Classical Liberalism Vs Traditional Conservatism: A Comparison

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What are the differences in the primary values and principal beliefs between classical liberalism and traditional conservatism? Are there any values that these two ideologies share?

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What are the principal changes that feminism introduced into our conception of politics? What are the main types of feminism and how are they related to other political ideologies?

Understanding Classical Liberalism

Classical liberalism is an ideology that patronizes the liberties of the citizens, that too under the rules and regulations of law. The liberalism emphasizes the civil liberty along with the economic freedom for the citizens. During the early 19^th century, the European society witnessed a rise in the process of urbanization. From then onwards the ideology of liberalism has started to grow amongst the sociologists and politicians (Bell 2014). Moreover, the rise of the industrialization helped in imparting a consciousness about the economic rights of the common people. According to the beliefs of the liberalism theory, the society is made up with the individuals and hence their rights and demands have to be taken into consideration in order to maintain the society. The individuals have created the government in order to protect themselves; the primary aim of the government is to lessen the conflict amongst people. Moreover, the economic interest of the common people should be taken care by the government itself. In its process of evolution, the theory of classical liberalism departs from the conservative ideas, that the society is a complex set up (Berg 2015). In opposition to this, the liberalists points out that society is a structure constituted of individuals. Moreover, they believe that the laborers can be motivated by financial incentives, which in turn will prove helpful in the process of social uplift.

Traditional conservatism on the other hand, is a political ideology that stresses on the ideas of custom and tradition. It emphasizes that the law and the moral orders of a particular society has to be considered as the supreme value. The classical conservatism puts a stress in the maintenance of the law and order and keeps the customs and regulations before the individuals (Esping-Andersen 2013). Here the state is considered as a communal component and considered as having organic qualities. The ideology advocates for the fact that any society does not witness change due to the reasoned thoughts of the sociologists and the politicians. If change happens, it happens as a normal course of action and as a result of the flow of traditions and customs. During the 18^th century, Europe has witnessed the rise of conservatism theory, as a result of the French Revolution and the English Civil War (Feldman and Johnston 2014). The supporters of the traditional conservatism advocate for the fact that over the centuries the society and lawmakers have built cultures and traditions. These traditions have helped in making the society a more stable one. This stability has been immensely helpful for the progress of the society as well. Moreover, the supporters of the conservatism theory suggest that the orders given out by the government are to be followed and it signifies performing certain duties as well as enjoying the civic rights (Duckitt and Bizumic 2013).  According to them, the rejection of traditional cultures heightens the chances of social disorder. Moreover, the traditional conservatism theory encourages the idea of localism. As opposed to the structure of a centralized government, the theory supports localized government, policy, and decision-making set up.

Understanding Traditional Conservatism

To compare these two popular political philosophies, it can primarily be said that the fundamental ideology of these two are different. The Classical liberalism advocates for government, which is smaller in structure. Hence, it can work towards maintaining the civic rights. The idea of classical liberalism is closely related to the notions of liberty and it constantly searches for the utilization of human liberty as a result (Berg 2015). On the other hand, Conservatism champions the state over the individual. According to it the customs resides in a higher altitude than the people. In the Conservatism, a tendency to follow the ancestors can be seen (Acar and Altunok 2013). Hence, it is easily understandable that the philosophy does not work towards making changes and incorporating new ideas.

