conservatism key words

hierarchy

a system in which members of an organisation or society are ranked according to relative status or authority

authority

Those in higher positions of society who are best positioned to make decisions on society, who are best positioned to make decisions on society’s behalf. Their legitimacy comes from being high up in social hierarchy, and those below them in the hierarchy are obliged to obey

change to conserve

Socierty should adapt to shifting circumstances by making small changes rather than erejecting change outright. These compromises will preserve the essence of society. If society does not change, it risks rebellion and/or revolution

Atomism

A society exists as a loose collection of self-interested and self-sufficent individuals

Noblesse Oblige

The duty of the society’s elite, the wealthy and privileged, to look after those less fortunate

Anti-permissiveness

A rejection, informed by Christian morality, that there is no right and wrong, which was dubbed ‘permissiveness’ byh neo-conservatives. Neo-conservatives argue that sex before marriage, same-sex relationships, abortion and recreational drug taking, for example and wrong. Modern one-nation Conservatives are more accepting of same-sex marriages and abortion.

Radical

Belief in ideas that favour drastic political, economic and social change.

Human Imperfection

A belief that humans are morally selfish and motivated by base impulses; intellectually incapable of understanding rationally; and psychologically driven by security, reliant on tradition and culture.

Laissez-faire

A preference for minimal government intervention in the economy

Empiricism

The idea that knowledge and evidence come from real experience and not abstract theories.