Conservatism Flashcards
Pragmatism
flexible approach to society with decisions made on the basis of what works
Tradition
accumulated wisdom of past societies and a connection between the generations
creates stability, links to organic change, enhance humans’ security
Human imperfection
humans are flawed which makes them incapable of making good decisions for themselves
psychological, moral, intellectual imperfection
Organic state/ society
society/state is more important than any individual parts
belief in authority and hierarchy
Paternalism
benign power exerted from above by the state, that governs in the interests of the people –
traditional view - an authoritarian approach, the state knows what is best so the people must do what they are told
one-nation view - there is an obligation on the wealthy to look after those who are unable to look after themselves
rejected by New Right Conservatives - libertarianism (specifically neoliberalism) – upholds liberty, seeking to maximise autonomy and free choice, mainly in the economy
Thomas Hobbes
- Leviathan 1651
- order in society will balance the need for human freedom
- humans are needy and vulnerable and need societal structure
- humans will give up some freedoms in return for security from a strong state
- believed humans were rational - would agree to a ‘contract’ with the state
- ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish’ - life in the ‘state of nature’
- ‘humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power’
Edmund Burke
- Reflections on the Revolution in France 1790
- change should be evolutionary and done only to conserve the practices of society (change to conserve)
- tradition and empiricism - traditions should be respected and passed down, any change should be based on empirical evidence not abstract theory
- paternalism - the ruling class had an obligation to the rest of society
- mankind’s fallibility and tendency to fail more than succeed
- ‘society is a partnership… between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born’
- ‘little platoons’ - small diverse communities
Micheal Oakeshott
- Rationalism in Politics 1962
- human imperfection - humans were imperfect and unable to comprehend the world around them, society is unpredictable
- pragmatism - change should be made on the basis of real world evidence, not abstract ideas
- traditions should be expected as they have been shown to work
- tried to make Conservatism more optimistic
- humans are ‘fallible but not terrible’
- ‘to be conservative… is to prefer the familiar to the unknown’
- state should ‘prevent the bad rather than create the good’
- nautical metaphor - ‘a boundless sea’ ‘keep the ship afloat at all costs’
Ayn Rand
- Atlas Shrugged 1957
- objectivism - humans are rational and and acting in self-interest is rational
- freedom - support for a capitalist economy largely free from government intervention
- individuals rights are more important than society as a whole
- governments limit rights so should be minimalist, only providing order and security
- atomism - society is made up of individuals who act in ‘rational self-interest’
- renewal of negative liberty and right to choose in areas like abortion
- ‘the small state is the strong state’
Robert Nozick
- Anarchy, State and Utopia 1974
- libertarianism - belief in individual freedom that means individuals cannot be used as a resource against their will
- self-ownership - individuals own their labour and bodies
- growth of government is a threat to individual freedoms - ‘dependency culture’
- some formal authority is needed to enforce law and order
- positive on human nature - humans are ‘pack animals’
- ‘tax, for the most part, is theft’
- ‘there are only individual people, different individual people, with their own lives’
Traditional conservatism
- commitment to hierarchical and paternalistic values
- pessimistic on human nature
- organic change to protect tradition
- natural hierarchy - paternalistic responsibility
- act pragmatically
- laissez-faire approach to economics
One Nation conservatism
- updating of traditional conservatism in response to the emergence of capitalism
- provision of social welfare protects the societal hierarchy
- provision of some, limited reform
- greater government intervention
- mixed economy - Keynesian economics
New Right conservatism
- the marriage of neo-liberal and neoconservative ideas
- neo-liberal: principally concerned with free-market economics and atomistic individualism
- neo-conservative: principally
concerned with the fear of social fragmentation, tough on law and order and public morality - humans are rational
- individuals are more important than society
- small government and welfare state
- free market economy, low tax