The characteristic that is identified with the Social liberalism is that it champions the causes of the common people and it mostly works on the emotions of the citizens. Hence, the believers of the philosophy work towards ensuring the implementation of citizen friendly policies. A government that practices the liberalism policies hence employs different policies such as subsidies, ensuring minimum wages and different kinds of aids. Conservatism on the other hand, opposes these ideas and practices as it thinks that these practices are harmful to the government (Bonefeld 2013). Moreover, the traditional conservatism mocks the theoretical philosophies and believes in the practical implication of things. Moreover, the classical conservatism, as illustrated by Sherry (2014), deals with the view that the present state affairs is a result of the traditions and norms, hence did not happen by any sudden occurrence. According to them the common people of a society should hold on to their traditions and preconceived norms as because this has helped them to maintain the integrity of the nation from an early age.  In addition to this, the Classical Liberalism believes in the power of free market, personal freedom and individual privacy. These are to be employed by the government and should also be maintained by it (Ludeke, Johnson and Bouchard 2013). They believe that the motto behind keeping military is to defend the society against aggressions and attacks from outside. However, it can be said that the Conservatism theory believes in all these factors while putting the stress in the traditions and customs (Esping-Andersen 2013). To the believers of conservatism, individual privacy and personal freedom are also important but not more important than the interest of the government. In this context, it can be said that this can create a spark of conflict with the property rights and the individual freedom. The conservatism beliefs hence come down to the support for the tradition and values in spite of their claims to be supportive of personal freedom. As argued by the Classical liberals, the state should be minimal in its nature and should work towards protecting the individual rights. Moreover, the laws of should be such as to provide security and seize anarchy. Along with this they demand building of public institutions and providing public works so that the common people can have access to a stable flow of currency. The Classical Liberalism believes that open markets will be beneficial for the citizens as well as for the government (Schwartz 2013). However, they urge that the government must ensure the protection of the individual rights, as it cannot be provided by the market where free trades are being operative. Although it can be said that the liberalists believes that an open market will provide the chance of competition amongst the industries, causing the best result for the society. In order to succeed in the targeted market, the industries will come up with products in cheapest prices. However, it is seen that this practice can create a terrible social condition, even if implemented in the highly advanced countries (Hayton and McEnhill 2015). The basic infrastructures are to be built and maintained. Hence, it can easily be deciphered that the philosophy supports the urbanization and wishes for the growth of the industries. On the other hand, the Conservatives believe in holding up to the traditional agrarian society. The countryside and the society based on agriculture are more valued by these people. Moreover, they believe in the social structure and hence support class divisions. Whereas, the liberalist champions free trade and values the self-esteem of every individual.  In a sharp contrast to the beliefs of the Liberalists, the conservationists hold patriarchy to be of highest value (Davoudi 2016). As it can be seen that in many cases these two ideas take resort to one another, it can also be understood that these two philosophies are similar to one another in many contexts. However, the main difference of these philosophies lies on the economic freedom and sticking to the ancient notions and customs. The classical liberalism hence, regards the conservatism to be anarchist philosophy. More often, it regards the government that holds the superior power, to be the evil of the society. The major difference between these two philosophies hence is the idea of power. Whereas, in liberalist point of view the state and the individual both are held as to be important, in conservatism the individual is not treated with that of highest importance. It stresses that the state should be run by maintaining uniformity amongst the citizen. Critics often points out that the classical liberalism on the other hand does not talk about the factors related to inner turmoil, war and peace. In a way it is more dependent on the ideology rather the practical implications of them. As they argue, that the conservatism on the other hand emphasizes on the stability of the society (Feldman and Johnston 2014). Moreover, they believe that social harmony can only be maintained if the society is segregated into different economical strata. It has to be taken into account that the conservatism acknowledges the fact that the government should be willing to upgrade itself and take up more challenges. In addition to that, modern liberalists accepts that even if the government should be open to constant challenges and up gradation, the traditional governmental system has also to be appreciated, as it laid the primary path of law and order in the society.

Comparing Classical Liberalism and Traditional Conservatism

However, it is seen that in spite of these two political philosophies being poles apart, more often overlaps with each other. Many sociologists have observed that the Conservationism philosophy appreciates the liberalism theory in many incidents. In the context of free economical access, it can be said that the conservatism also takes interest into the free market policies. The father of modern capitalism, Adam Smith, has generalized the concept of free access to the economic market. Moreover, in the context the microcosmic social structure can also been taken into consideration. The liberalism views support the individual freedom and access of social rights. Like this ideology, the Conservatism philosophy also believes in the process, unless it hurts the norms of the society. In lieu of the context, it is also to be kept in mind that the liberalism, though supports the individual freedom, also seeks for government intervention in order to achieve social justice. In this context of individual context hence, it is seen that the liberalism concept seeks resort to the conservational philosophy to an extent. Hence, it can be understood that the theoretical implication of the classical liberalism concept will not always be possible. However, it can be said that an amalgamation of both these theories will be the perfect way of maintaining a perfect symbiotic relation between the state and the individual.

Reference:

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Bell, D., 2014. What is liberalism?. Political Theory, 42(6), pp.682-715.

Berg, C., 2015. Classical liberalism in Australian economics. Econ Journal Watch, 12(2), pp.192-220.

Bonefeld, W., 2013. Human economy and social policy: On ordo-liberalism and political authority. History of the Human Sciences, 26(2), pp.106-125.

Davoudi, S., 2016. Resilience and governmentality of unknowns. Governmentality after neoliberalism, pp.210-249.

Duckitt, J. and Bizumic, B., 2013. Multidimensionality of right?wing authoritarian attitudes: Authoritarianism?conservatism?traditionalism. Political Psychology, 34(6), pp.841-862.

Esping-Andersen, G., 2013. The three worlds of welfare capitalism. John Wiley & Sons.

Feldman, S. and Johnston, C., 2014. Understanding the determinants of political ideology: Implications of structural complexity. Political Psychology, 35(3), pp.337-358.

Gilbert, J., 2013. What kind of thing is' neoliberalism'?. New Formations, 80(80), pp.7-22.

Hayton, R. and McEnhill, L., 2015. Cameron’s Conservative Party, social liberalism and social justice. British Politics, 10(2), pp.131-147.

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Ludeke, , S., Johnson W. and Bouchard Jr, T.J., 2013. “Obedience to traditional authority:” A heritable factor underlying authoritarianism, conservatism and religiousness. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(4), pp.375-380.

Schwartz, S., 2013, May. Value priorities and behavior: Applying. In The psychology of values: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 8).

Sherry, S., 2014. Property Is the New Privacy: The Coming Constitutional Revolution.