UNIT 4

Conservatism

S ECTION A: Reading for the Main Points

A s the term suggests, conservatism stems from the desire to

conserve something, usually traditions or the status quo. For this
reason, conservatism has been described as a reactionary
ideology, that is, one which attempts to reconstruct forms of society that
existed in an earlier period and opposes new developments (Goodwin,
1987: 148). In fact, modern European conservatism evolved in the
period between 1750-1850 as a reaction to the sweeping call for change
contained in the ideas of the Enlightenment and the French
Revolution, and in this sense harked back to the ancien régime, the old
order (Heywood, 1997: 44). The desire to preserve tradition lies behind
the conservative support of royalism: the hereditary monarch is a
source of stability because he or she embodies tradition and continuity
(Goodwin, 1987: 157). The French Revolution’s attack on monarchy
inspired Edmund Burke (1729-97), regarded as the father of
conservatism, to criticize democracy for upsetting the established social
order and allowing oppressive populism to ‘level’ society by reducing
everyone to the same condition (Ball & Dagger, 1999: 142).
Conservatives believe that traditions, established customs and
institutions are worth preserving because they have stood the test of
time. 59
60 U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM

Apart from traditionalism, one hallmark of the conservative doctrine

is a pessimistic view of human nature. Human beings are limited and
deeply insecure, so they are attracted to social living and stability
(Heywood, 1997: 45-46). Another limitation of human nature is moral
depravity: individuals are selfish, greedy and ambitious. To counteract
the social disruption caused by the frailties of human nature, a strong
state is imperative. The core of conservative politics is the maintenance
of law and order. It is complemented by other well-known conservative
principles: protection of private property, strict law enforcement,
strengthening of the family, and moral values like discipline and
moderation. A person is not merely an individual who has rights, but a
part of a larger whole who has duties to other members of society. The
political corollary of the desire to preserve stability is a tendency to
avoid adversarial politics and to promote consensus; political activity is
a necessary evil brought about by the fallen nature of man (Goodwin,
1987: 158-59). The conservative view of human nature is not only
pessimistic but also inegalitarian: some people are innately more
qualified for leadership than others. The conservative doctrine of
natural inequality results in paternalism: it is in the interests of the
privileged to care about the masses, so that the status quo can be
preserved. This message is underpinned by an appeal to the principles
of duty and social obligation rooted in neo-feudal ideas such as
noblesse oblige, the obligations of the nobility (Heywood, 1997: 46-47).
Conservative traditionalism has often been suspected to be a veil for
the desire of the possessing classes to preserve the existing social order
in order to perpetuate inequality and economic exploitation
(O’Sullivan, 1999: 51). However, conservative traditionalism and
pragmatism are related to a rejection of ideology. Ideology is seen as
fostering utopianism, which deprives people of what has been ‘tried and
tested’ in favour of some distant island paradise (Eccleshall, 2000: 282).
Human rationality is limited; therefore, abstract theory and idealistic
systems of thought are bound to be flawed or impracticable (Heywood,
1997: 45). Conservatism is not opposed to change per se, but change
that is justified on the basis of ideological presumptions without
reference to the limitations of human nature or the specific historical
context of a society. Rather than look at the world through the
rose-coloured spectacles of ideology, conservatives advocate political
realism (O’Sullivan, 1999: 51-52).
U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM 61

Conservatives choose experience over theory, history over ideology,

and pragmatism over idealism. Experience and history demonstrate
‘what works’ in practice for a particular society; pragmatism can help us
set realistic goals for it. Society is not an artifact engineered by human
reason, but an organic whole, a living organism. The organic analogy
suggests that there can be no easy, universal recipes for the
complexities of the social and political world (Eccleshall, 2000: 281).
The forces unleashed by rapid change and the radical innovation
advocated by ideological systems can tear the delicate fabric of society
apart; gradual or piecemeal reform is preferable because it can be
tailored to suit the peculiarities of a culture or a nation (Ball & Dagger,
1999: 143). The conservative method of inquiry can be described as a
sceptical reductionism which tests ambitious schemes for applicability
by asking: ‘Is it really a good idea, given specific circumstances?’
(McLean, 1996: 106).

