Conservatism

This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. For other uses (such as national movements or parties), see Conservatism (disambiguation) and/or the navigation bar on the right side of this page.

Conservatism is a philosophy defined by Edmund Burke as "a disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve". The term derives from conserve; from Latin conservare, to keep, guard, observe. Classical conservatism does not readily avail itself to the ideology of objectives. It is a philosophy primarily concerned with means over ends. To a conservative, the goal of change is less important than the insistence that change be effected with a respect for the rule of law and traditions of society.

Conservatism is tethered to the traditions of a given society and therefore it cannot hold any single or universal meaning across the world. Additionally, conservative 'means' are often combined with other ideological 'ends' (e.g.: Conservative or Classical Liberal versus Radical Liberal). Conservatism is older than the left-right division in politics; and conservatives may align with either the left or right depending on the time and place.

Development of thought

Conservatism has not produced, nor does it tend to produce systematic treatises like Hobbes’ Leviathan or Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. Consequently, what it means to be a conservative today is frequently the subject of debate and a topic muddied by association with various (and often opposing) ideologies or political parties. Scholar R.J. White once put it this way:

"To put conservatism in a bottle with a label is like trying to liquefy the atmosphere … The difficulty arises from the nature of the thing. For conservatism is less a political doctrine than a habit of mind, a mode of feeling, a way of living."

Although political thought, from its beginnings, contains many strains that can be retrospectively labeled conservative, it was not until the Age of Reason, and in particular the reaction to events surrounding the French Revolution of 1789, that conservatism began to rise as a distinct attitude or train of thought. Many suggest an earlier rise of a conservative disposition, in the wake of the Reformation, specifically in the works of influential Anglican theologian, Richard Hooker – emphasizing moderation in the political balancing of interests towards the goals of social harmony and common good. But it was not until Edmund Burke’s polemic – Reflections on the Revolution in France – that conservatism gained its most influential statement of views.

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Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke, who argued so forcefully against the French Revolution, also sympathised with some of the aims of the American Revolution. This classical conservative tradition often insists that conservatism has no ideology, in the sense of a utopian programme, with some form of master plan. Burke developed his ideas in reaction to the 'enlightened' idea of a society guided by abstract reason. Although he did not use the term, he anticipated the critique of modernism, a term first used at the end of the 19th century by the Dutch religious conservative Abraham Kuyper. Burke was troubled by the Enlightenment, and argued instead for the value of tradition.

Some men, argued Burke, have less reason than others, and thus some men will make worse governments than others if they rely upon reason. To Burke, the proper formulation of government came not from abstractions such as "Reason," but from time-honoured development of the state and of other important societal institutions such as the family and the Church.

"We are afraid to put men to live and trade each on his own private stock of reason, because we suspect that this stock in each man is small, and that the individuals would do better to avail themselves of the general bank and capital of nations and ages. Many of our men of speculation, instead of exploding general prejudices, employ their sagacity to discover the latent wisdom which prevails in them. If they find what they seek, and they seldom fail, they think it more wise to continue the prejudice, with the reason involved, than to cast away the coat of prejudice, and to leave nothing but naked reason; because prejudice, with its reason, has a motive to give action to that reason, and an affection which will give it permanence."

Burke argued that tradition is a much sounder foundation than "reason". The conservative paradigm he established emphasises the futility of attempting to ground human society in pure abstractions (such as "reason," "equality," or, more recently, "diversity"), and the necessity of humility in the face of the unknowable. Tradition draws on the wisdom of many generations and the tests of time, while "reason" may be a mask for the preferences of one man, and at best represents only the untested wisdom of one generation. Any existing value or institution has undergone the correcting influence of past experience and ought to be respected.

Conservatives do not reject change. As Burke wrote, "A state without the means of change is without the means of its conservation." But they insist that further change be organic, rather than revolutionary. An attempt to modify the complex web of human interactions that form human society, for the sake of some doctrine or theory, runs the risk of running afoul of the iron law of unintended consequences. Burke advocates vigilance against the possibility of moral hazards. For conservatives, human society is something rooted and organic; to try to prune and shape it according to the plans of an ideologue is to invite unforeseen disaster.

