conservatism - core ideas and origins knowledge flashcards

During the course of history, conservatism has undergone major …

developments as it has responded to societal changes. 

The Reformation (C16th):

The religious movement that birthed the Protestant Branch of Christianity arose after German monk Martin Luther nailed a document listing his complaints of the Roman Catholic Church on its door. This sparked debates and gave manifestation to …

complaints that had never been addressed due to fear of the establishment. The Counter-Reformation led by the establishment saw a compromise proposed to bring the Protestants back to the church - a clear example of an attempt to make change in order to conserve the old order.

A significant English conflict, pitting Parliament against the King and marking the first true challenge to the divine right of kings. While Parliament won the …

civil war, the monarchy was ultimately restored upon the death of Cromwell. However, Parliament’s power was recognised, and the monarchy’s power weakened. 

The Enlightenment and French Revolution (C18th) (i):

The Enlightenment was a period where many new ideas (individualism, rationalism, freedom and equality) developed. Analysis and reason were emphasised and allowed authority to be challenged. Brand new ideas were seen as dangerous by establishment forces, who responded with a …

focus on the importance of tradition, stability and the natural order of a hierarchical society. It was dangerous to upset the status quo just for the sake of untested, abstract theories. The idea of Noblesse Oblige, obligation of the rich to help the poor, was seen as one way to placate people.

The Enlightenment and French Revolution (C18th) (ii):

The 1789 French Revolution was an embodiment of the new ideas developed in the Enlightenment, seeing the overthrow of the old regime of France and the establishment of a republic based on liberty and equality in its place. Feudalism, a long standing political system based on …

fixed hierarchy, was abolished. It was strongly criticised, especially by Edmund Burke, who blamed ensuing chaos in France on revolutionaries who had so quickly overturned long-standing institutions such as the monarchy and replaced them with new, untested ideas.

The Enlightenment and French Revolution (C18th) (iii):

Traditional conservatism, at this point, was about conserving the established order dominated by the landed aristocracy, established church and monarchy, and refuting the radical and revolutionary ideas associated with liberalism and the French Revolution. The Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) were …

the conservative establishment of Europe's response - a coalition against the French revolutionaries in an attempt to stop the spread of the republican form of government. This attempt failed.

The Nineteenth Century (i):

The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) were a continuation of the French Revolutionary Wars, seeing France occupy large swathes of Europe. Ultimately, the French were defeated and the old order was restored in Europe. However, ideas remained and regimes sought to pre-empt similar outbreaks. The Industrial Revolution saw a growth of industry and complete upheaval of …

 the class system. The traditional ruling class weren’t the only ones with great wealth; a middle class was established and the working class in cities grew massively. Conservatives again argued the old status quo had resulted in societal stability for generations and must be protected in the face of new developments.

The Nineteenth Century (ii): The Springtime of the Peoples (1848-49) saw revolutions break out all over Europe in opposition to the status quo. They sought to establish republics, or at least constitutional monarchies. Liberalism and socialism were espoused by …

different revolutionaries - all defeated within a year as the establishment rallied. Nevertheless, conservatives could see that new ideologies were here to stay, and pursued reforms to calm demands to change.

The Birth of One Nation (1860s) (i) :This branch was partly based on the thinking of Edmund Burke who insisted that conservatives needed to allow a certain amount of change to maintain the wider features of traditional society. Increases of urbanisation, industrialisation, poverty and rebellion led many to rethink the ideology, since agrarian-based ideas weren’t attracting support, while liberalism and socialism were gaining rapid influence. Under Disraeli, conservatism advocated a ….

one nation conservative approach - a response to the emergence of democracy and the need to gain votes within the lower classes rather than these votes going to the Liberals/Labour. ONCs adopted a paternalistic and ‘welfarist’ approach; to prevent the poor from revolting, structures were needed to draw them into national society. Everyone had a role to play in contributing to the national good.

The Birth of One Nation (1860s) (ii) : The welfare state and management of the economy were later accepted as adding to social stability and creating cohesion. Paternalism was promoted as a good way of keeping society indebted to the ruling class. An international financial crisis in 1873 precipitated the ‘Long Depression’ - high unemployment and …

short-lived booms. Volatile economies suffered from deflation and depressed levels of trade. The period marked an early highpoint for conservatism which switched towards a more authoritarian ideological approach depending on the country. Issues such as law and order and economic security were of greatest importance to electorates. 

The C20th: (i) Socialism became a stronger force, especially with the Russian Revolution, seeing socialist ideals pursued by the soviets. Conservatism responded by opposing the extension of state control - promoting …

private enterprise and property instead and focusing more on individualism as opposed to socialist egalitarian communitarianism. 

The C20th: (ii) The rise of facism emphasised similar ideas to conservatism: tradition, society and national self-sufficiency. The same groups thus supported the new ideology, however a key difference was that fascism was a revolutionary ideology, extremely authoritarian and totalitarian, resulting in conservatism pushing in a different direction and accepting democracy, a limited state and freedom. Where fascism had …

discredited conservatism, the trend towards a more pragmatic conservatism manifested in Christian Democracy. Christian Democrat parties practise forms of corporatism in which trade unions, churches etc. from a social partnership in order to preserve stability. Christian democrats supported a social market economy where a strong welfare state and Keynesian economic policies create a sufficient level of wealth to preserve authority, order and stability.

