New Right

Question 1

What type of perspective is the N.R

Answer 1

The New Right is more a political philosophy than a sociological perspective.

( associated mainly with the years of the Conservative government in Britain between 1979 and 1997 though some New Right ideas resurfaced during the 2010 – 2015 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. )

Question 2

What is the NR perspective

Answer 2

a belief in traditional morality and minimal government interference.

Question 3

Which perspective does the N.R resemble although distinct?

Answer 3

Functionalism

Question 4

What are the main 4 features of N.R approach.

Answer 4

• Neoliberalism
  a set of economic and political ideas that stress the need for a free market - the laissez-faire economy in which free competition between manufacturers and service providers is promoted.

* Anti-welfarism and the underclass
The New Right thinks that the state interferes in people's lives too much and that too many people have become over-dependent on the state, particularly the welfare state. Charles Murray argues that the welfare state needs to be cut so that people are forced back into the labour market. 

*Traditional Morality
New right-thinking appeals to Conservatives because they emphasise traditional thinking. For example, New Right ideas on the family are similar to the functionalist support for heterosexual marriage and children being raised in nuclear families. The New Right see the traditional family as under attack from liberating governments and their policies such as the legalisation of gay marriage and the promotion of women’s rights.

• Rolling back the state
  New Right politicians and thinkers support the rolling back of state services and their replacement with private providers e.g. education, health, social care. These services would compete in the free market to provide greater choice for consumers. They believe that the state’s provision of public services wastes money and is inefficient when compared to the free market.