Conservatism Key Agreements/ Disagreements

The State

Key agreements:

• A key role of the state is to provide order and security.

Key disagreements:

• The New Right supports libertarianism and a very minimal role for the state in the economy, contrasting with the view of one-nation conservatives in particular.

• Traditional and One-nation conservatives believe the state should act in a paternalistic, hierarchical manner, which strongly contrasts with the New Right’s rejection of paternalism and hierarchy.

• Traditional and One-nation conservatives strongly support the idea that the state should act based on pragmatism and tradition. This strongly contrasts with the New Right, which believes the state should be driven by ideological support for freedom

The Economy

Key agreements:

• Acceptance of a significant degree of inequality in the economy.

• Strong support for capitalism and property rights

Key disagreements:

• The New Right believes in libertarianism and very limited state intervention in the economy, strongly rejecting one-nation conservatives' beliefs in a paternalistic state in economic affairs.

• Traditional and one-nation conservatives believe in hierarchy within the economy and society, which is strongly rejected by the New Right.

• The New Right supports capitalism for very different reasons than one-nation and traditional conservatives. The New Right is driven by ideological support for freedom, whilst the other strands are driven by pragmatism and tradition

Society

Key agreements:

• Acceptance of a significant degree of inequality in society.

• All strands believe that order, security and property rights are crucial to a stable and successful society.

Key disagreements:

• Traditional and one-nation conservatives believe in an organic, cohesive society and localism. The New Right rejects this key belief and believes in an individualistic, atomistic view of society.

• Traditional and one- nation conservatives believe in paternalism and hierarchy in society (though in different ways), whilst the New Right rejects this paternalism and hierarchy.

• The New Right’s view on society is driven by ideological support for freedom, whilst the views of traditional and one-nation conservatives are shaped by pragmatism and tradition.

Human Nature

Key agreements:

• The state is needed to provide order and security. Without it, human nature would lead to conflict.

• The principle of human imperfection, which shapes conservatives’ views on the state, economy, and society)

Key disagreements:

• Traditional and one-nation conservatives strongly believe in human imperfection. The New Right rejects this pessimistic interpretation of human nature, believing instead that humans are rational and self-interested, seeing this in a positive light.

• Traditional and one-nation conservatives believe that paternalism, tradition and ‘little platoons’ are important and necessary to guiding human nature in the right direction. The New Right strongly rejects this, believing in individualism rather than localism and that intervention creates dependency.