18 - Conservatism Flashcards
1
Q
Key ideas
A
- Authoritarian conservatism
- Libertarian conservatism
- New right
2
Q
What is conservatism?
A
- Desire to conserve
- Response to social, political, and economic change
3
Q
Who was Edmund Burke?
A
Against the French Revolution of 1789
4
Q
Conservatives on tradition
A
- Support for existing institutions and practices
- Suspicion of radical change
- Skepticism about political knowledge
5
Q
Conservatives on human imperfection
A
- We are imperfect and not changeable by social engineering
- Psychologically dependent
- Morally imperfect
- Intellectually limited
6
Q
Conservatives on an organic society
A
Society = living organism
- Society is prior to, and more than, the individual
- Do not tamper with the social fabric
- Society = sacred intergenerational covenant -More of a promise/obligation
7
Q
Who is Joseph de Maistre
A
- Authoritarian conservatism
- Reaction against the French Revolution
- “Throne and Altar”: Monarchy and the Church
- Against Enlightenment rationality
- Authority as absolute, mysterious, and terrifying
(ex. the executioner and hangman)
8
Q
Albert O. Hirschman on change
A
- Against reductive individual and class
- Three types of objections to revolutionary change
1) Perversity
2) Futility
3) Jeopardy
9
Q
What is libertarian conservatism
A
- Reject traditional conservative emphasis on tradition, authority, and organic society
- Defend private property rights and the lassiez faire free market economy
- Strong state to maintain public order
10
Q
Who was a famous libertarian conservatism?
A
Ronald Reagan
11
Q
The new right
A
- Combines two contrasting ideologies: neoliberalism and neoconservatism
- Liberal new right: private good; public bad
- Conservative new right: social order, family values, military strength
