Conservatism: an elusive ideology?
Anybody with a basic knowledge of party politics, but coming to political theory
for the first time, may assume that ‘conservatism’ is simply the ideology of political
parties calling themselves ‘conservative’, such as the Conservative Party in Britain,
or the Conservatives in Canada (or one of its predecessor parties, the Progressive
Conservatives). However, an analysis of the aims and policies of these parties would
suggest that their ideological make-up is hybrid and changeable. Take the British
Conservative Party, which was during the twentieth century the most electorally
successful ‘conservative’ party in the world; its ideology shifted to such an extent
that under Margaret Thatcher (British prime minister, 1979–90) it would be best
described as ‘national liberal’. The Thatcher government was economically liberal:
it extended the use of market mechanisms in the domestic sphere, and pursued a
pro-free trade policy in the international sphere, through, for example, the Single
European Act (1986). It was ‘national’ in that emphasis was placed on the
restoration of national pride after what was perceived to be a policy of ‘managed
decline’ in the period 1945–79. Although parties carrying the name ‘liberal’ tend
to have a stronger social dimension, maintaining that welfare provision is necessary
to enable people to live autonomous lives, social liberalism and economic liberalism
are members of the same ideological family. They are not conservative.
If the Thatcher government was not really conservative, then what is conser-
vatism? Etymology can mislead, but it is useful to start with the word ‘conservative’.
The idea of ‘conservation’ or ‘preservation’ suggests that conservatives stand
opposed to progress. This is why the name of one of the predecessor parties to the
Canadian Conservative Party – the Progressive Conservatives – seems like an
oxymoron. In fact, as with compound names of many political parties, it was the
result of a merger of two parties, rather than the ‘progressive’ being an adjectival
qualification of ‘conservative’. Nonetheless, even if it had been a deliberate
ideological label, it is not an oxymoron: conservatives can be progressive. What is
distinctive about conservatism is its attitude to progress – progress must be careful,
tentative, respectful of past practices, pragmatic, and go with the grain of human
nature. Cynics might, however, define a conservative as a person who only accepts
change after it has happened.
If conservatism has an enemy, it is ‘rationalism’ – an approach to political
problems derived from the application of abstract concepts. Quite often conservative
thinkers appear to reject abstract thought altogether, with the consequence that it
is difficult to talk of a conservative political theory. However, it is still possible to
identify features of conservative thought that are distinct and allow us to describe
conservatism as a distinct ideology.Basic elements of conservatism
As with all ideologies there are significant differences between different thinkers
and streams of thought, but there are also some common elements, or themes, in
conservatism. In this list of features we begin with the most ‘philosophical’ elements
and gradually move to the more concrete, political ones:Chapter 9 Conservatism 195