If there were a membership card for American progressives, I would proudly carry one. I support gay marriage, gun control, abortion rights, campaign finance reform, a higher minimum wage and vigorous action to combat global warming — virtually the full progressive agenda. Yet during this chaotic and troubling election season, I find that I am starting to identify myself as a conservative.

I will admit that I am uncomfortable with my new political identity; it has many negative connotations for me. Yet, when I look at the dictionary definition of a conservative as someone who advocates "preserving institutions and supporting gradual development rather than abrupt change," I have to admit to myself that I am one.

In this presidential election year, I have watched anger and frustration explode from both ends of the political spectrum. And I see our basic political institutions under an assault that gets more furious as the election draws closer.

In the past, the right and the left in America battled for supremacy, with the balance swinging one way and then the other depending on how the political winds were blowing. But until recently, an unspoken consensus prevailed about the essential nature of our country's political framework — the mediating role of legislative bodies, the sanctity of free elections and the acceptance of their results. For some time now, we have watched that consensus erode as it has taken a pounding from the storms on both the right and the left. This year, it seems the consensus has been washed away almost entirely, swept up in tidal waves of anger that threaten to engulf our democracy.

As a newly minted conservative, I see the preservation of our basic democratic institutions at the center of my reshaped political philosophy.

But to say that I am a conservative does not mean that I must accept all of what may be considered conservative dogma. As a progressive, I cannot turn a blind eye to injustice, bigotry and inequality, as many on the right are able to do. As a defender of our current imperfect political system, I know I am opening up myself to charges that I have become an apologist for the status quo. I reject that charge, but I also reject the view that the only way forward is "revolution" — a term often invoked during this political season. "Revolution" may be nothing more than campaign hyperbole, but, at its core, it calls for the destruction of existing institutions and their rebuilding according to the dictates of the revolutionaries. I doubt revolution will occur in America, but if it does I can see no hope for a progressive agenda that still holds promise for me.

Because my political views are heavily seasoned with pragmatism, I keep looking back to those periods in our history that represented the high points of progressivism in America. One occurred in 1935 with the New Deal and the establishment of Social Security; a second in 1965 with adoption of the Voting Rights Act and Medicare. The leaders who promoted those far-reaching advances were certainly not revolutionaries. Rather, they were shrewd political strategists who realized that the times were right and that their goals had become achievable.

Clearly, the times are not right in 2016 for another golden era of progressivism, at least not at the national level. Even so, advances are still possible on the local level. A higher minimum wage is one good example.

As a self-identified conservative, I am not out to gain converts to my new political philosophy. In no way do I intend to deny the anger many feel when they see injustice and bigotry all around. I am representing only myself when I add in the word "conservative" on my progressive membership card.

This may seem like a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron. But it is the way I look at the world during these troubling and uncertain times.

Iric Nathanson lives in Minneapolis.