At the end of the Napoleonic period, the Congress of Vienna marked the beginning of a conservative reaction in Europe to contain the liberal and nationalist forces unleashed by the French revolution. Historians Will and Ariel Durant describe the conservative philosophy of the time as "defending the necessity of religion, the wisdom of tradition, the authority of the family, the advantages of legitimate monarchy, and the constant need to maintain political, moral, and economic dikes against the ever-swelling sea of popular ignorance, cupidity, violence, barbarism, and fertility." Along with Louis de Bonald, Joseph de Maistre was the most influential spokesperson for counter-revolutionary and authoritarian conservatism, with the emphasis on monarchy as a guarantee of order in society. The legitimist movement was the political incarnation of this thought.

Schools of Conservatism

Cultural Conservatism

Main article: Cultural conservatism

Cultural Conservatism is a philosophy that supports preservation of the heritage of a nation or culture. The culture in question may be as large as Western culture or Chinese civilization or as small as that of Tibet. Cultural conservatives try to adapt norms handed down from the past. The norms may be romantic, like the anti-metric movement that demands the retention of avoirdupois weights and measures in Britain and opposes their replacement with the metric system. They may be institutional: in the West this has included chivalry and feudalism, as well as capitalism, laicité and the rule of law. In the East, examples are the state examination system in China and the widespread cultural tolerance in India.

According to the subset called social conservatives, the norms may also be moral. For example, in some cultures practices such as homosexuality or abortion are thought to be wrong. In other cultures women who expose their faces or limbs in public are considered immoral, and conservatives in those cultures often support laws to prohibit such practices. Other conservatives take a more positive approach, supporting good samaritan laws, or laws requiring public charity, if their culture considers these acts moral.

Cultural conservatives often argue that old institutions have adapted to a particular place or culture and therefore ought to persevere. Depending on how universalizing (or skeptical) they are, cultural conservatives may or may not accept cultures that differ from their own. Many conservatives believe in a universal morality, but others allow that moral codes may differ from nation to nation, and only try to support their moral code within their own culture. That is, a cultural conservative may doubt whether the broad ideals of French communities would be equally appropriate in Germany.

Religious Conservatism

Religious conservatives seek to preserve the teachings of some particular religion, sometimes by proclaiming the value of those teachings, at other times seeking to have those teachings given the force of law. Some religious conservatives take as the source of their values a particular book, such as the Bible or the Koran; some turn to a single person as the source of religious authority, such as the Pope. Other religious conservatives believe that every individual must look to his own conscience, or that believers receive direct communication from angels or from God. Religious conservatism may support, or be supported by, secular customs. In other places or at other times, religious conservatism may find itself at odds with the culture in which the believers reside. In some cultures, there is conflict between two or more different groups of religious conservatives, both strongly asserting that their view is correct, and opposing views are wrong.

Religious conservatism is unlike other forms of conservatism, because of the many different forms it can take. Many religious conservatives are resistant to all change, because they see their beliefs as coming from an all knowing and unchanging God. St. Paul illustrates the importance of tradition in First Corinthians: "I have received from the Lord that which also I delivered unto you." The Latin word for delivered here is traditio.

Conservative governments influenced by religious conservatives may promote broad campaigns for a return to traditional values. Modern examples include the Back to Basics campaign of British premier John Major. In the European Union, a conservative campaign sought to constitutionally specify certain conservative values in the proposed European Constitution. Most prominently, Pope John Paul II lobbied for inclusion of a reference to God, which was narrowly defeated.

Radical movements within established religious traditions illustrate the paradoxical method by which branches of religious conservatism can emerge that, rather than trying to preserve an existing social order, seek to overthrow that order in the name of a puritanical ideal, and enforce adoption of a perceived 'pristine' form of the religion, often based on a very strict reading of a holy text. Such radical or revolutionary movements may be a reaction against perceived abuses, corruption, or heresy within the existing tradition. One example of such a movement was the Protestant Reformation.

