Conservatism Flashcards
When did conservative ideas first begin to form?
- Formed in the 18th century as a response to the French Revolution.
What are the main traditional conservative ideas?
- Focuses on the values of customs, traditions and continuity.
- Doesn’t believe that a perfect society based on reason can be achieved.
- Profoundly anti-revolutionary.
What is meant by the phrase ‘change to conserve’ ?
Conservatives oppose radical social changes as they view society as an organic, complex whole.
Long established institutions ( eg the monarchy) reflect the accumulated wisdom of the past.
Change should be incremental, building on what already works.
What is meant by the phrase ‘change to conserve’?
Conservatives oppose radical social changes as they view society as an organic, complex whole.
Long established institutions ( eg the monarchy) reflect the accumulated wisdom of the past.
Change should be incremental, building on what already works.
How do traditional conservatives view human nature?
Sees human nature as flawed and limited in its grasp of the world.
This sceptical view of human nature started with Thomas Hobbes.
How do traditional conservatives view society?
- Emphasises the organic society over individualism.
- Burke’s ‘little platoons’.
What do traditional conservatives view is the role of the state?
- To provide order, peace and stability.
- Emphasise hierarchy and authority over equality and democracy.
What is meant by the ‘organic society’?
Society is a natural, complex body.
It develops slowly and needs nurturing.
Shouldn’t be uprooted and replaced . (eg through radical changes or revolutions).
Who was Thomas Hobbes?
- Conservative thinker in the 17th century.
- Worked on the Leviathan (1651), first document to justify the existence of a state.
- His works were written in response to the English civil war.
What was Hobbes’ view on human nature?
- Cynical approach to human nature - only out to gain power for themselves.
- Without a state human life would be ‘nasty, brutish and short’.
What is Hobbes’ view on the state of nature?
- Argues that the state of nature (without a state) would be “nasty, brutish and short’.
- States that because humans are rational and seek self-preservation they will rise above the state of nature by agreeing a social contract between themselves and a powerful ruler.
What is Hobbes view on the power of the sovereign?
- The social contract between the people establishes a sovereign, with absolute power to prove order, security and stability.
What are some criticisms of Conservatism as an ideology?
- Some have argued that it’s politically incoherent because of tensions between one-nation conservatives and the New Right.
- Some argue that it’s a jumbled collection of beliefs and attitudes.
- It lacks an end goal.
- Conservatism is pragmatic and can be seen to be lacking clear underlying principles.
What are traditional conservatives views on hierarchy?
Human nature and society are naturally divided by wealth, status and power.
What are traditional conservatives views on paternalism?
The ruling elite hace a sense of obligation and duty to the many.
Government should act as a ‘father’ to the people - this involves governing in their best interests.
In return the people should show deference to their leaders.
What is the traditional conservative view on order?
Governments provide clear rules, discipline and guidance to ensure that society is ordered.
This will ensure that freedom benefits everyone and is not abused.
What is the traditional conservative view on freedom?
Argues that the limits provided by institutions allows for everyone to enjoy their freedom.
Limits on freedom all everyone to understand that their good behaviour will be reciprocated by others.
What is the traditional conservative view on social attitudes?
- Upholds that there are proven moral values that have provided stability and certainty.
- include traditional marriage and conventional family life with traditional gender roles.
- Individual freedoms need to be limited to protect these attitudes and values.
What is the traditional conservative view on ‘little platoons’?
- Society is a collection of ‘little platoons’, not individuals.
- Each community provides a sense of security, order and stability.
What is the traditional conservative view on ‘change to conserve’?
- Reform must be gradual and respect the accumulated wisdom of tradition.
- Empiricism, the traditional conservative approach to politcal problems is to focus on what works rather than theories and abstract principles.
- Means that conservatism is pragmatic and flexible in its approach to tackling political problems.
What is empiricism?
- Politics should be based on what works most effectively, not on abstract principles.
- Emrges from the politics of imperfection, as humans are limited in what they are able to know and understand about the world.
Who was Edmund Burke?
- Wrote in the 18th century.
- Regarded as the father of conservatism.
- Opposed the French Revolution.
- He was a Whig MP and his beliefs were based on Whig principles.
What was Burkes response to the American and French Revolutions?
- Supported the American revolution but opposed the French Revolution.
- Supported America becuase its aims were to protect these ancient rights and priveldges of the people.
- French Revolution was based on abstract theory and idealism. It aimed to destroy the collective wisdom of the ages by throwing out exist in institutions to create a society based on philosophical abstractions rather than empiricism.
What is Burke’s view on human nature?
- Sceptical view of human nature.
- Argued that humans couldn’t rely on indictable reason but could rely on traditions and custom.
- Opposed Hobbes’ idea of a social contract - argued that the only contract that existed was between ‘ the dead, the living and the yet to be born’.
- French Revolution was a destruction of that contract.
What was Burke’s view on society?
- Critical individualism.
- Favoured ‘little platoons’ - thats were tradition and customs are formed.
- Society is organic - traditions and customs change slowly based on practical knowledge, not theory.
- Attacked French Revolution’s emphasis on equality, argued that hierarchy was natural in organic societies.
