To what extent is there continuity between traditional conservatism and the New Right?
by
gniezno (student)
Fatima Rahim Miss Worth
To what extent is there continuity between traditional conservatism and the
New Right?
Traditional conservatisms key features are its pragmatic nature and it being non-ideological, this was mainly by Edmund Burke. This strand is cautious and modest , it doe accept change but only in order if necessary- “change in order to conserve”, this too is seen in the paternalistic One Nation strand of traditional conservatism, whose founding father was Disraeli and later MacMillan.The New Right came about after the economic crisis of the 1970’s, and was endorsed by Thatcher and Reagan, this new strand of conservatism stemmed from some of the ideas of the great economic thinker Hayek. The New right incorporates ideas of both Neo Liberals and Neo Conservatives, the new right can be seen as progressive, amending flaws seen in traditional conservatism. The core themes of conservatism are human nature, the state, society and the economy; and although there are some similarities……..
The traditional conservative view of the individual stresses human imperfection. In particular, human individuals are regarded as psychologically limited creatures that seek security that can be found through for example, tradition or authority. They are also intellectually limited, in that they are unable fully to understand their world and act in accordance with reason – tradition is a better guide to action than reason. Their moral imperfection is evident in a tendency to be driven by instinct and irrational impulse, suggesting that disorder and criminality flow from the make-up of the individual. The New Right view differs on a number of counts. This is clearest when looking at the Neo Liberal view on human imperfection; they stress that individuals should be self reliant and can make rational choices. This is embodied in their emphasis on negative freedom; which is the freedom from interference from others. This fierce neo liberal view on individualism was encapsulated by Thatcher famously-“There is no such thing as society”. Furthermore, Neo-Liberalism believes that humans posses reason and know what is best for them, this moves away from the traditional view that humans need guidance and towards a more utilitarian view of human nature. These Neo Liberal views influenced the new rights policy the most; to move away from tradition; however, within the New right there is disagreement between Neo Liberal and Neo Conservatives. Neo Conservatism believes that delinquency and anti-social behavior are a consequence of the decline of authority, which agrees with the traditional conservative belief. Similarities can be found when looking at the neo conservative argument that if individuals do as they please, civilized standards of behavior will be impossible to maintain, which mirrors the traditional belief that we are limited and need authority to function. In terms of human nature, there is continuity between traditional conservatism and the neo conservative strand of the new right, but they both differ greatly with neo liberal views.