In Islam, the Salafist movement is often politically and socially radical, and is violently repressed by governments and distrusted by the majority of mainstream Muslims for that reason. Salafism seeks to impose, by force if necessary, its vision of a model Islamic society such as existed at the time of Muhammad's (SAW) passing from this world and for a short time thereafter. It rejects the later developments of Islamic societies, and can therefore be classified as a radical religious conservatism.

Similar phenomena have arisen in practically all the world's religions, in many cases triggered by the violent and generally humiliating cultural collision between the traditional society in question and the modern Western form of civilization that has been propagated throughout the world over the past 500 years. Much of what is labelled as radical religious conservatism in the modern world is in fact an indigenous fusion of traditional religious ideals with modern, European revolutionary philosophy, sometimes Marxist in nature.

Ideological interaction and influence

Many forms of conservatism incorporate elements of other ideologies and philosophies. In turn, conservatism has influence upon them. Most conservatives strongly support the nation-state (although that was not so in the 19th century), and patriotically identify with their own nation. Nationalist separatist movements are by definition radical but also conservative, watch the Flemish Separatists, they are mostly conservative(see the Flemish nationalist parties: N-VA and the Flemish Importance parties). They appeal to tradition and often emphasise rural life and folkways. Along such lines, controversial claims of association with Fascism have been argued, particularly in Europe (see Fascism and ideology).

Nationalism

Nationalism, which sees the nation as a long-term, centuries-old, community, has many conservative aspects. Conversely, any centuries-old community is by definition attractive to traditionalist and Burkean conservatives. Conservatives may describe their preferred values as the national values, implying that they are in some way compulsory for any resident of the nation. In recent responses to terrorism, both prime minister Tony Blair and previous opposition leader Michael Howard have suggested that British values and the British way of life must be enforced in Britain. They refer to a kind of 'Britishness' or 'Englishness' which has a literary rather than a political origin - George Orwell, for instance, defended English values and even the monarchy.

Value conservatives in Europe appeal to 'national values'. Burkean conservatives value them for their own sake, because they are the result of long experience, but religious conservatives may use 'community values' as a euphemism for their own religious values, or even for theonomy. All nationalists appeal to national symbolism - the national flag, national historical icons, founders and emblems, the work of national poets and authors, or the representation of the nation by its artists - and this is often adopted by conservatives. Military institutions in particular defend the nation and also provide tradition and ritual, so conservatives often admire military values: duty, sacrifice and obedience. But good intentions do not always bear out, and this nationalism has often and easily degenerated into militarism and jingoism. Where the nation is not independent, open patriotism is impossible anyway. Consider a Kurdish nationalist in Turkey, for instance, with no official institutions to admire. Saluting the Kurdish flag in public means risking arrest by the Turkish police - one man's patriotism is another man's treason.

Nationalism, and more generally patriotism, are therefore typical features of modern conservatism, in established nation-states. This was not the case in the 19th century, when the movements inspired by romantic nationalism were necessarily radical opponents of the then existing states, and separatist movements still are. Nor is present-day nationalism confined to self-identified conservatives, or to the right. The perception persists that nationalism is a remote or provincial ideology, but it is by definition the basis of every nation-state. Nevertheless, even nationalist conservatives sometimes prefer the less pejorative term patriotism, and Burkean conservatives would distance themselves from many nationalist groups and ideologies, on the grounds of their radicalism.

Nevertheless radical nationalist conservatism has been a major force in European history, no matter how distasteful that may be to many mainstream conservatives. Anti-immigrant and nationalist populist parties, such as France's Front National, continue to include a strong conservative element, and the conservative-nationalist tradition is very strong in Germany.

Liberalism

In the US, conservatism and liberalism are sometimes seen as polar opposites, yet the situation is more complex. A major area of difference in US politics is that between social liberalism and social conservatism. Social liberals advocate policies that promote change of established ideas, while social conservatives support established traditions of American society, or norms of previous generations. The media widely covers the differences in opinion in issues such as same-sex marriage, sex education, and the separation of church and state. Some American "conservatives" term themselves "libertarians" (including some who support the Libertarian Party) and advocate fiscal conservatism mixed with social liberalism, further blurring the traditional distinctions between liberalism and conservatism.

