Conservatism (copy)
After French revolution, Conservatism was put forward as an answer to social turmoil that would allow for stability and order in Europe’s major power.
Conservatism views human nature as flawed and unchangeable, seeing people as imperfect. It emphasizes the need for order, hierarchy, and tradition to ensure safety and security. Conservatives believe society is organic and cannot be shaped, much like a plant that grows on its own.
Tradition is important because it carries centuries of wisdom that should be preserved. Change is inevitable, but it must be slow and gradual, not sudden.
The state’s role is to maintain order and security, protecting citizens from both external and internal threats. Conservatives value property because ownership encourages responsibility and caution.
While conservatives are not entirely enthusiastic about capitalism, they accept it because it supports property rights, inequality, hierarchy, and the status quo.
Traditional Conservatism - Key Points for Study:
Core Values:
Hierarchical structure in society.
Paternalism: those in higher positions must care for those below.
Belief that society functions best when individuals know and accept their roles.
Noblesse Oblige:
The idea that those in higher status have a duty to care for those lower down the social scale.
Historical Context:
Rooted in a time when only a few people had the vote.
Less significant in modern British politics.
Evolution of Ideas:
As the franchise expanded, traditional conservative values evolved.
Led to the emergence of one-nation conservatism.
Benjamin Disraeli's Role:
Key figure in developing the conservative party post-representation of the people act.
Helped expand the party's appeal to new voters and the rising bourgeois capitalist class.
One-Nation Conservatism - Key Points for Study:
Origins:
Developed by 19th-century politician Benjamin Disraeli.
Explored in his novel Sybil (1845), which highlighted the gap between the wealthy elite and the working class.
Key Ideas:
Disraeli noted the vast ignorance between the classes, describing them as if from "different planets."
Advocated for paternalism, where the ruling elite should care for the less fortunate.
Argued for provisions like unemployment support to alleviate poverty and prevent revolutionary movements.
Electoral Strategy:
Disraeli saw one-nation conservatism as a way to appeal to all sections of society, especially the working class.
Paternalism allowed the Conservative Party to present itself positively to less wealthy voters, enhancing its support base.
Conservatism as a “Catch-All” Party:
One-nation conservatism helped the Tories become the UK's most electorally successful party, gaining support from various social classes, including the working class.
Ideological Beliefs:
Opposes the state controlling citizens' lives but supports a strong state to maintain order and governance.
Believes in protecting individual liberty, as seen in Winston Churchill’s opposition to ID cards during WWII.
Modern Influence:
Think tanks like the Tory Reform Group advocate for individual liberty.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition scrapped Labour's ID card program, reflecting the one-nation stance.
New-Right Conservatism - Key Points for Study:
Combination of Ideas:
Merges neo-liberal (economic freedom) and neo-conservative (social control) ideas.
Economically libertarian but socially authoritarian.
Margaret Thatcher’s Example:
Economic policies: Reduced state role with privatisation, deregulation, and selling council houses.
Authoritarian approach: Confronted left-wing unions and local councils, using state power to oppose them.
Lifestyle policies: Introduced Clause 28 to prevent promoting homosexuality in schools, upholding traditional moral values.
David Cameron’s Leadership:
Tried to rebrand the party as more socially inclusive.
Same-sex marriage (2012): Reflects a more socially liberal stance.
Authoritarian law and order: Called for “exemplary punishment” for 2011 rioters and introduced strict anti-terrorism measures, criticized as draconian.
Despite austerity, reduced public spending on police.
Ideological Contradiction:
Economic freedom vs. social control, showing the tension between libertarian and authoritarian elements in New-Right conservatism.
Conservatism
Traditional forms is charcterised by the desire to conserve - to prevent or minimise change
Traditional forms of conservatism certainly had this as its primary aim, though challenged in the 1970’ and 80s with the emergence of new right thinking
Key Thinkers
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) The Leviathan
Living at the time of the English Civil War, he preferred order to the chaos that may arise when civil society breaks down. Felt humans to be selifsh and easily manipulated.
Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) Reflections on the revoluiton in France
Saw the impact of the French revolution and basically thought that the bloodshed and hardship was not worth the sacrifice. Favoured incremental change to survive and venerated tradition and custom
Michael Oakeshott (1901 - 1982) On Human Conduct
Stressed the limitation of humans and their imperfections. Advocated pragmatism above doctrine.
Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982) The Virtue of selfishness
Strong supported of pursing self interest, humans individually know what is best and a free and open unregulated capitalist economy delivers
Robert Nozick (1938 - 2002) Anarchy state and utopia
Presented himself as the main critic of John Rawls and favoured limited minimal government. Again like Rand, a libertarian and advocated maximum indidvudal choice. Not an anarchist as he favoured some sort of state control albeit restricted
5 pins of Conservatism
Tradition - Keeps things the way they are. Our tradiitons and values must work, because they got us to where we are today
Imperfection - people are imperfect, selifsh and greedy. Society needs strong rules to ensure order.
Organic society - Society is made up of families building smart communities together
Authority - Whether it comes from religion, police or fam, authority is natural and some poeple are born leaders
Property - If you own things, you’ll want to look after them and will work harder in order to make money to buy more things
6 pins of Conservatism
Tradition
“Democracy of the Dead”, upholding things that have worked so far.
Who we are is passed on from generation to generation
Tradiiton unifies us in families, communities, nationalities and religions
Religion is most vital tradiiton, teahces moral valyes.
