Conservatism, Liberalism, and Democracy 7694

1
Conservatism, Liberalism, and Democracy (76-94)

• Family Resemblances and Family Feuds

2
Three Treatments of Conservatism and Liberalism
(76)

• Attitudes toward change, human nature, and
  tradition.
• Specific positions taken at specific times and
  places by identifiable people.
• Different histories in different countries.

3
Identifiable Groups (in the USA)

• The New Right
• Traditional Conservatives
• Neoconservatives
• Neoliberals
• Traditional liberals
• Extreme Right

4
Debate (76)

• Are conservatism and liberalism two ideologies
  or, tendencies within democracy?

5
Change over time(77)

• Does conservatism and liberalism differ from
  place to place and time to time?

6
Family Resemblance (77)

• How do liberals and conservatives feel about
  basic institutions and processes of the society
  in which they live?

7
Reactionaries and Radicals (77)

• Reactionary
• Radical
• Today?

8
Conservatism (77)

• Resistance to change
• Reverence for tradition and a distrust of human
  reason.
• Rejection of the use of government to improve the
  human conditionambivalence regarding
  governmental activity for other purposes
• Preference for individual freedom but willingness
  to limit freedom to maintain traditional values.
• Antiegalitariandistrust of human nature.

9
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) (p. 77-78)

• Founder of Modern Conservatism
• Experience is more important than reason.
• Change should be made very slowly.
• Private Property is sacrosanct.
• Ability and property are inherited unequally
  (argument about human nature).

10
Friedrich Hayek (1899-1992) (p. 79)

• Economist and social commentator who argued that
• Conservatism is a legitimate, probably necessary,
  and certainly widespread attitude of opposition
  to drastic change.

11
Hayeks understatement--Change (79)

• Conservatives are hesitant abut any change.

12
Tradition

• Conservatives are wary of social experimentation.
• Because if its not broke dont fix it.
• Accumulated wisdom of past generations outweighs
  reason.

13
Caveat to Conservatives and Change

• Conservatives dont want to conserve all of the
  past, just what they believe to be the best parts
  (79).

14
Conservatism and Government (79-80)

• Burkes Second Nature.
• Government used to limit unacceptable human
  behavior.
• Insistence upon limited government.
• Human nature (Burkes first nature) cannot be
  changed.
• Dependence Vs. Self-reliance.

15
Conservatism on Inequality (80)

• Some people are better than others.
• Humans are born with different abilities.
• class, intelligence, nationality, and race make
  men different.
• Hierarchy is not necessarily a result.

16
Liberalism

• Intellectual tradition stems from John Locke and
  John Stuart Mill
• Locke adds limited government and natural rights
  (life, liberty, and property), as well as
  arguments for consent and majority rule.
• Mill adds freedom of thought and speech.

17
Characteristics of Liberalism (81)

• A tendency to favor change
• Faith in human reason
• Willingness to use government to improve the
  human condition.
• Preference for individual freedom but ambivalence
  about economic freedom.
• Greater optimism about human nature than
  conservatives

18
Core Value of Liberalism (82)

• The word liberal stems from the word liberty.
• Today we see two directions Those who follow
  Locke and Negative liberty and those who follow
  T.H. Green and positive liberty.

19
Contemporary Conservatism-USA (83)

• New Right
• Traditional Conservatives
• Neo Conservatives

20
Criteria for Conservatives (83)

• Social-Traditional Values
• Fiscal-Capitalism, limited government.
• Foreign Policy-strong military.

21
New Right (83-84)

• Used to be radical right 1950s.
• Mostly social issues abortion, bussing,
  pornography, Church and state.
• George W. Bush fits here.

22
Traditional Conservatism (84)

• Favor limited government
• Contrast with New Right
• Overlap with some liberals (remember the
  conservatives who opposed the Patriot
  act)libertarians.

23
Neoconservatism (84-85)

• Used to be liberals (Cheney, Wolfowitz,
  Rumsfeld).
• Foreign Policy and fiscal conservatives
• More socially liberal (at least for themselves)

24
All Conservatives(85)

• Support free market capitalism, strong military,
  traditional values.

25
Contemporary Liberalism-USA (85-87)

• (read 1st paragraph)
• In disarray
• Less faith in government.
• Less sure of human reason and progress.
• Are liberals becoming conservatives?

26
Liberals still strive for (85)

• Greater human equality
• They are just less sure of how to get there.

27
Criteria for Liberals (85)

• Same as for conservatives
• Socialfreedom of choice.
• Fiscalhigher taxes, larger role for govt.
• Foreign Policycooperation, peaceful resolution
  of conflict.

28
Neoliberalism (86)

• Fiscal conservatives.
• Social and foreign policy liberals.
• Mainstream Democratic Party lives here (the
  so-called New Democrats like Clinton and Gore).
• Strong but efficient military (compare with
  Neocons).
• Realistic liberalism

29
Traditional Liberalism

• Few left these days.
• Defenders of the downtrodden workers, poor,
  minorities, civil rights.
• Critics of big business and elite politics
• FDR, LBJ, and Michael Moore fit well here.

30
John Rawls (86)

• Most important contributor to modern liberal
  theory.
• Thought experiment? The Original Position.

31
Principles of social justice (86-87).

• Liberty Principle
• Equality of Opportunity Principle

32
Communitarians and Individualism

• Which is more important, the individual or the
  community?
• Are we who we are because of our individuality or
  because of our membership in a group?

33
Current Trends

• Americans tend to pick and choose between the two
  versions.
• What role does ideology play?
• How does it limit our options?

34
Issues

• Multiculturalism
• Free speech
• Economy
• War on terrorism
• Political Correctness
• Extremism-left/right

35
Multiculturalism

• Group rights Vs. Individual rights.
• Particularism vs. Universalism
• How do liberals and conservatives feel?

36
Free Speech and the Internet

• Should the government spy on the internet or
  regulate its content?
• Liberal and conservative views?

37
How to stimulate the Economy?

• Trickle down economics or social
  experimentation?
• Liberal and conservatives?

38
War on Terror?

• Multilateralism vs. Unilateralism?
• Views?

39
Political Correctness

• Assumption by advocates power of language.
• Assumption of opponents PC is censorship.
• Views?

40
Extremism (88)

• Extremists those who want everyone to live their
  way, according their rules.
• Extreme Farthest from the center

41
Extreme Right

• Timothy McVeighOklahoma City Bombing
• Oppose federal authority, county is highest level
  of government
• UN is a communist conspiracy
• Wall Street is organized by an international
  Jewish Conspiracy
• Racist

42
Extreme (far) Right Policy (89)

• Take conservatism to extreme, radical.
• Solution is to end all the conspiraciesthough
  this is a difficult task.
• Means are either to create small communities in
  isolated areas or sometimes to use violence or
  intimidation.