political environment and the challenges we face as a nation. To view the original document, go to FreedomConservatism.org.

1. National Independence. As National Conservatives, we wish to see a world of independent nation-states, each one able to chart its own course in accordance with the principles of freedom, human flourishing, and democratic rule. While each has the right to maintain its own borders and cultural traditions, no nation has the “right” to impose totalitarian rule on its citizens.

2. Rejection of Globalism. We oppose transferring the authority of elected governments to transnational or supranational bodies. Globalized markets allow predatory foreign powers to despoil America of our manufacturing capacity, to weaken us economically and to divide us internally. A prudent economic policy should counter any threat to our national interest, aggressively pursue economic independence, nurture industries vital to our national defense, and rebuild the manufacturing and industrial sectors essential to America’s future.

3. National Government. We believe in a strong but limited state, subject to constitutional restraints and the separation of powers. We urge a drastic reduction in the scope of the administrative state, as well as restrictions on the overreach of a judiciary whose activism has displaced the authority of duly elected legislative bodies. We support the federalist principle, which delegates power to the respective states or their subdivisions so as to encourage self-determination and innovation while freeing the American people from centralized rule. However, in those states or subdivisions in which law and justice have been manifestly corrupted, or where lawlessness prevails, the national government must intervene to restore public order.

4. God and Public Religion. No nation can long endure without humility and gratitude before God and the fear of His judgment that are found in our Judeo-Christian heritage. For millennia, the Bible has been our surest guide, nourishing a fitting orientation toward God, toward the nation's political traditions, toward an objective moral order, toward the defense of the weak, and toward the recognition of those things rightly regarded as sacred. The Bible should be read as the first among the sources of a shared Western Civilization and as the rightful inheritance of believers and non-believers alike. Where a Christian majority exists, public life should be rooted in its moral vision, which public and private institutions should honor. At the same time other religious minorities are to be protected in the observance of their own traditions and in all matters pertaining to the rearing and education of their children. Adults should be protected from religious or ideological coercion in their private lives and in their homes.

5. The Rule of Law. We believe in the rule of law. By this, we mean that citizens and non-citizens alike, as well as the government and the people, must accept and abide by the laws of the nation. In America, this means accepting and living in accordance with the Constitution of 1787, its amendments, duly enacted laws, and our great inheritance of common law. National legal traditions and institutions sometimes require repair and reform. We believe that now is such a time. But necessary change must take place through lawful means; it cannot be dictated by lawless mobs bent on nullification. Rioting, looting, and public disorder are intolerable and must quickly be put down.

6. Free Enterprise. We believe that an economy based on free enterprise and private property rights is best for promoting a shared prosperity and accords with the emphasis on individual liberty that is central to our Anglo-American political traditions. We reject socialism, collectivism, and the presumption that a nation’s economy can be successfully directed according to centralized state planning. The free market, however, cannot be absolute. Economic policy must serve the general welfare of the nation. Transnational corporations that show little loyalty to any nation cannot be allowed to continue hollowing out our economy. Crony capitalism, i.e., the selective promotion of corporate profit-making by the state, should be energetically exposed and opposed.

7. Public Research. At a time when China is rapidly overtaking America and the Western nations in fields crucial for national security and defense, a Cold War-type program modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the “moon-shot,” and Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative is needed to focus large-scale public resources on scientific and technological research with military applications, on restoring and upgrading national manufacturing capacity, and on education in the physical sciences and engineering. We recognize, however, that most universities are at this point partisan and globalist in orientation and are vehemently opposed to nationalist and conservative ideas. Such institutions do not deserve taxpayer support unless they rededicate themselves to the national interest.

8. Family and Children. We believe the traditional family is the source of society’s virtues and is essential to transmitting the values necessary to preserve our republic. We believe the traditional family, built around a lifelong bond between a man and a woman, and between parent and child, is the foundation of all other achievements of our civilization. The disintegration of the family, including a marked decline in marriage and childbirth, gravely threatens the well-being of democratic nations. Among the causes are an unconstrained individualism that regards children as a burden. The creation of the economic and cultural conditions that foster family formation and child-raising must be a priority of the highest order, one that deserves greater support from public policy.

9. Immigration. We acknowledge that immigration has made important contributions to the strength and prosperity of Western nations in the past. But today’s penchant for uncontrolled and unassimilated immigration has become a source of weakness and instability. It threatens internal dissension and the dissolution of the cultural bonds that unite a people. We note that Western nations have, at different times, benefited from both liberal and restrictive immigration policies. We call for much more restrictive policies until these countries summon the will to establish more effective assimilationist policies. We acknowledge that such restrictive policies may include a moratorium on immigration.

10. Race. We believe that all men are created in the image of God and that public policy should reflect this truth. No person’s worth can be judged by the color of his skin, his ethnicity, or his genetic makeup. The history of racialist ideology and its follow-on consequences require us to emphasize this truth. We condemn those institutions and entities, both public and private, that are dividing Americans using compulsory programs of indoctrination intended to denigrate certain groups based on their race. The affections fostered by a cohesive nationalism provide a sound basis for reconciling differences and fostering unity among diverse groups. The nationalism we espouse respects the unique circumstances of both minority and majority communities while promoting the common good of the nation as a whole.