Conservatism Research Paper

As liberalism ideology evolved and championed by the economic leaders, it pose a threat to the existing social settings such as the presence of the nobility, and the church. The attempt to defend existing social arrangement is what brought about conservatism. Conservatives stood against the ideas of liberals in a rational for maintaining existing traditional political structures and the centralization of power. They stood against transferring political responsibility to the common people under the disguise of equality (Shively, 2014).

This means that essentially they crave social order ahead of liberty. This way of prioritising social order over liberty is a view also taken by Thomas Hobbes in his work Leviathan, in which he talks of the sacrifice of but a few rights for the assurance of protection from the government. In this way, human imperfection can be seen to link to the other conservative concepts of Hierarchy and Authority – because of the fact that humans are inherently imperfect, they need a structured hierarchy to protect them and keep them in line. Conservatives, in this way believe in strong punishment as it can act as a deterrent to others doing the same crime. A structured hierarchy, protecting citizens and individuals lower down the chain link to the conservative theory of the ‘noblesse oblige’ which is where the rich or those higher up have a social obligation to help the less well off. Similarly Conservatives also believe that some are natural leaders, like those in positions of power, and some are inferior as a result of their imperfect qualities and are therefore not worthy of being a leader.

Starting during the 1970s, factions of American conservatives slowly came together to form a new and more radical dissenting conservative movement, the New Right. The New Right was just as radical as its liberal opposite, with agendas to increase government involvement beyond the established conservative view of government’s role. Although New Right politicians made admirable advances to dissemble New Deal economic policies, the movement as a whole counters conservativism and the ideologies that America was founded on. Although the New Right adopts conservative economic ideologies, its social agenda weakened the conservative movement by focusing public attention to social and cultural issues that have no place within the established Old

Conservatism, traditional or new, was one of the most powerful ideologies in Europe. Otto von Bismarck practiced a new form of conservatism because he advocated for lower class, religious freedoms, and socialized the education system. This new form of conservatism received backlash by most other political groups.

After reading “The Conservative Ascendancy: How the Republican Right Rose to Power in Modern America”, written by Donald Critchlow, I learned how the modern conservative movement swept through the country. Critchlow talks about the changing of attitude in America and how it affected the conservative movement. He covers the Reagan era which was considered the golden age of modern conservatism, along with several other important events. Along with the revival of the churches and the New Deal. For this response I will discuss Critchlow’s argument and how he supported it. Along with Critchlow’s view on neo-conservatives and whether they damaged or helped the conservative movements. The final thing I will talk about is who Critchlow mentioned in

In Anthem and Julius Caesar, it is shown that authoritarianism ruins the control a government system or leader needs to successfully run a society. “And if the Councils had decreed that you should be a Street Sweeper, how dared you think that you could be of greater use to men than in sweeping the streets?” (Anthem by Ayn Rand pages 71-72) The apparent government system in Anthem would be the Council. They enforce many things that restrict each persons’ own freedom to do things or even think things for themselves. This quote shows that the government chooses the job each person will be responsible for. Equality is a Street Sweeper and when he decides to think for himself and discover the lightbulb, the Council immediately shuts down his ideas with massive

The New Right has significantly revised the relationship between conservatism and tradition, however. The New Right attempts to fuse economic libertarianism with state and social authoritarianism. As such, it is a blend of radical, reactionary and traditional features. Its radicalism is evident in its robust efforts to dismantle or ‘roll back’ interventionist government and liberal social values. This radicalism is clearest in relation to the liberal New Right, which draws on rational theories and abstract principles, and so dismisses tradition. New Right radicalism is nevertheless reactionary in that both the liberal and conservative New Right hark back to a 19th century ‘golden age’ of supposed economic prosperity and moral fortitude. However, the conservative New Right also makes an appeal to tradition, particularly through its emphasis on so-called ‘traditional values’.