What are the origins of one-nation conservatism?
- Emerged from the threat to the order of state and society from socialism, class conflict and the effects of free-market capitalism.
- An update of traditional conservatism to deal with these threats.
Which politician is most closely associated with one-nation conservatism?
Benjamin Disraeli (PM in the late 19th century).
Enacted the Employers and Workman Act (1875) - allowed workers to sue employers if they broke contracts.
Johnson and Rishi Sunak with their levelling up programmes - redirecting more public spending to the north of England .
What is one-nation conservatism?
- Emphasises the bonds of affection and trust that hold society together as part of a nation.
- All classes and groups in society are part of one nation because society is organic - what damages one element will damage the whole.
- Disraeli ‘the palace is not safe when the cottage is not happy’.
How did Oakeshott view human nature?
- Humans are fragile and fallible.
- Unable to understand the world because it is too complex for human reason to grasp.
What was Oakeshott’s view on the politics of rationalism?
- Highly critical of the politics of rationalism, which is the idea of remaking society based on abstract ideas and the principles of political philosophers.
- Humans prefer the ‘familiar to the unknown’, so a pragmatic approach to politics works best.
What was Oakeshott’s view on the ‘politics of faith’?
- Rejected the idea that its faith in the ability of governments to improve the conditions of mankind.
- Proposes the ‘politics of scepticism’, as the government attempt to perfect making are dangerous for human liberty and dignity.
What is Oakeshott’s view of conservatism as an ideology?
- Views conservatism as more of a disposition than an ideology.
What are the origins of the New Right?
- Can be traced back to the rise of authoritarian regimes in the twentieth century such as Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union.
- The New Right is also a response to the state in Western Democracies after WW2 and the development of the welfare state.
What is the New right’s view on the state?
The State should be small.
For rational self-interest to be the key principle of society, the state needs to be rolled back.
- Opposes public spending on welfare because it is unjust and according to Nozick creates a dependency culture.
What is the New Right’s approach to free-market capitalism?
- Believe that market forces are the best methods for the distribution and management of society’s resources.
- Everyone should be allowed to follow all the opportunities they can in the marketplace, with minimal taxation and regulation.
- Echoes ‘trickle down economics’, where it is argued that cutting taxes for the richest will trickle down in the economy and benefit everyone.
What is the New Right’s view on society?
- New Right divided by neo-conservatives who want to return to a society built on authority and national identity and neo-liberals who advocate for a society built on individual choice.
What is the neo-conservative view on society?
- Want to extend the role of the state to promote traditional family values, like traditional marriage and to protect national security.
- Fear the impact of immigration on social cohesion and national identity.
What is the neo-liberal view on society?
- Individual choice not just about economics but also morality.
- State should not intervene in areas of private morality.
- State should be stripped back.
- Relaxed about immigration as it is natural for a free market to have the free movement of people/labour.
What do neo-conservatives and neo-liberals agree with in terms of the role of the state?
- Free-market economics creates tensions as inequality may flourish, increasing the need for law and order and the protection of private property.
- Both want a strong but limited state.
What is the neo-conservative view on individual liberty?
- Restricts individual liberty to promote law and order and national security.
- State should direct the moral life of society (eg Thatchers Clause 28 which banned the teaching within schools the acceptability of homosexual relationships).
What is the neo-liberal view on individual liberty?
- Advance individual liberty through the reduction of tax and the welfare state.
- The state hose no role in intervening in areas of private morality.
What do neo-conservatives and neo-liberals agree with on individual liberty?
- Smaller state means that those in need will need support from society in the forms of ‘little platoons’ - promotes the bonds of affection and trust between individuals and communities.
What is Ayn Rand’s background?
- Born in Russia and escaped after the 1917 revolution.
- Her family were wealthy and lost their prosperity in the social upheaval.
- Explains Rand’s hostility to socialism and big state.
What is Rand’s concept of rational and ethical egoism?
- An ethics of rational selfishness based on a new morality.
- Her principle of objectivism states that self-interest and capitalism will deliver freedom, justice.
- Supports the idea of atomism which states that there is no such thing as society, just a collection of individuals.
What is Rand’s ideal social system?
- Free-market capitalism.
- This system protects individual rights to use their own minds and act with their own judgement.
- Her view is meritocratic - the most talented individuals and hard working gain most.
What is Nozick’s view on human nature?
- Breaks from Hobbes and has a more optimistic outlook on human nature.
- Saw individuals as having rights that existed before any social contract.
- Individuals have their own minds and ends which they rationally devote themselves to.
- Liberty is a fundamental value.
What is Nozick’s view on taxation?
- Wilt Chamberlain argument.
- Argues that an attempt to equality through the redistribution of wealth and taxation is the same as slave labour.
What is Nozick’s view on the state?
- Argues for a minimal state.
- It allows for the emergence of co-existing and voluntarily formed communities with their own morals and values.
- As long as individuals are free to contract in and out of these communities, it allows them to fully explore and live their own lives.
Context of Thomas Hobbes:
- English Civil War in the 1640s.
- Convinced Hobbes of the need for a strong and powerful state that would prioritise peace and order over individual rights.
