Conservatism Flashcards
5 core themes
Tradition, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy/authority and property
6 strands of conservatism
Authoritarian, One Nation, Christian Democracy (both paternalistic), Libertarian, Liberal New Right, Conservative New Right
Why did Burke support tradition?
Our customs are God given, and so ‘the law of our creator’ and ‘natural law’ should not be changed
Burke and Chesterton on importance of ancestors
Partnership of ‘those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born’
‘Democracy of the dead’
Darwinism in conservatism explained
As society works as the survival of the fittest, changing institutions is removing tested things that are the best
Examples of attempts to retain rootedness and not a insecure future
Having judges wearing wigs, campaigns to keep red telephone and post boxes
Hobbes quote on human interest
‘Power after power’
Quotes of Oakenshott about human intellectual weakness
World is ‘boundless and bottomless’
Fear that ‘the cure is not worse than the disease’
Durkheim opinion of organic society
Anomie could take hold if people are given too many negative freedoms
Conservative opinion of freedom
Doing one’s duty keeps society from becoming atomistic, so your freedom is your duty
Example of duty freedom
Instructing children on how to behave
Differences of organicism to other ideologies
There are no separate parts that can be stripped down and changed, and also society is natural, no contract
What is functionalism?
The idea that institutions, merely by existing, show that they are worthwhile
How does the Liberal New Right threaten organicism?
An atomistic view of society is taken where the rights of the individual to act as they wish economically are raised
What is Burke’s view on inequality?
Like a body with each part having different functions, there is a natural aristocracy where difference members of society have different functions
Why is authority important?
It leads people to know their place and as a result they do not feel rootlessness or anomie
Why is burglary such a bad crime for conservatives?
Property is a personal thing which people use to represent them and give them a sense of belonging and rootedness
Example of generational link of property
Macmillan calling privatisation under Thatcher as ‘selling of the family silver’
French conservative philosopher: name and ideas
Joseph de Maistre who supported a return to monarchical government and supreme papal spiritual power in order to keep the bonds of society in tact
Russian Tsar Nicholas I conservative proclamation
‘Orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality’
Pope Pius IX 1864 conservative proclamation
Radicalism or progressiveness are ‘false doctrines of our most unhappy age’
How have authoritarian conservatives gained power in the last 200 years?
Often through populist policies appealing to the poorest of order, national unity, economic prosperity and in the case of Perón, anti-Yankee imperialism
Quote of Burke about change
A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation
Ian Gilmour quote on conservatism
The wise Conservative travels light
What is paternalism?
Power over individuals to confer on to them benefits or to prevent harm
What are the two strands of paternalism?
Soft and hard (more authoritarian)
Why is paternalism opposed by some strands of conservatism?
Restricting liberty but more importantly, ‘infantalization’ of society (immorality of not self-reliance)
Which 2 books did Disraeli write?
Sybil and Coningsby
2 examples of Disraeli One Nation conservatism
Second Reform Act leading to more working class voters, and bettered housing and hygiene in cities
What were the 2 ideas which drove Disraeli’s One Nation conservatism?
Reform to avoid revolution, and then unequal responsibilities of individuals based on hierarchy
What was Randolph Churchill’s view of One Nation conservatism?
It is key to keep traditional institutions such as House of Lords popular, and this can only be done through reform, known as Tory democracy
4 tenets of Toryism
Hierarchy, tradition, duty and organicism