One framework within this tradition is offered by Klaus von Beyme who identifies nine party-groups, or "familles spirituelles", that can be found in European liberal democracies today:[citation needed] Von Beyme claims that at the time of their founding these parties reflected the needs to defend a particular kind of interests, but recognized that not every European party could be fitted into this schema.
Consequently one can wonder what, eg, the British Conservatives today have in common with their founding fathers hundreds of years ago, taking into account New Right ideas and certain aspects of liberalism applied by the party.
Today this party has assumed more of a centralist role (regarding for instance issues like state ownership as well as abandoning their corporatist ties with the Norwegian Trade Association).
However, it would also be important to recognize the fact that western European societies have changed tremendously in course of the last decades regarding a number of issues.
Therefore, by identifying these factors one might also broaden the understanding of the generally changing patterns of party ideology in Europe today, compared to the 1950s.