Context of Edmund Burke:
- French Revolution in the late 18th century.
- Burke was hostile to violent revolutions and states based on abstract ideas.
Context of Michael Oakeshott:
- Experienced both WW2 and the post-war welfare state.
- Led Oakeshott to emphasise the importance on the pragmatism of governments.
- Rejected ideas of utopian societies.
Context of Ayn Rand:
- Grew up during the Russian Revolution.
- Gave Rand an intense hate for socialism and collectivism.
Context of Robert Nozick:
- Wrote in a similar period to Rand.
- Emphasised individual freedom and rejected the higher taxes that expanded in a post-war state.
- Challenged the ideas of Harvard contemporary John Rawls.
What is the conservative view on the government?
- Agree that the government is necessary to provide order, stability and security.
- Gov should be limited and committed to preserving the national state.
What is the conservative view on free-market capitalism?
- Built on the principle that private property and capitalism is central to a thriving economy.
- One-nation conservatives would argue that base on the principle of paternalism the wealthy have an obligation to the less wealthy.
- Neo-liberals would minimise the role of the state to create the conditions for individuals to help themselves.
What are conservative views of the individual?
- Support the view that freedom and choice are important.
- Also argue that the state is needed to provide stability and order for freedom to exist.
- Support strong laws.
- Traditional conservatives view a more interventionist state where as neo-liberals see society in more atomistic terms.
What do all strands of conservatism agree on regarding human nature?
- Most conservatives (except the New Right) have a pessimistic view on human nature - stress the fallibility and weakness of humans.
- Leads conservatives to argue that a perfect society is unachievable.
What Hobbes believe about human nature?
- Cynical.
- Sees hums as selfish and fearful of others.
- Also state that human nature is rational.
What is Burke’s view on human nature?
- Sceptical.
- Agrees that humans are imperfect.
- Doesn’t agree with Hobbes that humans are selfish and violent.
- They are flawed by capable of goodness if thet are informed by custom and traditions.
- Humans naturally seek bonds of trust with each other in ‘little platoons’.
What is Oakeshott’s view on human nature?
- Builds on Burke’s view.
- States humans have a preference for the known rather than the unknown.
- Focuses on human imperfection and fallibility- disagrees with utopian visions and radical movements.
What are Rand and Nozick’s view on human nature?
- Broke from the philosophy of imperfection.
- More positive view, sees humans as rational.
- The New Right leaves individuals to make their own choices in the social and economic sphere.
What is Hobbe’s view on society?
- People come together in a social contract to create a sovereign.
- The sovereign has absolute power in order to ensure law and stability.
What is Burke’s view on the state?
- Disagrees with Hobbe’s about the nature of the social contract.
- States that the only contract is between the dead, the living and the yet to be born.
- The state is natural and emerges in response to people’s needs.
How do traditional conservatives view the state?
- State has an active role in protecting its citizens.
- See the state as paternalist and argue that moderate social reform and intervention can be justified to benefit the less fortunate.
What is Oakeshott’s view on the state?
- Believed that the state should be guided by pragmatism.
What is the New Right’s view on the state?
- State should be small.
- Nozick’s argued that taxation was unjust and legalised theft of wealth.
How do traditional conservatives view society?
- paternalistic view of society.
- traditions and customs are vital to society.
- support judeo-Christian moral values.
What is Hobbes’ view on society?
- society could only exist when stability, authority and order were present.
- this requires obedience to the sovereign.
What is Burke’s view on society?
Organic view on society.
Natural hierarchy where those with the natural talents to govern use the power of government responsibility in the best interest of all society.
What is Burke’s view of society?
- favoured a society built on ‘little platoons’.
What is Oakeshott’s view of society?
Emphasises the importance of the known and was generally sceptical about human progress.
Change should be modest and rooted in the past.
Change should also be realistic.
What is the New Right’s view on society?
- Rand and Nozick challenge the organic view of society.
- See society as atomistic.
- Society has no right to place obligations or restrictions on the individual such as through traditions and customs.
- Individuals free to make their own rational decisions.
What is the conservative view on private property?
- Private property is good and a fundamental human right.
- Provides individuals with security.
- Provides a basis for respecting property rights of others.
- Property has been seen an expression of an individual.
- The economy should be based on private property.
What is the conservative view on capitalism?
- Most efficient means of creating wealth.
- Links to the conservative view of human nature as selfish.
- Wealth inequality is natural and a reflection of different talents.
- Desire to impose wealth equality is immoral.
What is Hobbes view on the economy?
- argued that a power sovereign is essential to the working of the economy.
What is Burke’s view on the economy?
- Focuses on the importance of property rights and the state protecting property rights.
- Believed that markets should be able to be left to operate free from government interference.
What is the traditional conservative view on the economy?
- Take a pragmatic approach.
- Support pragmatism.
- Support a mixed economy and welfarism.
What is Oakeshott’s view on the economy?
- Saw private property as a form of security and power.
- Should be widely spread in society to protect liberty.
What is the New Right’s view on the economy?
- Defend the free market - believe it will lead to trickle down economics.
- For Nozick the welfare state was like forced labour.