Fiscally, US liberals advocate consumer protection regulations, and other policies which run contrary to fiscal conservative, (or neoliberal), ideals. In the US, liberal and conservative are generalizations that do not point to any concrete set of ideals or values.

The terms Economic conservatism or Fiscal conservatism are general terms, encompassing modern neoliberalism, as well as classical liberalism in the tradition of Adam Smith. Outside North America, liberal traditionally refers only to these free-market policies. For example, in Europe 'liberal-conservative' is an accepted term. Differences in meaning and usage of the term 'liberal' have contributed to some confusion, see Liberalism. Conservatives and classical liberals are allied "against the common enemy, socialism," but classical liberals are "more suspicious than conservatives of all but the most minimal government."

Theorists of conservatism often assert a moral justification for the free market, grounded in principles of individual liberty and individual choice. Their support is not moral or ideological, but driven by the Burkean notion of prescription: what works best is what is right. Conservatives might also emphasise the importance of civil society in this context: government intervention in the economy will make people feel less responsible for the society.

Historically, many arguments have been advanced for the free market, and liberal principles in general. Present western classical-liberalism and political conservatism may have reached their pro-market position by different routes, but by now the lines have blurred. Rarely will a politician claim that free markets are "simply more productive" or "simply the right thing to do" but a combination of both. This merging of the classical liberal and conservative positions is found in most western conservative movements.

The free market itself is not an issue for western conservative movements since they have operated in long-established market economies. Instead, it is the degree of government intervention that is at issue. One archetypal free-market conservative government of the late 20th century — the Margaret Thatcher government in the UK — saw deregulation as the cornerstone of contemporary economic conservatism. Thatcher added privatisation to this policy, and privatised British Airways, with remarkable success, and British Rail, with rather more mixed results. She cut taxes and slowed governmental growth.

Capitalism, and the outcome of the free market, may conflict with value conservatism. At times, as the Communist Manifesto emphasised, capitalism and free markets have been profoundly subversive of the existing social order:

The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians’ intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production...

Since capitalism may conflict with traditional attitudes, as in the widespread distribution of pornography in western countries, it is therefore possible to be a value conservative without supporting market liberalism. As a corellary, not all supporters of the free market are social conservatives.

Fiscal conservatism

Fiscal conservatism is the economic philosophy of prudence in government spending and debt. Edmund Burke, in his 'Reflections on the Revolution in France', articulated its principles:

...[I]t is to the property of the citizen, and not to the demands of the creditor of the state, that the first and original faith of civil society is pledged. The claim of the citizen is prior in time, paramount in title, superior in equity. The fortunes of individuals, whether possessed by acquisition or by descent or in virtue of a participation in the goods of some community, were no part of the creditor's security, expressed or implied...[T]he public, whether represented by a monarch or by a senate, can pledge nothing but the public estate; and it can have no public estate except in what it derives from a just and proportioned imposition upon the citizens at large.

In other words, a government does not have the right to run up large debts and then throw the burden on the taxpayer; the taxpayers' right not to be taxed oppressively takes precedence even over paying back debts a government may have imprudently undertaken.

Nature and the environment

In early liberal philosophy 'Nature' and the environment were treated as a resource to be exploited: value derived from their human use, in accordance with the labor theory of value. Most early conservatives, however, saw the value of Nature as inherent. Both strands have influenced conservative politics in many countries, since the 19th century. The etymology emphasises the close correlation between the early conservation movement and conservative ideals. In recent decades, deep ecology has emerged as parallel, non-anthropocentric conservative philosophy, with remarkable similarities in value preferences.

Regional politics

Further information: right-wing and political spectrum

In western democracies, 'conservative' and 'right-wing' are often used interchangeably, as near-synonyms. That is not always accurate, but it has more than incidental validity. Certainly the opposition is in both cases the same: the political left. (Although left-wing groups and individuals may have conservative social and cultural attitudes, they are not generally accepted, by self-identified conservatives, as part of the same movement). On economic policy and the economic system, conservatives and the right generally support the free market, although less so in Europe than in other places. Attitudes on some ethical and bio-ethical issues — such as opposition to abortion — are described as either 'right-wing' or 'conservative'.

