core ideas & principles

pragmatism

• Pragmatism rejects ideology and dogma, instead posing that the best route to solving a problem is not necessarily what one’s own ideological beliefs state

• EX: John Major - Major opposed Thatcher’s poll taxes as he viewed it as non-pragmatic and thus replaced it with council tax

• EX: David Cameron - changed the Conservatives’ policies based on coalition promises 2010-15 - policies changed to be the most electorally and socially pragmatic choices

tradition

• Conservatives believe that events in the past provide knowledge that can be useful to contemporary people

• Tradition, paternalism and hierarchy are all supported by conservatives

• However, New Right conservatism rejects lots of ideas of tradition

• Edmund Burke supported ideas of tradition - he wrote after the 1789 French Revolution about the dangers of rejecting ideas of the past

  • Because of human imperfection, we cannot just create a new society - we should listen to the lesson and teachings of the past and society should evolve organically to meet current needs

organic change

• Organic change is the idea that social change should not be radical, or mechanistic

• Instead, society evolves through an organic process, and political processes and leaders emerge as a result of this organic process

• The society itself is more important than the individual parts within it

• Organic change is gradual rather than revolutionary and is supported by conservatives who wish to preserve order in society

revolutionary change

• Conservatives believe that revolutionary change disrupts order and hierarchy and so is dangerous to law and order and private property

• Society is constantly evolving, and revolution does not solve society’s problems

• Society functions better and is safer if the change is gradual

human imperfection

• Conservatives reject the ideas from the enlightenment about trying to improve human nature, arguing that human nature cannot be perfected

• Human imperfection goes against the liberal idea of human rationality, that humans are rational creatures that can become more fulfilled when given the freedom to make their own choices

• Because humans are imperfect, they are unable to make good decisions for themselves

• Q: Conservatism functions largely as a ‘philosophy of human imperfection’ (O’Sullivan)

psychological imperfection

• Humans are psychologically imperfect - our brains mean that we are not necessarily rational

• We behave in ways that are familiar and comforting, rather than things that may be better for us

• Humans are attracted to safety, comfort and order, rather than radical ideas and change

  • Thus, order and hierarchy in society should be preserved

  • Institutions that protect order and hierarchy should be preserved

moral imperfection

• Humans have flawed characters and therefore cannot always act rationally or perfectly

• This leads to a Conservative view of crime as being a result of a flawed moral characteristics, rather than inequalities in the world

• Conservatives believe in behaviour regulation through the law (anti-permissiveness) as a result of moral imperfection

• Conservatives believe humans are selfish and greedy

  • Q: Humans desire for “power after power” (Hobbes)

intellectual imperfection

• Human rationality is imperfect and unreliable, and humans are intellectually imperfect

• The world around us is more complicated than our intellects are able to comprehend

• This disagrees with the liberal view that humans can create a free society through their rationality

  • Q: “In political activity men sail a boundless and bottomless sea” (Michael Oakeshott)

• Instead, we are unable to fully understand the society around us, and to try and completely overhaul what already exists would not be successful

organic society/state

• Society develops as an organism, rather than as a man-made device, and is thus constantly changing

• Conservatives support gradual change, and believe that society will evolve to fit the needs of the present

• The idea of the organic state links to the conservative beliefs in authority, because those in authority are there because they are society’s natural leaders

• The idea of the organic state links to a cohesive society because it suggests that state unity is more important than disagreements between the state’s individual parts

• Émile Durkheim argues that negative freedom would result in anomie, caused by a breakdown in society

change to conserve

• ‘Change to conserve’ links to ideas of organic change in society

• Conservatives believe that it is important to adapt to changing circumstances in society, as long as these adaptations conserve the basic principles of social order, hierarchy and tradition

• For this reason, many conservatives favour gradual and evolutionary change rather than radical revolutionary change

• Change to conserve preserves the status quo whilst also ensuring the Conservative Party remains relevant to the electorate

examples of change to conserve

• One-nation conservatism emerged as a response to the emergence of capitalism in Britain during the industrial revolution

  • PM Benjamin Disraeli tried to bring society together to form ‘one nation’, with the upper classes ruling, the middle classes making money and the working classes producing goods

• The Conservative Party was in government when women gained the vote in 1918 and 1928, exemplifying the conservative belief in ‘change to conserve’

  • Campaigns for suffrage was disruptive to social order

  • The acceptance of women as voters reflected changing attitudes in society toward gender

• David Cameron changed succession rules to the throne in 2011, allowing female heirs to be recognised

  • This reflects modern attitudes of gender equality (change) but supports the maintenance of the institution of the monarchy (conserve)

different types of authority

• According to the theorist Max Weber, there are 3 types of authority:

  • Charismatic authority - where authority comes from the personality and characteristics of the leader

  • Rational-legal authority - where authority comes from the legal system and rationalism

  • Traditional authority - where authority comes from tradition and custom, and acceptance of the historical state of affairs

traditional authority

• Some theorists have argued that conservatives favour ‘traditional’ authority as this reflects cultural customs and respects historical traditions

• Traditional authority is more likely to preserve tradition in society and traditional hierarchies

  • EXAMPLE: out of the 58 PMs (up to Keir Starmer), 45 PMs attended Oxbridge

  • EXAMPLE: monarchy is an example of traditional authority over the UK

hierarchy

• Conservatives believe that political systems and structures that are hierarchical are the best political systems and structures

