conservatism: background

Conservatism is a reaction to the growing pace of political, social and economic change.​

• The best example of this is the French Revolution; where following the revolution Edmund Burke wrote his classic statement of Conservative principles in Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790).​

  • This deeply regretted the challenge to the Ancien Regime that had occurred in France in 1789.​

Conservatism stood in defence of a traditional social order in the nineteenth century.​

• This was against the rise of liberalism, socialism and nationalism.​

Conservative thought varies considerably.​

• UK Conservatism draws on the ideas of Burke who wants to change in order to conserve. ​

  • For example in the nineteenth century the argument was about conserving the changes that had been made 200 years earlier in the English Revolution – such as the overthrow of absolute monarchy.​

Identifying conservatism outside of Europe and North America is difficult.​

• The exception being the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party which has dominated Japanese politics since 1955.​

Conservatism is resilient – because it does not tie itself down to a fixed system of ideas.​

• It has undergone major changes since 1970s shaped by concerns regarding welfare and the economy. This has led to the ‘New Right’.​

  • This has exposed divisions in Conservatism and in some respects demonstrates the liberal influence on conservatism.​

  • This essentially is the divide between paternalistic support for intervention and a libertarian commitment to free market.