Conservatism: New Right Conservatism

Question 1

What crisis made new right conservatism come about in America?

Answer 1

Spiralling inflation
Mounting unemployment
Unsustainable welfare spending
Increased crime rates
A growing sense that society was becoming ungovernable

Question 2

What did they new right think of traditional conservatism that was endorsed after the Second World War?

Answer 2

It was clear that they had endorsed Keynesian economics, state welfare and social liberalism. According to a new right, this caused a rapidly declining economy, a bloated welfare state and a permissive society

Question 3

What prime ministers/president embodied Conservatives

Answer 3

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan

Question 4

Arguments why Conservatism is compatible with capitalism…

Answer 4

-Capitalism is based on private property which capitalism supports
-capitalism generates inequality, which is natural and organic
-capitalism has been at the heart of economic activity for a long time and so aligns with tradition
-capitalism provides the ruling class with wealth that can then be used for paternalistic support for the less fortunate

Question 5

Arguments why Conservatism is not compatible with capitalism…

Answer 5

-capitalism produces a meritocracy that challenges hereditary ruling classes
-capitalism looks to globalisation, undermining national identity
-capitalism is dynamic and volatile, threatening the stability conservatives crave
-capitalism is focused on individuals rather than communities that conservatism champions

Question 6

What can the new right be seen as a merger of?

Answer 6

Neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism

Question 7

What is the main aim of neo liberalism?

Answer 7

To extend individual freedom by ‘rolling back the frontiers’ in order to create a free market state.

Question 8

What do Nozick and Rand advocate for?

Answer 8

They wanted to promote freedom and lead in the return of economic growth and a vibrant prosperous society

Question 9

What do neo-liberals wish to see?

Answer 9

-drastic reduction in taxation
-much tighter control on government spending
-an end to the dependency culture arising from expensive welfare state
- the deregulation and privatisation of services

Question 10

What was neo-conservatisms main objective?

Answer 10

The restoration of authority, national identity and a society formed around the judaeo Christian morality

Question 11

What do neo-Conservatives wish to see?

Answer 11

-a tougher approach to law and order
-a more robust approach to national defense
-a less tolerant approach to immigration
-anti-permissive social policies
-traditional family structures

Question 12

What was Rand’s key work?

Answer 12

Atlas Shrugged

Question 13

What was the theme of atlas shrugged?

Answer 13

It’s idea was that talented individuals rather than ambitious governments lay at the heart of any society. Without the energy of such individuals, a society would quickly wither- no matter how much activity was expended by the government

Question 14

What is objectivism as explained by Rand?

Answer 14

it’s core being that we should all be guided by self-interest and rational self fulfilment and therefore the idea of atomism. People should not act altruistically but instead to further their interests and to seek power or approval is deeply immoral

Question 15

What is atomism?

Answer 15

society is defined by autonomous individuals - ideally, society doesn’t exist in a practical form but is just a loose collection of individuals

Question 16

What did objectivism become linked with?

Answer 16

New Right’s support for laissez faire capitalism and its renewal of negative liberty, and thus ‘rolling back the frontiers’ and projects such as tax cuts and privatisation

Question 17

How did Rand strengthen her connection to Conservatism?

Answer 17

she stated liberty was impossible without order and security, which only a state could provide.

Question 18

What did she believe about the role of the state?

Answer 18

‘The small state is the strong state’

Question 19

What was Robert Nozick’s work called

Answer 19

Anarchy, State and Utopia

Question 20

What did Nozick think about the state?

Answer 20

The growth of the government was the gravest contemporary threat to individual freedom. He thought the growth of welfare states in western Europe fostered a dependency culture

Question 21

What is libertarianism which Nozick argues for?

Answer 21

argues that the individual should be left alone in social and economic spheres and is tolerant of a permissive society and therefore takes a relaxed view on issues like abortion, divorce and homosexuality

Question 22

What kind of state did Nozick promote?

Answer 22

A minarchist state- one that mainly involved outsourcing public services to private companies

Question 23

Why is a minarchist state able to be prescribed by Nozick, unlike Hobbes and Burke?

Answer 23

Nozick had a much more upbeat view of human nature and they have self-ownership- that they are the sole authors of their talents and abilities and should be left alone to realize them, without government intervention

Question 24

What is Nozick’s quote about tax?

Answer 24

‘tax, for the most part, is theft’

Question 25

Why is Nozick considered a Conservative?

Answer 25

• although he believes society predates the state, his view on human nature wasn’t all positive. He believed liberty and property needed to be preserved by a state
• second, the purpose of his limited state was not just to facilitate raw individualism and free market capitalism. For him, it would allow a multitude of self sufficient communities to emerge alongside individual freedom, which is an updated view of Burke’s little platoons.