  • These structures will be the fairest and most beneficial to the people inside them

• We are all born with different merits and abilities, and so some people are more suited to leadership and high status, and others are more suited to low-status positions and jobs

  • Revolutionary change and abandoning hierarchy is ignorant of this, according to conservatives

• EXAMPLE: in Rishi Sunak’s 2023 cabinet, 63% of ministers were privately educated and 53% attended Oxbridge

new right conservatism in hierarchy

• New Right conservatism accepts that there are natural inequalities in society

• However, New Right conservatives don’t necessarily want to preserve this order and hierarchy

• Instead, inequalities lead to people to strive to work harder to improve their place in life

paternalism

• Paternalism believes that some members of society should lead others and it is these people who have obligations to those below them to look after their best interests

• Conservatives believe in human imperfection, which justifies paternalism

  • Humans may not always make the best choices for themselves, therefore it is acceptable to act on behalf of other people

• Conservatives tend to support the ‘trustee’ model of representation in parliament, rather than ‘delegate’

traditional paternalism

• Traditional conservatism takes a forceful and authoritarian approach to paternalism

• Traditional paternalism is the idea that the state knows best and therefore everyone has to do as the state says

one nation conservatism & paternalism

• Benjamin Disraeli’s one nation conservatism had strong paternalist ideas

  • This conservative ideology argued that there should be social classes, and the upper classes should look after the working classes

• The paternalism of one-nation conservatism has roots in the idea of noblesse oblige - the obligation of the aristocracy and upper classes to look after the working classes and less fortunate

neo-feudalism

• Disraeli and Edmund Burke introduced the concept of ‘neo-feudalism’ which argued for class structures

  • The working classes produces goods

  • The middle classes earned money and so if they were in power could have conflicts of interest

  • The upper classes should rule because they had the time and money to already, their ancestors had been in power so they had historical knowledge and were able to rule ‘dispassionately’ (w/o self-interest)

rejection by new right & paternalism

• New Right conservatism, for example under Thatcher, rejected many paternalist ideas - instead there was a focus on individualism

• The individual had a responsibility to look after themselves and their family

• Thatcher rejected paternalist ideas of the establishment looking after the working classes but cutting social security such as state pensions

empiricism

• Definition: scientific and philosophical approach which argues that we can only gain knowledge from experience

• Empiricism opposes the idea that we can get knowledge from theoretical concepts

• Empiricism supports the conservative belief in tradition, as it uses the past as a source of wisdom

empiricism & organic society

• Empiricism supports the concept of organic society as institutions and practices have evolved over time to best suit the needs of society

  • We can only have knowledge of things we have seen or experienced - therefore the impact of ideas like liberal rationality and socialism are unknowable

anti-permissiveness

• Anti-permissiveness is not allowing people to make their own moral choices

• This opposes permissiveness, which is when these behaviours are allowed to take place

• In comparison, liberals accept that individuals have the right to determine their own private moral conduct, so long as they are not causing harm to others

• EX: Thatcher introduced Section 28 of the Local Government Act in 1987, which prohibited the mention of homosexuality in school sex education

  • Some people may disagree with same sex marriage as it is not traditional and challenges gender norms

    • Not allowing same sex marriage is an example of anti-permissiveness

libertarianism overview

• Definition: the promotion of freedom, free choice, and autonomy, mainly focused on applying these concepts to the economy

• Libertarians take positions similar to classical liberals - supporting freedom, individuality and as little government interference in the economy as possible

libertarianism & state

• Libertarians favour a ‘night-watchman state’ - where the only functions of the state are to protect private property and maintain law and order

  • The state only has a military, police and courts

  • This is a radical idea which many conservatives would reject

libertarianism & economy

• Libertarians support a free market economy, believing that individuals should be responsible for their own economic choices and that the government should not intervene

• In a free market, the price of goods and services are set by the forces of supply and demand

• Libertarians believe that government intervention makes a market inefficient

libertarianism & moral values

• Libertarians support freedom from government intervention in an individual’s personal life

• Libertarians tend to accept behaviours that were historically controversial, as long as they do not harm others

  • For example, libertarians in the US often support the right to own a gun as part of individual liberty

  • Libertarians have supported the right of same-sex couples to marry, which contrasts with conservative ideas of anti-permissiveness

laissez-faire

• Definition: political and economic system which supports as little government intervention as possible in business and the state

• Laissez-faire is also associated with neo-liberalism and classical liberal thinkers like Adam Smith

• The Conservative Party adopted the economic stance of laissez-faire under the leadership of Robert Peel

  • For much of the 19th century, the Conservative Party did not support free trade, an important part of laissez-faire economics

atomism

• Definition: the idea that society is made up of individuals who look after themselves - these individuals are self-sufficient and self-interested

• These individuals come together to form society

• Conservatives believe that atomism binds society together through entrepreneurship rather than socialist principles of equality

• Atomism is associated with more radical ideas - such as neoliberalism, rather than traditional and one-nation conservatism

  • EX: Thatcher once said that “there is no such thing as society”

• Atomism is also known as egoistical individualism - links to Ayn Rand’s idea of selfishness as a positive trait

  • Rand believed that we should actively seek to look after our own interests, instead of relying on the state

  • However, this selfishness should not be at the expense of others