EXERCISE A1
Decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. Conservatism seeks to upset the established social order.
2. Conservative royalism stems from a desire to preserve tradition.
3. Conservatives place faith in human integrity.
4. The chief task of politics is the maintenance of law and order.
5. Duties are emphasized more than rights.
6. Political activity promotes stability.
7. Ideological systems are flawed because they are the product of the
human intellect.
8. Conservatism accepts change, provided it has an ideological basis.
9. Conservatism believes that one solution can suit all cultures and
nations.
10. Radical change can cause social upheaval.

EXERCISE A2
Match terms to definitions.
1. status quo 4. populism
2. ancien régime 5. traditionalism
3. royalism 6. private property
62 U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM

7. adversarial politics 12. utopianism

8. consensus politics 13. realism
9. authoritarianism 14. organic analogy
10. paternalism 15. reductionism
11. pragmatism

__ a. Way of government in which there is agreement between major

political parties about policy.
__ b. Theory that evaluates the practical circumstances surrounding a
problem, instead of relying on ideology for prefabricated
solutions.
__ c. The social order and absolutist political system in France before
the Revolution of 1789.
__ d. Support of monarchy.
__ e. A movement that supports the instincts and aspirations of
ordinary people.
__ f. The existing state of affairs.
__ g. Property which belongs to a private person.
__ h. Theory that a regime must rule its people in a forceful manner,
without regard for their preferences, in order to be efficient.
__ i. An approach to politics which sees the pursuit of power as the
prime motivation in all political life, and dismisses morality as
irrelevant.
__ j. The use of policy to promote the welfare of those unable to help
themselves.
__ k. A style of politics which transforms public life into a sterile
confrontation and fosters polarization.
__ l. An explanation of politics by drawing an analogy to an organism.
__ m. The doctrine that a complex system can be fully understood in
terms of its isolated parts, or an idea through simple concepts;
oversimplification.
__ n. An approach to political theory that aims to create an alternative
society in which unrealistic ideals such as perfect justice, freedom
and equality have been achieved.
__ o. Excessive respect for tradition.
U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM 63

EXERCISE A3: Troublesome Pairs

Fill in each blank using one of the two words provided, in the appropriate
form if verbs or nouns.

1. historic – historical
a) The President made a ________ speech.
b) ‘It is a ________ day for our country today; the military regime
has been overthrown’, the newscaster announced.
c) Social and ________ factors influence the process of political
change.
d) ________ events are often used as landmarks for different
periods in history.
e) ________ films often distort the truth.
f) ________ patterns are difficult to detect.
g) The Ministry of National Heritage tries to preserve ________
buildings.
h) In 1951 there was a ________ meeting of six European leaders
and the foundations of European integration were laid.
i) Socialists have had to come to terms with changing ________
realities.
j) The Treaty on European Union is a document of ________
importance.

2. census – consensus
a) The Prime Minister stated that he believed in ________ politics.
b) A ________ was conducted to collect data on a wide range of
topics.
c) It is difficult to reach a ________ where too many sides are
involved.
d) There is no ________ about the criteria upon which new member
states should be allowed to join the EU.
e) ________ have been taken in Britain since 1801.
64 U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM

S ECTION B: Reading for Detail

‘Thatcherism and the New Right’

A dual historical development took place in the 1980s: a resurgence

of right-wing doctrines and policies, subsumed under the label of
the ‘New Right’, and their incorporation into conservative
ideology and the policy agenda of conservative political parties. Within
the context of a prolonged world recession, the New Right developed a
critique of the drift towards collectivism which had diluted conservative
identity in the post-war period and the spread of liberal social values
(O’Sullivan, 1999: 65). The New Right attempts to combine two distinct
traditions: neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism. The common ground
the two traditions share is the ideal of a strong but minimal state.
Neo-liberalism is committed to a laissez-faire approach to both
economy and society; state intervention in all areas should be
eliminated in order to allow untrammelled capitalism to develop.
Neo-conservatism, on the other hand, attempts to revive
nineteenth-century conservative social values and rejects the culture of
the 1960s youth movement, placing special emphasis on the institution
of the family instead (Heywood, 1997: 47-48).
In Britain the shift to the right resulted in the election in 1979 of a
conservative government, headed by Margaret Thatcher, who remained
Prime Minister until 1990. The main plank of the government’s
platform was monetarism, which requires an abandonment of state
involvement in the economy, except for the reduction of the money
supply to curb inflation (Goodwin, 1987: 164). Thatcherites advocated
freedom, but what they meant was freedom to accumulate wealth; this
was possible only in an economic environment free from government
intervention (Eccleshall et al., 1994: 84). The lack of government
intervention in the market mechanism would bring prosperity to high
earners and successful companies; in turn, prosperity would ‘trickle
down’ to society in general. The only legitimate function of government
in a market economy is that of creating a climate where business can
flourish; to achieve this, a government should simply uphold the ground
rules of the free market economy (Eccleshall, 2000: 278). Beyond this,
however, government intervention in the economy would suppress the
entrepreneurial initiative which could ultimately benefit both rich and
U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM 65

