structural:reformatting, information:filtering
Whig thought

Historian Frank Towers writes that "Democrats stood for the 'sovereignty of the people' as expressed in popular demonstrations, constitutional conventions, and majority rule as a general principle of governing, whereas Whigs advocated the rule of law, written and unchanging constitutions, and protections for minority interests against majority tyranny." Historian Daniel Walker Howe argues the Whigs were modernizers, "who attached a great deal of importance to protecting property, maintaining social order, and preserving a distinct cultural heritage, three characteristic conservative concerns". The Whigs themselves adopted the word "conservative", which they associated with "'law and order', social caution, and moral restraint". Political scientists John H. Aldrich and John D. Griffin note that the labeling of Whig ideology as conservative is "somewhat for those who associate a small role for government rather than a pro-business orientation with conservatism". Others, like historian Joseph W. Pearson, note that the Whigs were "essentially middle class."