Burkean conservatives favour incremental over radical change, even from the right. Some conservatives distrust the xenophobic and even racist sentiments prominent on the political right. Protectionism and anti-immigration policies may conflict with free-market conservatives' support for deregulation and free trade. Some conservatives oppose military interventionism, inspired by early British conservative thinkers, such as David Hume and Edmund Burke. Burke saw imperialism as interfering with the traditions and organic make-up of the colonised societies.

But there are also many examples of theocratic religious conservatives, conservative nationalists, jingoist conservative imperialists, and conservative racists — and of 'respectable' conservatives allied with them. The Conservative Party in Britain was a staunch defender of the British Empire, and was responsible for initial brutal repression of African decolonisation.

The overlap between 'respectable' conservatives and the extreme right is determined by the degree of political taboo, rather than inherent ideological incompatibility. In European parliamentary systems, conservatives currently ally with centrist or even leftist groups, rather than with the xenophobic-populist right, although critics have contended that the conservatives are taking in far-right ideas. For example, in December 2005, Le Canard Enchaîné claimed that Nicolas Sarkozy had implemented almost all of the far-right Front National (FN) measures proposed in its election program. All mainstream parties in Belgium cooperated to exclude the Flemish-separatist and xenophobic Vlaams Belang, although some politicians wish to break this 'cordon sanitaire'. And mainstream parties in France sometimes support each others' candidates in run-off elections, to exclude the Front National party. However, in March 1977, and then March 1983, FN was present on RPR-UDF lists at municipal elections; in 1988, RPR and UDF right-wing conservative parties allied with FN in the Bouches-du-Rhône and Var regions. In March 1989, they had common lists in at least 28 cities of more than 9 000 inhabitants. Those alliances were condemned in 1991, but a dozen conservative deputies gained FN's support in 1997.

North America

Main articles: American conservatism and Canadian Conservatism

Europe

Edmund Burke is often considered the father of conservatism in Anglo-American circles. In the United Kingdom, Burkean conservatism continues on, but its influence tended to leave its indelible mark on Anglo-American conservatism more so than British conservatism. There is no organisational continuity amongst Burkean conservatives which clearly connect them to contemporary conservatives in Britain. An Old Whig, Burke certainly was not the 'founder of the Conservative Party'.

The old established form of English and, after the Act of Union, British conservatism, was the Tory Party. It reflected the attitudes of a rural land owning class, and championed the institutions of the monarchy, the Anglican Church, the family, and property as the best defence of the social order. In the early stages of the industrial revolution, it seemed to be totally opposed to a process that seemed to undermine some of these bulwarks. The new industrial elite were seen by many as enemies to the social order.

Sir Robert Peel was able to reconcile the new industrial class to the Tory landed class by persuading the latter to accept the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. He created a new political group that sought to preserve the old status quo while accepting the basics of laissez-faire and free trade. The new coalition of traditional landowners and sympathetic industrialists constituted the new Conservative Party.

Benjamin Disraeli gave the new party a political ideology. As a young man, he was influenced by the romantic movement and the then fashionable medievalism, and developed a devastating critique of industrialism. In his novels he outlined an England divided into two nations, each living in perfect ignorance of each other. He forsaw, like Marx, the phenomenon of an alienated industrial proletariat.

His solution involved a return to an idealised view of a corporate or organic society, in which everyone had duties and responsibilities towards other people or groups. This one nation conservatism is still a very important tradition in British politics. It has animated a great deal of social reform undertaken by successive Conservative governments.

A Conservative government led by Disraeli accepted the right of skilled working men to vote. He suggested that many of their political and impulses might be conservative. This hidden nature beyond a rough and unpromising exterior was likened to the discovery of "angels in marble." The conversion of the Conservative Party into a modern mass organisation was accelerated by the concept of "tory Democracy" attributed to Lord Randolph Churchill.

A Liberal-Conservative coalition during World War I coupled with the ascent of the Labour Party, hastened the collapse of the Liberals in the 1920s. After world War II, the Conservative party made concessions to the socialist policies of the Left. This compromise was a pragmatic measure to regain power, but also the result of the early successes of central planning and state-ownership forming a cross-party consensus. This was known as 'Butskellism', after the almost identical keynsian policies of R.A. Butler on behalf of the Conservatives, and Hugh Gaitskell for Labour.