Point to French and Russian revolution as to why abandoning tradition is bad
Tradition links to empiricism (using experiences and “the known” to guide them)
Pragmatism
Changing to conserve, this allows Conservatives to respond to the oposing ideology of time (Liberalism, Socialisam) whilst still being a popular political force
Conservatives need to be pragmatic, not just reactionary (think about how to maintain stability, not just respond to events
Changing to conserve influenced Peel and Disraeli to expand voting rights and Tamworth manifesto
After WW2, accepting the NHS and welfare state
Human imperfection
Humans are fallible, pyschologically, morally and intllectually
Organic Society
Like a living organsim, society cannot be artifically moulded into something it isnt..it must grow naturally
Links to hierachy and tradition, mainatains the current and social politica systems (against radical change)
Keeps us together..just like organisms need ifferent parts to survive, we need to work together survive, social cohesion
People are at a station in their life need to stick to their station
Against dogmatic ideas
Paternalism
One-Nation idea
A belief in hierachy and agency, that those with wealth power shuld look after those without “Noblesse Oblige”
Hard paternalism - State knows best for the meek
Soft Paternalism - State should listent o meek to help
Libertarianism
New Right Idea
State has grown too big and powerful, too much interventionism
As a result, New RIght conservatives long for the tradition of classic Liberalism - Limited state
Core Ideas
Pragmatism
Associated with Edmund Burke and Michael Okeshott, pragmatism refers to a practical response to political decision-making, decisions are made on the basis of what works best for that specific situation. This will be based on past experiences. This is opposite of the ideology where decisions are based on beliefs. Conservatives crtisize the idea that humans can fully understand the world, so they prefer practical responses to situations instead of trying to shape society with unproven ideological beliefs
Traditional and One Nation Conservatism are strongly linked to pragmatism. Burke suggest pragmatism is the best reponse to change in society, by cautiously managing change without causing chaos or revolution. This led to his idea of needing to ‘to change in order to conserve’. One Nation conservatives, reposnding to early industrialisation, supporte government action to help the less fortunate and backed state involvement int he economy to fund welfare programs in the 1950s ad 60s. In contrast, the New Right rejcted pragmatism, favouring the principle that the free market should provide all goods and services.
Tradition
Conservatives defend traditions for several reasons. Many believe traditions are God-given and unchangeable. Burke argued that society is shaped by ‘the law of our creator’ and should not be altered. While this idea is harder to maintain today, some still hold this belief.
Other conservatives support tradition without religious reasoning. Burke saw society as a partnership between the living, the dead, and future generations, meaning the wisdom of the past should be respected. For example, in the UK, conservatives view the monarchy as a symbol of accumulated wisdom and national unity.
Conservatives also believe tradition also gives people a sense of belonging and identity. Things like red phone boxes, buses, and judges' costumes provide a feeling of certainty, making people feel connected to society
Human Imperfection
Conservatives can be seen as ‘the philosophy of human imperfection’ (O’Sullivan 1976’. This is because, unlike other ideologies, conservatives do not see human nature as good. They see humans as imperfect there need control. Impeferect in 3 ways
1. Physcologically : Psychologically: Conservatives see people as creatures of habit who seek safety and security. They believe order is necessary to provide security in a scary and uncertain world, and view liberty as problematic because it leads to too many choices and uncertainty. They agree with Thomas Hobbes, who argued that any government, even an authoritarian one, is better than chaos.
2. Morally : Conservatives believe crime is caused by the individual’s flaws, not society. They have a pessimistic view of human nature, with some believing in "original sin." They think people can be kept from antisocial behavior through strong law and order, with deterrents to prevent selfish impulses. Margaret Thatcher’s government, for example, focused on strict law enforcement.
3. Intellectually : Conservaties don’t not see people as intelligent and think the world is too complicated for poeple to grasp. Oakeshott believed the world was ‘boundless and bottomless’, beyond human understanding. They, therefore base their ideas on certainty, tradition, love. They do not lik abstarct ideas ‘rights’ ‘social justice’ as they would mean society would need to be remodelled.
However, New Right thinkers can be seen as having a more optimistic view of human nature, especially with their belief in the free market, which gives people economic freedom. But even then, they emphasize strong moral authority and law enforcement.
Conservatism Booklet
Basics of Conservatism
Ideology focusing on traditional values. It is not about maintaining the status-quo completely, byut conservatives accept some change to conserve as circumstances in scoeity change themselves. To maintain contruinity and stability this ideology focuses on order, hierarchy, organic society and property rights.
This ideology emerged in early 19th century, conservatism wad put forward as an anser to social turmoil that would allow for stability and order in Europe’s major powers. Throughout, the history of conservatosm its argued that it is a reaction to the political ideologies of the day. However, there are key themes that unify conservatism that allow us to see it as some form of a cohesive ideology.
Key Principles
Conservatism has a NEGATIVE view on human nature, seeing humans as fallible it is known as a “philosphy of imperfection”. Human nature is fixed and constant, conservatives believe humans NEED order and hierarchy for safety an security. Thus, conservatives will highlight law and order with sotrong traditions and customs as the building blocks for a realisitc society
Therefore, Conservatism believes that society cannot be shaped bc its organic. E.g society is like a plant that is growing which can’t be controlled.
Another key part of society is tradition, which shows us that centuries of wisdom have worked up
Essay Plan
To what extent do conservatives agree about the nature of society?