The conservative movement has played a crucial role in American politics in the post war era. Ronald Story and Bruce Laurie indentify various elements of the American conservatism. These elements include challenging authoritarian governments and modernist culture, upholding tradition, Christian religion and the rule of law, defending western civilization, and supporting republicanism. American conservatism has been characterized by competing ideologies and tension throughout history. The Americans who are politically liberal and economically conservative favor free trade, minimal state intervention, low taxes, and a small government. On the other hand, conservatives hold the view that American traditional values are normally undermined by

The 1950s in America are often described as a time of complacency. By contrast, the 1960s and 1970s were a time of great change. But the economy of the 70s was not stable because of the Oil crisis and presidents did not seem to find a solution to get the economy work again. For the right, the federal government had been spending too much money on the social programs. Conservatism believes that the best way to run a society is to maintain social and political framework and that the government should be as limited as possible,

The New Right is sociological perspective which goes against the ideas of collectivism. The Conservative Government had noticed that the welfare state was costing too much money and people were being reliant upon it. The New Right are for hard-working workforce and people fending for themselves rather than living off the state. They say that benefits encourage people not to work. If there was less welfare benefits it would make people want to go and work as the need to get money. The New Right is for privatization as it believes that private institutions provide better quality and are more beneficial to customers in comparison to the public sector. The New Right also talks about how if there was there was less state intervention, the government

Beginning with Nixon and continuing with Reagan after the radical changes of American culture in the sixties and seventies, Americans would begin to shift towards more conservative ideas unsure of the rapid radical change. In the 1994 mid term elections, the American people would elect a congress of mostly conservatives for the first time in nearly 50 years. At the core of this success would be the Contract with America. A set of promises and goals devised by conservative congressional representative Newt Gingrich. In 2000 the Republicans (modern conservative party) would retain the Congress and capture the White House. Conservatism has been a leading political ideology since the inception of the United States to

This essay will assess the relationship between liberalism and conservatism by exploring the differences in ideological beliefs of these two ideologies. Ideology can be defined as “set of interrelated and more or less coherent ideas” that constitutes of both “descriptive and normative element” on how a society works (Heywood, 2007, pp. 6-7). One of the most popular ideology in contemporary politics is liberalism which accord individual liberty and free market as its primary priority. On the other hand, conservatism is generally known for advocating tradition, societal state and authority. Firstly, we will look at theories developed by liberalism and conservatism on creation of state. It would then be followed by liberalism’s notion of individuality and individual liberty versus conservatism’s emphasis on individual imperfectionism and need for society. Thereafter, we will observe liberalism and conservatism as political ideology and how it has evolved over time. The essay will be summed up by a conclusion in the end. The terms, liberalism and conservatism mentioned in this essay are intended to be synonymous to their traditional or classical thoughts and beliefs. Every argument presented in this essay are intended to support the claim that liberalism and conservatism are not compatible ideologies. By compatible, I meant being consistent without any disagreements.

Collectivism¡¦s main argument is that society should not be controlled by people who are irresponsible. Hayek counters that point by stating that collectivism is nothing more than totalitarian in which individual freedoms are lost. He also states that the welfare and happiness of the society cannot be satisfied by a single plan (Hayek 63-64). This is especially true in countries that are very diverse in their people¡¦s education and culture. Collectivism also has the dilemma of ¡§who plans whom, who directs and

it has, for this reason, invariably been the fate of conservatism to be dragged along a path not of its own choosing. ”1 As a political philosophy, conservatism itself leans to favor the authority and rigid tradition that its proponents support over progress as a society and freedom for the

Conservatism Bias is a mental process in which people cling to their prior views or forecasts at the expense of acknowledging new information. An example of conservatism bias is when people thought the world was flat, even though there was scientific facts that it was round. Even though they are showing you the real facts you do not want to admit it, you stay with your believes. I think every has done that at one point in their life. I know that I have, when people tell me something that I know it is right, but yet I have decided not to listen, when I need think I am going to pass an put coming test, but everyone knows I have not look at the material a lot and when I get a bad grade I am so surprised. When you use Conservatism bias you are