This is an in-depth document containing various essay plans on topics of liberalism, conservatism, and socialism. It is very helpful as it considers the points of both arguments to the question. It links thinkers and contains quotes.
To what extent do conservatives agree on the role of the state
Agree: More of an agreement on how the state should interfere with economics. All
conservatives defend the existence of capitalism and the free market + private ownership.
Ayn Rand = libertarian who believed govt intervention hindered human rights (limited govt).
Robert Nozick = Neoliberal who said an attempt to restrict property rights was ‘legalised theft’.
Private property provides psychological security for individuals within society. It is hence the
state’s duty in protecting these rights and ensuring individuals have the right to private
ownership.
Disagree: difference on the role of the state due to human nature. Views on paternalism,
Traditional = states knows what's best. Hobbes = ‘life is short, nasty and brutish’ and
individuals wouldn’t be able to survive without the existence of the state. Hence the state
should have an authoritarian role in society. One nation = Disraeli and Noblesse Oblige
requirement of the state to look after the working class.
They had a more positive view on human nature. New right = rejected paternalism, focusing
more on individualism. Idea of ‘social darwinism’ influenced Thatcher's policy making
(libertarian). Society works according to survival of the fittest based on merits rather than
intervention.
Disagree: On the amount of welfare that the state should provide. One nation = due to
‘Noblesse oblige’ the state needs to intervene in order to provide an equal state for the
poorest in society too. The only strand to support one-nation conservatives on state invention
is neo-conservative. However only during extreme cases e.g. 2008 economic crisis.
Whereas, Traditional and New Right united on free market and laissez - faire economics.
Libertarian = Ayn Rand argued for ‘rolling back of state’. Neo-liberal = were against welfare
state, Nozick ‘public bad, private bad’ and said tax was a ‘forced labour’ where the state
would forcibly take a proportion of an individual's wage. New right argued it created a
‘dependency culture’.
To what extent do conservatives agree and disagree on the nature of society
Disagree: They conflict with ideas in whether the state needs to intervene in society. Views
on paternalism, Traditional = states knows what's best. Hobbes = ‘life is short, nasty and
brutish’ and individuals wouldn’t be able to survive without the existence of the state. Hence
the state should have an authoritarian role in society. One nation = Disraeli and Noblesse
Oblige requirement of the state to look after the working class.
They had a more positive view on human nature. New right = rejected paternalism, focusing
more on individualism. Idea of ‘social darwinism influenced Thatcher's policy making
(libertarian). Society works according to survival of the fittest based on merits rather than
intervention.
Disagree: Necessity of society. One nation and traditional conservatives think that society is
, essential because they are concerned about the consequences of human nature defects.
Traditional conservative, Edmund Burke was sceptical of human nature because of our
intellectual flaws - ‘mankind is too complex to comprehend’. He thought that society provided
the foundation for our tiny platoons' protection and safety. Michael Oakeshott felt that humans
were flawed just like many others, but not intellectually. This indicates that individuals are too
feeble and imperfect to survive in the absence of the order, stability, and security provided by
society.
However, the New Right conservatives believe that society is unnecessary & does not exist at
all. Human individuality should not be restricted by society and should be encouraged to
develop. Ayn Rand thinks that people are completely reasonable and that everyone should be
permitted to prosper depending on their own abilities and skills. She believed that individuals
are not tied by our past or customs and so we are only bound by ourselves. As a result, the
New Right doesn't tolerate any breach of basic rights in the name of society. Robert
Nozick, would consider tax as a violation of rights because ‘forced labour’ as the person
must be free of any enforced society responsibilities.
Agree: Individuals are dependent upon law and order and tradition within society. Trad =
once state provides necessary order, society can progress organically into customs and
traditions. Hobbes = humans need a social contract which establishes a sovereign where
individuals give up their individual rights
and in return the state would provide protection and security for society. Humans are irrational
and therefore need to be protected by the state.
Similarly, one nation = ‘change to conserve’. Burke = stressed the importance of society
learning from its past to prevent cutting off traditions which promoted stability, empiricism and
pragmatism.
To what extent do conservatives agree on the role of the economy
Agree: All conservatives defend the existence of capitalism and the free market + private
ownership. Ayn Rand = libertarian who believed govt intervention hindered human rights
(limited govt). Robert Nozick = Neoliberal who said an attempt to restrict property rights was
‘legalised theft’. Private property provides psychological security for individuals within society.
Disagree: Type of economics.
Traditional conservatives = laissez-faire economics, state would have minimum intervention
and private enterprise would be encouraged. Hobbes ‘strong state was a small state’.
However one nation conservatives = keynesian economics needed during times of struggle.
Noblesse Oblige, which was promoted by PM Disreli. Duty of the rich to help the poorest in
society. Burke = ‘wiser, stronger and more opulent’ were more privileged and therefore
hierarchies would naturally form (therefore the govt needs to intervene in order to help the
poorest).
Neo-liberal = were against welfare state, Nozick ‘public bad, private bad’ and said tax was a
‘forced labour’ where the state would forcibly take a proportion of an individual's wage. New
right argued it created a ‘dependency culture’.
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