Conservatism The State Essay Plan

What do all cons agree the state must do?

Maintain law and order

What do cons believe the state must protect from?

Following from the views of Hobbes and Burke that humans are flawed, conservatives agreed that the state had to have strong authority to maintain order, both threats within and from foreign threats.

What state approach did traditional conservatives propose ?

Traditional conservatives like Burke proposed a somewhat paternalistic approach to prevent tyranny.

What did one nations agree that state needed authority for?

One-nation conservatives from Disraeli to Macmillan agreed that the state needed authority to prevent social disorder and possible revolution or socialism, with a level of paternalism.

What state did the new right call for?

New Right, neoconservatives also called for a strong state, and even the neoliberals of the New Right, such as Rand recognised that the state should be strong on law and order and national security.

How do conservatives disagree on the level of state in society?

• Minimal state vs extensive state best for society

• Conservatives differed on the extent to which the state should intervene with individuals in society.

What do one national and some traditional conservatives think the state should be guided by?

For one-nation conservatives since Disraeli, and modern traditional conservatives like Oakeshott, the state should be guided by tradition and pragmatic concerns, providing  paternalistic welfare services where needed to prevent social fragmentation.

What did rand say the state should confine itself to?

Rand, however, suggested that the state should confine itself to law, order and national security, and leave matters of welfare to individuals.

What did she and Nozick call for rolling back of?

So she, and Nozick called for a ‘rolling back of the frontiers of the state’, to protect individuals from the infringements of their liberty that the extensive state services had created.

What do all cons think the state should promote?

• The state should promote patriotism, and protect national interests

• All conservatives agree that the state has an important role in promoting patriotism and national identity.

What emphasis did Disraeli increase?

• Whilst conservatives had always supported the monarchy and patriotism, Disraeli increased this emphasis. 

• He elevated Queen Victoria to ‘Empress of India’ and the British Empire was placed at the centre of conservative policy.

What identity have new right focused on?

New Right conservatives from UK and USA have also focused on nationalism, and protecting national identity.

What approach did Kristol influence?

• In US, Irving Kristol influenced state’s approach in the Cold War, the War on Terror, and protection of American values against imported ideas from immigrants.

• In UK this was seen in Eurosceptism of Conservatives.

How do conservatives disagree on the states role in the economy?

Intervention by the state in the economy vs minimal role for the state in the economy

What intervention in the economy do one nation support?

• One-nation cons. from Disraeli onwards supported increasing level of state intervention in economy.

• By time of Harold Macmillan, they accepted considerable level of state control through use of Keynesian  management techniques.

• They even continued to accept nationalisation of the essential industries of the nation.

what intervention did new right want?

However, neoliberals of the New Right called for a reduction of intervention.

What did Hayek & Friedman want to end?

Hayek and Friedman called for an end to Keynesianism, and the introduction of a free-market economy.

What did thatcher do to the economy?

In the UK Margaret Thatcher privatised many of the state-controlled industries.

What did Nozick claim on one nation intervention?

Nozick claimed that the one-nation level of economic intervention made it harder to focus on the state’s true function of maintaining order and security.