However, in the 1980s, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, and the influence of Sir Keith Joseph, the party returned to classical liberal economic ideas, and privatization of many state enterprises was ordained. For more detail, see History of the Conservative Party.

The Thatcher Legacy is mixed. Some commentators have suggested that she destroyed the traditional party consensus and philosophy, and, in so doing, left a situation in which the public does not really know what the party stands for any more. The Conservative Party is now busy trying to re-invent itself.

In other parts of Europe, mainstream conservatism is often represented by the Christian Democratic parties. They form the bulk of the European Peoples Party faction in the European Parliament. The origin of these parties is usually in Catholic parties of the late 19th and early 20th century, and Catholic social teaching was their original inspiration. Over the years, conservatism gradually became their main ideological inspiration, and they generally became less Catholic. The German CDU, its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Dutch Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) are Protestant-Catholic parties.

In the Nordic countries, conservatism has been represented in liberal conservative parties like the Moderate Party in Sweden and the Conservative People's Party in Denmark. Domestically, these parties generally support market-oriented policies, and usually gain support from the business community and white-collar professionals. Internatially they generally support the European Union and a strong defense. Their views on social issues tend to be more liberal than for example the U.S. Republican Party. Social conservatism in the Nordic countries are often found in their Christian Democratic parties. In several Nordic countries, right-wing populist parties have gained some support since the 1970s. Their policies have often been focuesd on tax cuts, reduced immigration, and tougher law and order policies.

Generally, one could claim that European conservatives tend to be more moderate on many social and economic issues, than American conservatives. They tend to be quite friendly to the aims of the welfare state, although concerned about a healthy business environment. However, some groups have been more supportive of a stricter libertarian or laissez-faire agenda, especially under influence from Thatcherism. European conservative groups often see themselves as guardians of prudence, moderation, history and tried experience, as opposed to radicalism and social experiments. Approval of high culture and established political institutions like the monarchy is often found in European conservatism. Mainstream conservative groups are often staunch supportes of the European Union. However, one might also found elements of nationalism in many countries.

• One Nation
• Thatcherism
• Gaullism

China

Chinese conservatism is based on the teachings of Kong Fuzi (Confucius). Confucius, who lived in a time of chaos and warring kingdoms, wrote extensively about the importance of the family, of social stability, and of obedience to just authority. His ideas continue to permeate Chinese society. Traditional Chinese conservatism imbued with Confucian thought have been resurgent in recent years, despite more than a half-century of authoritarian Marxist-Leninist rule.

After Mao's death in 1976, three factions wrestled to succeed him: the hardline Maoists, who wanted to continue the revolutionary mobilization; restorationists, who advocated a return to the Soviet model of communism; and reformers, led by Deng Xiaoping, who hoped to reduce the role of ideology in government and overhaul the Chinese economy.

Traditional Chinese values have surged, rather assertively, in spite of the long-standing revolutionary communist regime. Today, the Communist Party of China is run by technocrats, who seek stability and economic progress, while suppressing free speech and religion. The Party is seen by some as the recipient of the Mandate of Heaven, a traditional Chinese idea. The Communist Party is taming itself and no longer consistently advocates Marxist revolutionary theory, adhering instead to a certain ideological flexibility consistent with the dictum of Deng Xiaoping, that is seek truth from facts.

Love of country and national pride has been resurgent as well as traditionalism. Chinese nationalism tends to speak highly of a centralized, powerful Chinese state. The government attempts to win and maintain the loyalty its citizens and of recently departed overseas Chinese. Recent bestseller China Can Say No expresses a sentiment in favor of a uniquely Chinese path that, tellingly, does not have to involve American norms, such as individualism and Western liberalism. Moreover, the tide may still be coming in for Chinese nationalism, as the next generation of Chinese leaders will have grown up in an environment imbued with nationalism.

Since the 1990s, there has been a neo-conservative movement in China (not connected with the US neo-conservative movement).

