Conservatism - Core Ideas And Priciples Flashcards
(37 cards)
1
Q
Pragmatism
A
- way of making decisions and policies, and approaching society and politics with the attitude of “what matters is what works”
- rejects ideology and instead accepts that the best route to solving a problem is not necessarily what ones beliefs says
2
Q
Pragmatism - one-nation and New right
A
- ON is highly pragmatic way of governing
- NR is much more ideological and requires firm leadership to steer the government and country into neo-liberalism
3
Q
Example of pragmatism; Major
A
- some argue that conservatism rejects ideology because of its pragmatic nature
- evidence in the policy of several conservative PMs
- john major didn’t see poll tax as a pragmatic decision and replaced it with council tax
4
Q
Examples of pragmatism: Cameron
A
- Cameron Conservative Party changed its polices based on coalition compromises between 2010-2015
- can be argued to be because the party changed its ideas to the most electorally and socially pragmatic policies
5
Q
tradition
A
- conservatives respect tradition (history, ideas and systems of the past)
- conservatives believe that events in the past hold knowledge for those in the present
- however new right conservatism rejects lots of ideas of tradition
6
Q
Tradition; Edmund Burke
A
- Burke supported ideas of tradition
- says because of human imperfection we cannot just create a new society - we should listen to lesson and teaching o the past + society should organically evolve to meet current needs
7
Q
Organic change
A
- idea that social change should not be radical
- should envelope thorough an organic process + political processes an leaders emergency as a result of this process
- society as a whole is more important than the individual parts with in it
- gradual and supported by conservatives who wish to preserve order in society
8
Q
Revolutionary change
A
- conservatives believe that revolutionary change disrupted order + heircharcy and so is dangerous to law, order and private property
- society is constantly evolving and revution doesn’t solve society’s problems
9
Q
Human imperfection
A
- conservatives reject ideas from enlightenment about trying to improve HN, saying it ant be perfected
- because are imperfect they are unable to make good decisions for themselves
10
Q
Psychological imperfection
A
- humans are psychologically imperfect - not nessarly rational
- attracted to safety, comfort and order rather than radical ideas and change
- so order and hierarchy should be preserved
11
Q
Moral imperfection
A
- humans have flawed characters ad therefore cannot always act rationally or perfectly
- leads to conservative view of crime being a result of flawed moral characteristic, rather than inequalities in the world
- conservatives believe in behaviour regulation through the law as a result of moral imperfection
12
Q
Intellectual imperfection
A
- human rationality is imperfect&unreliable and humans are intellectually imperfect
- the world around us is more complicated that out intellects are able to comprehend
- disagree with the liberal view that humans can create a free society through their rationality
13
Q
Organic society/state
A
- society develops as an organism , rather than as a man-made device & therefore is constantly changing
- conservatives support gradual change and believe that society will evolve to fit the needs of the present
- those is authority are societies natural leaders
- suggests that unity is more important at than disagreements between the states individual parts
14
Q
Change to conserve
A
- links to ideas of organic change
- conservative believe that it is important to adapt your changing circumstances in society, as long as these adaptations conserves principles of social order, hierarchy and traditions
- for this reason, many conservatives favour gradual and evolutionary change
15
Q
Example of change to conserve; one-nation
A
- ON conservatism emerged as a response the the emergence of capitalism is Britain during the industrial revolution
- PM Disraeli tried brining society together to form ON, with the upper classes ruling, middle making money and lower producing goods
16
Q
Example of change to conserve; women’s vote
A
- the Conservative Party were instrumental in brining women the vote in 1918 and 1928
- campaigns for suffrage were disruptive to social order
- the acceptance of women as voters reflected changing attitudes in society to gender
17
Q
Authority
A
- conservative believe that authority in society is important to preserve order
- linked to paternalism & hierarchy - should be a social structure with people in charge of others, and those people act in the best interests of those they have authority over
18
Q
Different types of authority
A
- charismatic authority - where authority comes from the personality of leader
- rational-legal authority - where authority comes from the legal system & rationalism
- traditional authority - authority comes from tradition & custom
19
Q
Traditional authority
A
- the rot it’s such as Max Weber have argued that conservatives favour ‘traditional’ authority as it respects traditional history
- eg - the monarchy is an example of tradition authority in the UK
20
Q
Hierarchy
A
- conservatives believe that society is antuarally hierarchical, with inequality’s an dideerendes calsees
- heir he is an important factor of traditional conservatism
- say revolutionary change is abandoning heirarchy (conservatives don’t like)
21
Q
Example of hierarchy
A
- David Cameron government;
- dominated by Old Etonian, privately educated and oxbridge graduates
- at one point in 2015, 14 out of 28 cabinet members were privately educated
22
Q
New Right conservatism
A
- accepts there a natural inequalities in society
- however, new right conservatives don’t necessarily want to preserve this order & heirarchy
- instead inequalities lead to people to strive to work harder to improve their place in life
23
Q
Paternalism
A
- some members of society should lead others and it these people who have obligation to those below them to look after their best interests
- conservatism believes in human imperfection, which justifies paternalism
- humans may not always make the best choices and therefore its acceptable to act on behalf of other people
24
Q
Traditional paternalism
A
- forceful and authtarain approach to paternalism
- idea that the state knows best and therefore everyone has to do as the state says
25
ON conservatism and paternalism;
- Disraeli is conservatism had strong paternalist ideas and argued there should e social classes & the upper classes should look after their best working class
- noblesse oblige - upper classes looking after working classes
26
Rejection of paternalism by the New Right
- Thatcher rejected many paternalistic ideas - focused on individualism
- individual had responsibility to look after them & their family
27
Empiricism
- scientific and philosophical approach which argues that we can only get knowledge from experience
- opposes the idea that we can get knowledge from theoretical concepts
- supports the Conservative belief in tradition as it uses the past as a source of wisdom
28
Anti-permissiveness
- when behaviours that some people may disagree with are not allowed to take place
- not allowing people to make their own moral choices
- in contrast liberals accept that individuals have the right to determine their own private moral conduct so long as their is no harm to others
29
Examples of anti-permissiveness; Thatcher
- thatcher introduced S28 of the local Government Act in 1987 which prohibited the entire of homosexuality in school sex education
30
Radical conservatism ideas - Libertarianism
- promotion of freedom, free choice and autonomy, mainly focused on applying these concepts to the economy
- take positions similar to classical liberals
31
Libertarians - state functions
- ‘night-watchman state’ - where the only functions of the state are to protect private property and maintain law & order
- radical idea that many conservatives reject
32
Libertarians - economy
- free market economy believing that individuals should be responsible for their own economic choices & the government shoulndt intervene
- the price of goods and services are set by the forces of supply and demand
33
Libertarians - moral values
- support freedom from government intervention in an individuals personal life
- eg libertarians in the US support the right to own a gun
34
Radical conservative views - Laissez-faire
- political and economical system which supports as little government intervention as possible
35
Laissez-faire - conservive party
- the part adopted the economic state of laissez-faire under the leadership of Robert Peel
- for much of 19th century conservatives didn’t support free trade, an important part of laissez-faire economics
36
Atomism
- idea that society is made up of individuals who look after themselves (self-sufficient and self-interested)
- conservatives believe that atomism binds society together through entrepreneurship rather tan socialist principles of equality
- associated with more radical ideas r
- Margaret Thatcher once said that “there is no such thing as society”
37
Egoistical individualism
- atomism is also knows as egoistical indivualism
- links to Ayn Rands idea of selfishness as a postive trait
- Rand believe that we should actively seek to loom after our own interests instead of relying on the state