The C20th: (iii) Conservatives later saw the NHS as a pragmatic change, allowing them to grow in popularity. Throughout the twentieth century, class divisions in society were becoming less noticeable, with a …

growing middle class. Conservatism's traditional view of class being central to society was becoming untenable, resulting in the New Right, which abandoned the class focus of conservatism, instead placing it on individualism. 

What do Conservatives believe?

There are 4 key principles of conservatism:

 change, tradition, pragmatism and empiricism.

1. Change  (i)- Conservatives are uncomfortable with change - as it represents “a step into the unknown”. Conservatives do accept change in small doses if it conserves the core features, values and traditions of society. Burke famously argued one had to ‘change in order to conserve’ whilst Disraeli in the 1860s-80s accepted …

more rights for working people in order to stop a revolution (father of one nation conservatism). PM David Cameron in the 2000s-10s changed his party’s policies on key issues in order to return conservatism to power. 

1. Change  (ii)- Conservative rules for change to occur …

• Change must be cautious and absolutely necessary - “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and “Doing nothing is sometimes preferable to doing something”.

• Change must make an improvement - “Ensure the cure is not worse than the disease”.

• Society is the way it is because that is the way it is meant to be. Don’t arrogantly believe you can improve on the society your forefathers left behind for you - “Society is a partnership of the dead, living and the unborn” - Burke

2. Tradition (i)- Since Conservatives are uncomfortable with change, it naturally follows they hold tradition in high regard. Tradition refers to aspects of a society, such as its institutions and values that have developed over time, endured over time and so become embedded in society. According to Conservative thinker Michael Oakeshott - “To be conservative is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the …

untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss. Such traditionalism may be a reflection of trust in time-tested methods of social organisation, giving ‘votes to the dead’. Traditions may also be steeped in a sense of identity”. Tradition forms a ‘natural selection’ of institutions and ways of life. Only the fittest institutions and ideas survive. Tradition therefore is extremely helpful in forming an effective society and state

Tradition (ii)- Examples of tradition in action include:

• Social structure - family, private property, morality, lifestyle.

• State institutions - constitution, church, monarchy.

These are seen by conservatism as intrinsic to a society, and it is not possible to greatly change them or remove them from society without gravely threatening the order and stability of that society.Conservatism argues that the upholding of tradition is important and benefits society. what works now and what has worked before (as well as what has not worked) should serve as a blueprint for the future. 

• Tradition has stood the test of time - this means that it works and , therefore is linked to the order, security and stability of society,

• Tradition gives people a strong sense of identity - this draws people within a society together as they all share in the same traditions.

• Tradition is the embodiment of past wisdom -  this means that it should be lightly discarded because it exists for a reason; it should act as a guide.

 

The opposite of tradition would be change based on new ideas, akin to a leap into the unknown, which will threaten stability and security. 

3. Pragmatism (i) - Refers to the rejection of ‘absolute’ ideology in favour of dealing with issues in a practical common sense way. For Conservatives therefore society must be organised around common sense practical decisions  - and not basing your approach on the basis of abstract theoretical unbreakable principles - like …

liberalism's idea of individualism or socialism's idea of equality. Any philosophical or political idea can therefore be abandoned, if it is no longer suitable to the historical circumstances. This makes conservatism flexible and willing to abandon principles if they no longer fit.

3. Pragmatism (ii) - The examples of the changes of Burke, Disraeli and Cameron are all examples of being pragmatic …. eg. in the C19th Conservatism reacted pragmatically to Liberalism eg. extending the voting franchise in the 2nd Reform Act of 1867, in the C20th it reacted pragmatically to Socialism, eg. not reversing the introduction of …

 the NHS and creation of the ‘welfare state’ introduced by Labour governments. Rishi Sunak’s ‘furlough’ programme during Covid in 2020-21 was one of the biggest state interventions in UK history. It was done by an ‘anti big state party’ - as a pragmatic choice. 

3. Pragmatism (iii) - Pragmatism also means balancing conservatism ‘instincts’ on change and tradition, with the ideas currently popular with the people. Whereas socialists could be said to want to impose an ‘ideological vision’ on a country, conservatives usually have no such plan. Instead they merely want to keep…

the current society functioning effectively (or in some cases return to a previous ‘older’ social model) - which means ensuring ‘the people’ are content with the policies being pursued. How the population will respond to new untested ideas is seen as a crucial pragmatic consideration. This is far more important than decisions based on political theorists

4. Empiricism- Refers to the belief in evidence obtained through experience or experimental procedure. Learning therefore only comes from experience and observations. Conservatives base their policies on empiricalism …

what is seen to work in the ‘real world’. As such, they utterly reject as nonsense philosophical theories such as Marxism, which was a theoretical construction of how the world worked.

Is Conservatism an ideology?

Left-wing theorists argue conservatism isn’t an ideology at all - since an ideology needs a clear set of beliefs and principles formulated for the purpose of constructing the most healthy society possible. But conservatives don’t have hard and fast beliefs, nor is there any real desire to improve things. Instead they just want to maintain the status quo. Indeed the Conservatives see the lack of concrete unchangeable ideas as a strength of their approach. To argue …

conservatism isn’t an ideology is frankly silly. Nevertheless, conservatism is a reactionary ideology. ie. it reacts against new ideas that arise in society … rather than formulating new ideas itself. Any changes it makes to adapt to the new ideas in society are done only because of the principle of ‘change in order to conserve’ ie. making smaller pragmatic changes, in order to avoid revolution.