Criticism Of Conservatism

Historically, there have been three main criticisms of conservatism.

There have been those who agree that tradition is important, but who claim that conservative passions often result in extreme punishment for those who deviate from tradition. An example is Plato's implied criticism (in his Apology) of the citizens of Athens, who sentenced [[Socrates to death in 339 BC on the charge that he was "a doer of evil, who corrupts the youth; and who does not believe in the gods of the state, .."

Then there are those who claim that conservative philosophy is often a mask for self-interest. The Roman historian Livy, in his History of Rome, wrote (of the year 445 BC):

War and political dissension made the year a difficult one. Hardly had it begun, when the tribune Canuleius introduced a bill for legalizing intermarriage between the nobility and the commons. The senatorial party objected strongly on the grounds not only that the patrician blood would thereby be contaminated but also that the hereditary rights and privileges of the gentes, or families, would be lost. Further, a suggestion, at first cautiously advanced by the tribunes, that a law should be passed enabling one of the two counsuls to be a plebeian, subsequently hardened into the promulgation, by nine tribunes, of a bill by which the people should be empowered to elect to the counsulship such men as they thought fit, from either of the two parties. The senatorial party felt that if such a bill were to become law, it would mean not only that the highest office of state would have to be shared with the dregs of society but that it would, in effect, be lost to the nobility and transferred to the commons. It was with great satisfaction, therefore, that the Senate received a report, first that Ardea had thrown off her allegiance to Rome in resentment at the crooked practice which had deprived her of her territory; secondly, that troops from Weii had raided the Roman frontier, and, thirdly, that the Volscians and Aequians were showing uneasiness at the fortification of Verrugo. In the circumstances it was good news, for the nobility could look forward even to an unsuccessful war with greater complacency than to an ignominious peace.

Other writers have echoed the criticism that conservative philosophy is sometimes used to mask self-interest. Benjamin Disraeli, himself a member of the conservative party in England, wrote in 1845, "A conservative government is an organized hypocrisy."

Finally, there are those who criticize conservatism as standing in the way of progress.

In France, in the 18th century, conservatives supported the Ancien Régime. In praise of the revolution that overthrew the Ancien Régime, the English poet William Wordsworth wrote, "Bliss in that dawn it was to be alive, but to be young was very heaven!" After the failure of the revolution, Vicomte Louis-Gabriel-Ambroise de Bonald, one of the two leading French conservatives in the age of Napoleon, set forth the principles of French conservatism in Théorie du pruvoir politique et religieux (1796): "absolute monarchy, hereditary aristocracy, patriarchal authority in the family, and the moral and religious sovereignty of the popes over all the kings of Christendom." But Napoleon himself predicted that, in the end, French conservatism could not stand in the way of progress. In his final days he said that the principles of the French Revolution would triumph in American, France, and England; and “from this tripod the light will burst upon the world.”

See also

Bioconservatism Black conservatism Christian Democracy Conservative extension (Mathematical logic) Conservative Party (UK) Conservative Political Parties Constitutional Conservatism Conservative Revolutionary movement Culture war speech Libertarianism

New Right Old Right Reactionary Religious right Republitarianism Right-wing politics Roman Catholic conservatism Traditional Catholic Fundamentalism

References

Further reading

• Edmund Burke. Reflections on the Revolution in France, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. October 1997: ISBN 0872200205 (paper).
• Ted Honderich Conservatism
• Russell Kirk. The Conservative Mind. Regnery Publishing; 7th edition (October 1, 2001): ISBN 0895261715 (hardcover).
• Jerry Z. Muller Conservatism
• Robert Nisbet Conservatism: Dream and Reality
• Noel O'Sullivan Conservatism
• Roger Scruton The Meaning of Conservatism
• Alexander Lee and Timothy Stanley The End of Politics: Realignment and the Battle for the Centre Ground (Politico's Publishing, 3rd July 2006)

External links

• conservative.org - The American Conservative Union is the nation's oldest conservative lobbying organization
• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Conservatism.
• The National Conservatory Project: (in Romanian)
• Far Right Wing – Discussion of conservative ideas and politics
• Regarding Conservatism by Alexander S. Peak