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Conservatism (Traditional Conservatism (Social Attitudes (TC upholds that…
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism
Social Attitudes
TC upholds that there are moral values (e.g. traditional marriage and the nuclear family) that have provided stability and certainty. Individual freedoms need to be limited to protect these values, to ensure society is stable and works for all.
Little Platoons
Society is a collection of little platoons, not individuals. Each community provides the sense of security, order and stability that an individual desires.
Freedom
TC is about freedom and the limits to freedom provided by institutions and attitudes that allow all to enjoy that freedom responsibly.
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Order
The government provides clear rules, discipline and guidance to ensure that society is ordered, peaceful and stable. This will create responsible citizens and ensure that freedom benefits everyone.
Paternalism
The ruling elite have a sense of obligation and duty to the many. Government should govern in their best interests, remembering that the government often has a clearer view of those best interests than the people.
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Empiricism
The TC approach is to focus on what works rather than what theory and abstract principles say will work. This means conservatism is flexible in its approach to tackling political problems.
One-Nation Conservatism
One Nation
Conservatism should really emphasise and focus on 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 as society is organic, where damage or distress to one element will damage the whole.
Change to Conserve
Disraeli was particularly concerned with the ravaging effects on society of an unchecked free market. He accepted the rise of big cities and the spirit of commercialism as inevitable, so he did not want reactionary policies to head back to a previous time.
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Threat of Disorder
ONC emerges from the threat to the order of state and society from socialism, class conflict and the effects of free-market capitalism. It updates TC's ideas to deal with this threat.
Paternalism
There was a clear bond between groups, so it is clear that the wealthy have a responsibility to the less well-off.
This would involve the state intervening in the free-market economy and society in order to ensure social stability.
The New Right
Free-Market Capitalism
Therefore, deep cuts in taxation, privatisation, deregulation and tight restrictions on government spending are needed to return to free-market capitalism.
Everyone should be free to allow all the opportunities they can in the marketplace, with minimal levels of taxation and regulation in order to create generalised property.
The NR believes that market forces are the best method for the distribution and management of society's resources.
Society
Socially, the NR is divided between neo-conservatives 'who wish to return to a society built arorund authority, national identity and traditional morality' and neo-liberals, who advocate a society built around individual choice.
Neo-conservatives are anti-permissive and would extend the role of the state to promote traditional family values and to protect national security and defence.
For neo-liberals, individual choice is not just about economics but also about morality and so the state should not intervene in areas of private morality. The state should be stripped back to the minimum to minimise tax and spending.
Small State
For rational self interest to be the key principle of society, the state needs to be rolled back.
The state should be limited to providing armed forces, a police force and a court system to ensure that property is respected, and contracts enforced.
The NR opposes public spending on welfare, as it both unjust according to Robert Nozick and creates a dependency culture.
The State
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Burke argued hierarchy was natural and that the state and ruling class should act with a sense of public service not self-interest, and a sense of duty towards the less well-off in society.
Society
Traditional Conservatism
Tradition, custom and continuity are crucial elements of society as they form the basis of these common ties.
Shared values and morals also underpin these common ties, hence the conservative support for Judeo-Christian moral values, traditional marriage and patriotism.
TC has a paternalistic view of society. Society is natural, organic and living, with individuals bound together by common ties, obligations and responsibilities.
The New Right
Rand and Nozick directly challenged the organic view of society, instead seeing it as atomistic, consisting of individuals rational pursuing their own ends. They shared a much more positive view of human progress.
Society has no right to place obligations or restrictions on the individual, such as traditions, customs and shared values and morals. The individual should be free to make their own rational choices in both the economic and social sphere.
The Economy
Private Property
Conservatives agree that private property is good. It provides the individual with security and safety in an ever-changing world.
It provides the basis for respecting the property rights of others as we wish our property to be respected. So, property is vital for order.
The economy should be based on private property and, although there is disagreement about the role of the state in the economy, conservatives agree that excessive restrictions on private property will limit freedom, creativity and hard work.
Capitalism
Wealth inequality is natural and a reflection of the different talents, hard work and effort of individuals in society.
The desire to impose wealth equality on society is immoral, as it is not rooted in the natural justice idea that people should benefit from their own hard work.
Capitalism is the most efficient and effective means of creating wealth. It also links directly to the conservatives' view of human nature as selfish, so people will work harder if they know they will get to keep the fruits of their labour.
Human Nature
Most conservatives, with the exception of New Right thinkers, have a pessimistic view of human nature, and conservatism has been described as a 'philosophy of imperfection' They stress the fallibility and weakness of human nature.
This leads conservatives to argue that the perfect society is unachievable and dangerous. The liberal idea of a society built on rational individuals is not based on true human nature, while the socialist idea that society can perfect humanity is deeply misplaced as human nature is fixed and constant.