Transcript CHAPTER 2 Political Theory and Political Beliefs

CHAPTER 4
Conservatism, Pt. 1
Conservatism
The political philosophy of imperfection.
Place great emphasis on mores, customs, fabric of society.
Based on a desire to “conserve” social, political, and economic practices
seen as historically essential and helpful to the nation
More concerned with practices and traditions than with theories
In Anglo-American context, must distinguish between traditional
conservatism & modern (individualist) conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism varies according to time and place:
- Traditional conservatives such as Edmund Burke
seek to preserve customs, mores, and fabric of
society
- Many American conservatives today seek to
conserve the minimal state (neo-classical
liberalism)
- Many French conservatives wish to preserve a
patrician state, and resist classical liberalism
- Many Russian conservatives are former
communists who wish to preserve communism
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) and
Traditional Conservatism
Father of Conservatism, though he didn’t call himself one
Wrote Reflections on the Revolution in France in 1791
Argued against the French Revolution
This argument, which viewed the French Revolution as
misconceived, and which predicted its excesses, is a
foundational statement of conservatism
Argued that political reform can be a good thing, but that
radical change and innovation is dangerous
Freedom is desirable only when properly channeled
Burke sympathized with the American Revolution
Felt the colonists were trying to conserve the
representation they had under Parliament before leaving
England, after the Crown began to trample their political
arrangement and customs.
4 Features of Burke’s Conservatism
1) Office holders should rule and vote in the interest of the
people (Trustee theory of representation)
Burke was NOT in favor of extending the franchise
(right to vote). Was not a promoter of more democracy.
Felt that Representative Government was the best
guarantor of society’s long term interests.
2) A Natural Aristocracy should rule. Could be
aristocrats by heredity, but might also include those who
show great promise and rise through a meritocracy.
3) Great respect for Private Property. Owners are more
likely to take care of their property than state-owned
property.
4) Little Platoons – local, non-governmental associations
that prevent central government from having too much
power and restricting liberties.
Other 19th Century Conservatisms
Reactionary Conservatism (Joseph de
Maistre)
They seek not to conserve, rather they
react against the present and seek to
return to an earlier time.
Nineteenth century reactionaries were
reacting against Enlightenment
rationality, secularism, and classical
liberal principles
Tory Democracy
Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli’s (1804-1881) strategic
response to the political program of the Whigs,
nineteenth century classical liberals who represented the
interests of merchants, industrialists, and the petitbourgeoisie.
The Tories were landowning aristocrats who followed
Burkeian conservatism. To survive in the middle of the
century, Disraeli added this new emphasis on the
working-class.
As more middle class people & the bourgeoisie
earned the franchise, Disraeli honed in on the working
class, which was also gaining the right to vote.
Was predicated on Tory paternalism & noblesse
oblige
Other 19th Century Conservatisms
Cultural Conservatism
Primarily a romantic critique of the Industrial
Revolution.
Not a critique of classical liberalism.
Associated with Wordsworth, Coleridge, de Quincey in
the UK
Early Cultural Conservatism in the US
Hamilton and Adams were Burkeian, without the
emphasis on aristocratic privilege.
Cultural conservatives (Hawthorne, Melville, etc.)
criticized capitalist optimism & industrialization
WHY DID U.S. CONSERVATISM BEGIN TO FOCUS ON
CONSERVING & DEFENDING CLASSICAL
LIBERALISM (IN THE 1900s)?
Unlike Europe or the United Kingdom, America was
founded, at least partially, on the liberal values of
classical liberalism and so-called “rugged
individualism.”
In the U.S., classical liberalism came to be defended by
conservatives in the twentieth century. This happened
in the UK too.
A (continental) European conservative could not seek to
conserve classical liberalism and rugged individualism.
In continental Europe, the idea of the nation-state was
animated by Aristocratic Principles, rather than
Classical Liberal Principles