poor. Thus, socialism was blamed for killing the goose that laid the
golden eggs (O’Sullivan, 1999: 67).
Among the negative effects of the bloated state created by the
programmes of social democrats and socialists were high taxation to
finance excessive public spending, mass unemployment, inflation and
economic stagnation (Eccleshall et al., 1994: 84). In accordance with the
well-known neoliberal motto, which is to ‘roll back the frontiers of the
state’, the Thatcher government favoured privatization of public sector
companies and deregulation of markets to encourage business. Another
measure taken to reduce the size of the state and to cut down public
spending was the curtailing of social services; a culture of self-help and
individualism was to be developed instead (Goodwin, 1987: 164).
Welfare programmes were seen as counter-productive because they
fostered an ethic of dependence. For instance, state benefits
encouraged people to remain unemployed. In addition, the family had
been destroyed because of the increase in illegitimate births among
young women who could live on state benefits (O’Sullivan, 1999: 68).
This was where economics and ethics converged in Thatcherism.
Private enterprise was associated with personal responsibility, while
welfare dependence was linked to moral permissiveness. Rising crime
rates, drugs, and even sexual promiscuity were seen as manifestations of
the permissive morality fostered by welfare liberalism (Eccleshall et al.,
1994: 85). Therefore, the maintenance of law and order became a
prominent feature of government policy. Law enforcement became
stricter, and the police were increased and their powers were
reinforced. It is evident, then, that as the state became less influential as
an economic actor and welfare provider, so its disciplinary role came to
the fore (Goodwin, 1987: 164-65). The contradiction at the heart of
Thatcherism was precisely this blend of neoliberal and conservative
strands, summed up in the title of Andrew Gamble’s book The Free
Economy and the Strong State (1988).

5 ENGLISH FOR POLITICAL SCIENTISTS BOOK 1: POLITICAL THEORIES

66 U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM

EXERCISE B1
Read the unfinished statements below, each with four suggested answers or
ways of finishing. You must choose the one you think best reflects the
meaning of the passage above.

1. The New Right criticized post-war governments for

a) incorporating right-wing doctrines and policies into their agenda.
b) creating a strong but minimal state.
c) their drift towards government intervention.
d) failing to provide the necessary social services.

2. According to New Right doctrine, the role of government is to

a) encourage private enterprise.
b) control the market.
c) suppress private initiative.
d) intervene so as to bring prosperity to high earners.

3. Socialism was blamed for

a) destroying welfare.
b) suppressing markets that could generate prosperity.
c) benefiting the poor only.
d) its inadequate control of markets.

4. Welfare provision by the state

a) reinforced the disciplinary role of the state.
b) forced people to be self-reliant.
c) resulted in more young women getting married.
d) encouraged people to become dependent on the state.
U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM 67

EXERCISE B2
Fill in the blanks using the following terms: privatization, modernization, free
market, resources, law and order, deregulation, utilities, big government,
interest, mass, spending, competition, dependence, stagnation.

The New Right is usually associated with a rejection of (1)________,

that is, economic and social regulation. In the social sphere it
recommends reductions in public (2)________ on welfare and creates a
self-help culture in place of a culture of (3)________ on the state. Social
democratic policies, with their emphasis on welfare provision, are
accused of resulting in excessive taxation, (4)________ unemployment
and economic (5)________. According to the New Right, the state
should restrict itself to the maintenance of (6)________ in the social
sphere and the upholding of the rules of fair (7)________ in the
marketplace.
In place of social democracy and welfarism, the New Right
advocates the restoration of a (8)________ economy. To achieve this
goal, it takes firm measures for the (9)________ of public sector
companies and the (10)________ of the private sector. The
denationalization of public (11)________is usually justified on the
grounds that it contributes to the (12)________ of the economy.
Markets are the most efficient means of allocating (13)________, so a
non-interventionist policy is in the public (14)________.

