Margaret Thatcher’s version of liberal conservatism, known as the ‘new right’, swept away the power and influence of the one nation conservatives in the party. She believed that people were naturally competitive, that private enterprise should be encouraged because it rewarded effort. There was a belief that high taxation meant that those who created wealth were penalised so that the less gifted could be subsidised. Her supporters were strong believers in the individual, yet just as the liberals of the Victorian era they believed in a strong state. The new right was radical departure from traditional conservatism because the policies on society are completely different.
Neo-liberalism is often referred to as the ‘new right’ and is seen as a mixture of both libertarian and conservative thinking; a movement which does not corner itself in either the left or right categories. Neo Liberalism was a new way of thinking which was a response to socialism and its nanny state (Ashford and Davies, 1991). This way of thinking argues that the government should not be providers of a system which encourages a dependency culture, in which the socialist movement facilitates. They believe that the current welfare system is at odds with the free market and economic growth (Alcock, 2008). A principle in which the suggestion is that the market should be proficient in providing society with all the goods and services that is needed.
‘Liberal democracy’ embodies a whole range of doctrines and devices that actually seek to restrain popular rule and prevent government from flexing direct will of majority. The liberal’ features are reflected in a network of internal and external checks on government. For example, guarantee of civil liberty and healthy civil society. The ‘democratic’ features are that it is a system of regular elections, universal suffrage and political equality. In contrast James Madison saw democracy as a defence against majoritarianism, with checks and balances on government, which would make government responsive to competing minorities and safeguards the propertied-few from the property-less masses.
Let’s shift the focus by showing just how drastic these differences and concepts can be between the ideologies by looking at liberalism and socialism in terms of government and political systems. In order to understand the workings of a liberalist government we must understand their beliefs. Liberalism supports the idea of individualism over society in that people have the right to make choices for themselves, not society. Liberals believe in equality meaning that no person is morally or politically superior to another. They also believe that people as individuals are capable of thinking logically and rationally in areas of political science and economics, allowing the replacement of old, traditional views by newer and more appropriate views that fit today’s modern way of living.
The first main difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives in the mid-1860s is their beliefs. The Liberals led by William Gladstone, were general believers of Gladstonian Liberalism. This was essentially “peace reform and retrenchment”. Gladstone’s own financial policies that were based on balanced budgets, low taxes, and laissez-faire (self-help) were better suited to the developing capitalist society of Britain in the mid-1860s. The Liberals were not very big supporters of the Monarch and wanted the Monarchy out of the political area and it just to be solely the government.
Adam Smith’s writing is structured around his economic metaphor of the ‘invisible hand’ which perceives the marketplace to be self-regulated. He dismisses the mercantile system that existed at the time of his writing and contends that self-interested individuals will benefit society, even if unintentionally, because they have the motive to produce better products and at lower costs. Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776, conveying the inextricable link between the ‘invisible’ force of the market competition which feeds individual greed and the promotion of the national interests in improving society. He gives the example of the
Liberals contest that we have a duty to feed the hungry because the hungry have a right to it or because of utilitarian reasons maximizing welfare or happiness. Whereas neo-Malthuusians views are the opposite of the liberals and we should refrain from feeding the hungry. Lastly, the conservatives stand
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two social contract theorists, and natural law theorists, whose views on government were very different. Hobbes believed in the power of the ruler, and he believed that society could not function without the power of the state. Hobbes believed in an absolutist government. Hobbes argued that people were driven by two things: the desire for power and the fear of death at someone else’s hands (Sayre, 2012). He believes that it was the role of the government that would keep these instincts in line.
Freidman argued that there was a natural rate of unemployment and that attempts to reduce unemployment lead to other problems like inflation. Neoliberals thought that inflation undermines the market system because there is lack in faith of money and discourage money economic activity. In order to solve inflation the government needed to control growth in money supplies by cutting public spending and allowing unemployment to rise so the market can solve the problem. The liberal new right regards the state as a realm of coercion and “unfreedom”,
In the first source, a quote from Edmund Burke, he is articulating his ideology on how government officials should represent constituents in a democracy. Edmund Burke was the founder of classical conservatism, which fundamental values are based on an elitist hierarchy, limited freedom, and equality before the law (Rule of Law). He is expressing one of the elemental points of classical conservatism, the unhindered action of the upper class. The reasoning for the government being constructed this way is due to the idea that lower classes were lacking in material and monetary wealth, as well as education. In classical conservatism, the upper class, or elitists, were in power, not the entire society.