conservatism

• Conservatism

  A durable ideology that has responded to a series of remarkable changes over two centuries
• Conservatism is widely misunderstood
• First paradox


  Conservatism is a form of change
• Conservatism is not just about conserving, and certainly not about avoiding reform at all costs
• Conservatism

  Changing to conserve
• Conservative politics

  Distinct from reactionary politics
• Reactionary politics

  Seeks to resist all change, to restore what has been lost and 'turn back the clock'
• Conservatism

  Argues that reactionary objectives are at best futile and at worst counter-productive
• Change to conserve This is the fundamental principle of conservatism and one that distinguishes a conservative from a reactionary. It indicates a belief that for something valuable to be preserved, it has to be continuously updated and maintained.
• Conservatives

  Change is inevitable; what matters is that change occurs in an appropriate manner — namely, one drawing upon all that is good about what has gone before
• Edmund Burke: ''A state without the means of change…is without the means of its conservation.''
• Conservatism

  • A 'doctrine of maintenance': one that advocates change, but in the form of ongoing repair and development rather than outright demolition and the construction of something entirely new
• Within the UK, conservatism is not Conservatism
• Conservative Party

  Does not just uphold the principles of conservatism; the party also reflects many of liberal principles
• The Conservative Party is ideologically eclectic
• Not all conservatives are Conservative
• Many who fear change see their greatest enemy as free-market capitalism, with all its iconoclastic side effects
• Market-driven change often finds its loudest support in the Conservative Party and its sternest opposition within supposedly progressive parties like Labour
• In recent years, the policies of the Labour Party have become increasingly defensive — for example, in respect of the NHS, the welfare state and UK membership of the European Union
• Conservatism is a more subtle doctrine than many might imagine
• Conservative politics

  Should not be confused with reactionary politics
• The origins of conservatism were a reaction to the politics of the Enlightenment
• Enlightenment


  • Belief in reason and remorseless progress
  • Notion of an 'ideal' society towards which politicians should strive, underpinned by tolerance, equality and individual rights
• By the second half of the eighteenth century, and certainly after the American Revolution of 1775–1783, it became difficult for politicians and philosophers to argue against the principles of the Enlightenment without appearing regressive and intolerant
• Whig supremacy

  Period in England when early liberal politicians, such as those found in the Whig Party, were confident that the progressive principles embodied by England's Glorious Revolution and America's Declaration of Independence were intellectually unquestionable and politically irresistible
• Any critique of the Enlightenment seemed rooted in outdated, theocratic thinking — associated, for example, with a defence of monarchical absolutism and the 'divine right' of kings
• The French Revolution of 1789 seemed to vindicate the optimistic spirit of the Enlightenment
• By 1792, it was clear that revolutionary change, and the ruthless imposition of 'reason' and other Enlightenment ideals, could have shocking and horrific consequences
• The public beheading of King Louis XVI was accompanied by what became known as 'the Terror' — a period when thousands of 'citizens' were persecuted and executed in the name of progress, and when genocidal violence became the means of securing an 'enlightened', revolutionary regime
• The course of the French Revolution, and the threat posed to peace across Europe by the new French regime, proved a watershed in political theory
• Events in France now made it possible to assail liberal-Enlightenment principles without seeming reactionary, to criticise 'progress' without denying the spirit of the Enlightenment, and to accept reform while rejecting revolution
• Edmund Burke

  The so-called 'father of conservatism'
• Edmund Burke epitomised a new approach that would respect the case for change while warning of its dangers
• Conservative view of human nature

  Defined largely by its response and opposition to rival ideologies like liberalism and socialism
• Conservative view of human nature

  • Stresses human frailty and fallibility
  • Denies possibility of perfect, utopian society
  • Descriptive, not prescriptive, highlighting humanity 'as it is' rather than as it could or should be
  • Rejects malleable or 'plastic' view of human nature offered by socialism
  • Scorns idea that humanity can be significantly remoulded given the 'correct' environment or society
  • Human nature is pretty much fixed and constant
• Conservatism's view of human nature

  A philosophy of imperfection
• The job of politicians is to accommodate, not alter, the reality of human nature
• Conservatism's stress on human imperfection is more nuanced than many imagine and comprises a number of interpretations from various conservative thinkers
• Human imperfection Drawing upon the Old Testament doctrine of original sin, this refers to the timeless flaws of humanity — flaws which make any quest for the ‘perfect’ society misguided and potentially disastrous.
• Conservatism's view of humanity

  Sharply different from liberal theorists like John Locke