Conservatism as a Tension between Paternalism and Libertarianism

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).

The further development of industrialisation led to social and economic inequality. This led to a revision of classical liberal ideas to prevent the spread of ignorance and poverty. It is suggested that modern liberals have betrayed classical liberal ideas as they embrace collectivism and diverge from classical liberalism on issues such as freedom. However, it can be argued that modern liberals have simply built on classical liberal ideas such as its commitment to the individual.

Conservatism does not have one single viewpoint or stance on human nature or imperfection as Conservatism as a whole encompasses different strands or beliefs within it. For example One Nation conservatives have a different philosophy on human imperfection than New Right conservatives do. One Nation conservatives hold the belief that we as humans are: greedy and have a limited capacity for altruism, a complex mix of emotions and contradictory motivations making us irrational, not totally consistent and are at balance the majority of the time with corruption. They believe that our inherent imperfect human nature stems from original sin, the Christian Belief. This shows a wholesome negative outlook on human nature. The New Right on the other

‘One nation’ is an idea that is based upon principles such as paternalism, and it is the name given to describe this particular faction of the conservative party. ‘One nation conservatives’ is the name given to the followers of the ideas presented by Benjamin Disrael, and the belief in changing Britain from ‘two nations’ i.e the rich and the poor, and instead creating one. Benjamin Disraeli adopted one nation conservatism for both ethical and electoral reasons. Before he became leader of the Conservative Party, Disraeli had announced that, as a result of the Reform Act of 1867 the party needed to pursue social reforms if it was to have

The Old Right also found common ground with Reagan’s measures to deregulate business, however many argued that he did not expand the policies enough. Reagan froze new regulations and ordered a rollback of existing rules to decrease bureaucracy within federal regulation and public services but failed to dismantle or privatize any federal programs. The push to privatize the Social Security system is a central example of the New Right failing to fully dismantle New Deal liberalism. Libertarian intellectual, J.D. Dorn, promoted privatization as a vital measure to keep the system “free of political influences and consistent with the principles of a free society”. The Old Right supported Social

Typically, liberalism is categorised into two separate components; classical liberalism, which was fashioned during the 19th century as a result of the industrial revolution, and the more recent Modern Liberalism which emerged as industrialisation continued within the UK. Although both divisions of Liberalism unavoidably overlap in attitudes and approaches regarding the theory behind the ideology, I believe, fundamentally, that clear tensions between these aspects of Liberalism are more evident when analysing this ideology.

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.

Modern and Classical liberalism can be distinguished historically. Indeed when most people attempt to distinguish the two, placing the strands into time periods is perhaps the most obvious and easiest distinctions to make. The period in between the late 18th century and the mid 19th is that magnanimous with Classical liberalism. It was the earliest liberal tradition, and reached its high point during the early industrialization of the 19th century and is therefore sometimes referred to as ‘19th century liberalism’. Politicians and thinkers associated with it are Smith, Ricardo and Locke. Modern liberal ideas were related to the further development of industrialization and thus people associate it with the period between the mid-19th century and the mid-20th century and with figures such as J. S. Mill, Green and Lloyd- George. Indeed the historical development of society led to a parallel evolution of liberalism, with the character of liberalism changing as the ‘rising middle classes’ succeeded in establishing their economic and political dominance. Liberalism was no longer radical or revolutionary, but had become increasingly conservative and concerned itself less with change and reform, but instead with the maintenance of the status quo. This lead to liberals in the late 19th century beginning to question the

But has the Conservative party actually abandoned Thatcherism? Considering the points displayed in this essay, I have come to the conclusion that Cameron’s ‘progressive’ party may not so adverse to Thatcherism at all. The most important issues over specific reforms raised by the current Conservative Government seem to be highly influenced by the ideas of Thatcher. What is essential to point out is that times have evolved since the Thatcher timeframe and the Conservatives have had to evolve along with these times and adapt their attitudes to gain support from the electorate who view the ‘Iron Lady’s’ concepts as out of date. As to any argument, there are two sides to the story; let us remember that Cameron’s Government has only had the chance

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’.

This statement is asking whether all forms of conservatism’s values and actions in the past are because they wish to reflect the interests of those in society who are better off, sacrificing the interests of the less well off in doing so. The current debate is very unclear as opinion on this does, and always has varied greatly. Generally, left-wing labour supporters believe this statement is true whereas the rest of society do not agree. Conservatives have strenuously denied this claim over the years. This essay will argue that Conservatism does in fact merely reflect the interests of the privileged and prosperous, despite this claim being

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

It is important to give a brief explanation as to what is meant by the term Thatcherism in British political discourse. Thatcherism according to Heffernan suggests that there are several contradictory explanations to the meaning of Thatcherism. He contends that Thatcherism could be explained via “a short hand description of what the Thatcher-led Conservative governments did at any one time” or similarly it could be explained as “ a popular political movement, a policy style; a form of leadership; or.an ideological project, a vehicle which advanced a post-social democratic neo-liberal political agenda‘ (Heffernan, 2001). The term Thatcherism is therefore an umbrella term that not only describes the Leader of the ruling

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,

A small amount of the core ideals of libertarians has changed. According to the current Libertarian Party website; “We seek a world of liberty; the world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.” This party is notorious for values that are socially liberal, and economically conservative. This platform has also been referred to as neoliberalism. The United States Libertarian party focuses on personal liberty, self-ownership, privacy, economic liberty, free markets, protected environments, strong national defense, and minimal war actions. The LP is supportive of gay rights, gun rights, pro-life ideals. They stand against labor unions; universal health care, restricted markets, government surveillance of citizens, and government provided security. Libertarians like to think of themselves as defensive whenever it comes to foreign policy, and to refrain from attacking unless they are