2. Conservatism

What is conservatism?

• Reform in order to conserve
• Value traditional institutions
• Tendency towards impiricism & pragmatism
• Social order & security are the most basic of human needs
• Reactionary (against liberealism & socialism)

The Enlightenment

• Reaction against liberalism
• Importance of the Church, hierarchy, the monarchy, social order
• Led by the aristocracy & the landed gentry

Class & Conservatism

• Industrial Revolution led to formation of 3 social classes (working, industrial & aristocracy)
• Disraeli: The landed classes were privileged, but had to now justify their position (noblesse oblige)
• Burke: Power of the ruling class justified: can govern in a disinterested way; accumulated wisdom & were superior in their judegment of others' best interests (paternalism)
• Class has remained important, but conservatism diversified in the latter part of the 20th century (free-market capitalism; individualism)

Conservatism & Ideology

• Conservatism has changed its character in order to provide an effective opposition to change
• 19th Century: Liberal emphasis on minimal state & liberty vs. conservative emphasis on social unity & one-nation conservatism
• 20th Century: Socialist collectivism vs. conservative individualism & competition
• 1930s & 40s: Conservatives adopted classical luberal ideas in order to distance themselves from fascism
• Modern liberalism vs. traditional moral values

Human Nature:

• Humans are driven by basic appetites (physical property, power & avoidance of deprivation)
• Changes based on the nature of society
• Burke: The relationship between govt. & the people should be like that between a parent & child (paternalism)
• Individuals are more concerned with their own welfare than that of others. Thatcher: "there is no such thing as society"

Order & Authority:

• Humankind's most basic need is for order & security
• Preservation of order & gradual reform

Tradition & Preservation

• Institutions & values
• Burke: "No generation should ever be so rash as to consider itself superior to its predecessors"
• Accumulated wisdom (democracy of the dead)

Inequality

• Natural & inevitable
• Fixed hierarchical syste => individualism
• Total social & economic equality is artificial
• Inequality = dynamism & competition

Organic Society & Hierarchy

• Individuals & institutions are interconnected & interdependent
• Reaction against liberal individualism
• Class system is inevitable - noblesse oblige
• Society is superior to individual interests

Pragmatism

• Flexibility - rejaction of dogma
• Understanding what is best for the people, what is acceptable & will preserve a stable society

Individualism

• Everyone should be presented with a wide range of choices & opportunities
• Implied privacy
• Continuity of morality, law & order & traditions

Property:

• 1860s & 70s: property-owning m/c
• Opposition to common ownership
• Resistance to high property taxes
• Law & order (esp. property-related crime)

Opposition to Ideology:

• Society should not be directed towards specific goals
• Resistant to rapid / radical reforms & revolutions
• Excessive attachment to ideology can lead to tyranny

Scepticism & Empiricism:

• Express reservations & doubts about all political movements
• Empiricism: Judging current actions against the experience of the past

Two Key Doctrines:

• The organic theory of society & the state
• A mistrust of human nature: it is morally, psychologically & intellectually imperfect

Other Central Themes:

• Tradition: The organic society cannot be severed from its roots; Humans should look to tradition & history as guides to action; Tradition can provide a sense of identity; If something has stood the test of time, then it works
• Authority: An essectial feature of the organic society; A form of social glue that binds people together; Prevents chaos & disorder; Link to wisdom

Neo-liberalism:

• Mechanistic / individualsit theory
• A view of human nature as rational & self-seeking
• Radical & reactionary
• Free-market economics
• libertarianism
• principled & doctrinaire thinking

Neo-conservatism:

• Organic / collectivist thinking
• Natural hierarchy & authority
• mistrust of human reason
• reactionary
• authoritarian
• prinicpled & doctrinaire thinking

Reasons for rolling back the state:

• They believe the free market is self-regulating
• High taxation amounts to legalised theft
• High public spending fuels inflation
• Nationalised industries are inefficient & uncompetitive
• State welfare undermines self-reliance & individual responsibility & promotes a dependency culture

The New Right Paradox:

• Paradox of "limited but strong" government
• "Limitation of govt. does not make for a weak govt. If you've got the role of govt. clearly set out, then it means very strong govt. in that role. Very strong indeed." - Margaret Thatcher
• "What this country wants is less tax & more law & order" - Margaret Thatcher
• "The trouble with a free-market economy is that it takes so many police to make it work" - Neal Ascherson

Shared conservative beliefs:

• Private property
• Hierarchy
• Law & order
• Christian family values