CHAPTER 4 Conservatism, Pt. 1

1. CHAPTER 4 Conservatism, Pt. 1

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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 petit-bourgeoisie. • 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

8. 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

9. 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