EXERCISE B3: Diary & Discussion

Keep a weeklong record of aspects of your social environment you would
like to change and others you would rather preserve and why. Discuss your
findings with your fellow-students. Do they think you are a liberal or a
conservative? How do you perceive yourself ?
68 U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM

S ECTION C: Vocabulary Expansion

EXERCISE C1: Latin Roots
duc/duct (= to lead)

Use the following prefixes to create English verbs ending in -duce/-duct, then
fill in the blanks with the verbs in their appropriate form. Make spelling
changes where necessary.

ab = off, away from ad = to, towards, near con = with, together

de = off, from in = in, into intro = within, inward pro = forward, before
re = again, back

a) In order to qualify for a pension when you retire, 20% will be

automatically ________ from your salary.
b) It is suspected that Iraq has the capacity to ________ nuclear
weapons.
c) The President departed suddenly, so journalists ________ that the
negotiations had failed.
d) The purpose of taxation is to ________ inequalities.
e) The United Nations provides a framework within which states can
________ their international relations.
f) An American diplomat was ________ and held hostage for twenty
days.
g) Western powers have tried to ________ other peoples to adopt
Western ideas concerning democracy.
h) The leader of the Opposition ________ so many reasons for
doubting the Prime Minister’s claims that even members of the
government began to have doubts.
i) It was ________ from the evidence that he was guilty.
j) The police decided to ________ evidence before arresting the
terrorists.
k) The Minister of Finance will ________ a Bill in Parliament to
combat tax evasion.
U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM 69

EXERCISE C2: Prefixes

de- (the opposite of) neo- (new, later) post- (after) pre- (before).

Put one of the prefixes above in each of the spaces in the sentences below.
Where necessary, hyphens have been added.

a) Some people believe that ________-Nazi sites on the Internet

should be banned.
b) The government has decided to ________criminalize the use of
drugs.
c) ________-fascist movements have gained ground in multiracial
countries.
d) The ________war reconstruction of the country requires hard work.
e) The intervention of the United Nations contributed to the
________-escalation of the conflict.
f) Values of community and cooperation were important in
traditional, ________-industrial societies.
g) The war in former Yugoslavia threatened to ________stabilize the
Balkan region.
h) Most political science graduates go abroad for ________graduate
studies.
i) Infrastructure is a ________requisite for economic development.
j) The army was ________moralized as a result of the defeat.
k) A political scientist should not have ________conceptions and
should not ________judge his or her findings.

EXERCISE C3: Suffixes

Add the suffix -ion (also -sion or -tion) to the verbs below to make nouns.
Make any necessary spelling changes.

a) to abolish abolition
b) to accede ________
c) to assume ________
d) to compete ________
e) to convert ________
f) to deceive ________
g) to decide ________
70 U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM

h) to describe ________
i) to detain ________
j) to divide ________
k) to elect ________
l) to exclude ________
m) to expand ________
n) to explode ________
o) to intend ________
p) to intervene ________
q) to invade ________
r) to oppose ________
s) to oppress ________
t) to permit ________
u) to persuade ________
v) to produce ________
w) to provoke ________
x) to rebel ________
y) to reduce ________
z) to resolve ________

EXERCISE C4: Suffixes

Create adjectives ending in -ous from the words in brackets, making any
necessary changes in spelling.

a) an ________ position (advantage)

b) an ________ statement (ambiguity)
c) an ________ crime (atrocity)
d) a ________ country (homogeneity)
e) a ________ society (heterogeneity)
f) a ________ action (spontaneity)
g) ________ announcements (simultaneity)
h) a ________ argument (fallacy)
i) an ________ politician (ambition)
j) a ________ phenomenon (ubiquity)
k) a ________ event (moment)
l) an ________ suggestion (outrage)
m) an ________ regional government (autonomy)
U N I T 4 CONSERVATISM 71

n) a ________ country (prosperity)

o) a ________ organization (religion)
p) an ________ disease (infection)
q) a ________ army (victory)
r) a ________ country (mountain)
s) a ________ soldier (courage)
t) a ________ disappearance (mystery)
u) a ________ affair (suspicion)

Illustration by David Simonds. Original publication details: The Economist,

October 20th 2001, p. 46.