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CHAPTER 3
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Conservative ideas arose in reaction to the growing pace of political, social and economic change, which, in many ways, was symbolized by the French Revolution. One of the earliest, and perhaps the classic, statement of conservative principles is contained in Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France ([1790] 1968), which deeply regretted the revolutionary challenge to the ancien régime that had occurred the previous year. During the nineteenth century, Western states were transformed by the pressures unleashed by industrialization and reflected in the growth of liberalism, socialism and nationalism. While these ideologies preached reform, and at times supported revolution, conservatism stood in defence of an increasingly embattled traditional social order.
KEY FIGURE
EDMUND BURKE (1729–97) A Dublin-born British statesman and political theorist, Burke was the father of the Anglo-American conservative political tradition. In his major work, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), Burke deeply opposed the attempt to recast French politics in accordance with abstract principles such as ‘the universal rights of man’, arguing that wisdom resides largely in experience, tradition and history. Burke is associated with a pragmatic willingness to ‘change in order to conserve’, reflected, in his view, in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688.
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Conservative thought varied considerably as it adapted itself to existing traditions and national cultures. UK conservatism, for instance, has drawn heavily on the ideas of Burke, who advocated not blind resistance to change, but rather a prudent willingness to ‘change in order to conserve’. In the nineteenth century, UK conservatives defended a political and social order that had already undergone profound change, in particular the overthrow of the absolute monarchy, as a result of the English Revolution of the seventeenth century. Such pragmatic principles have also influenced the conservative parties established in other Commonwealth countries. For example, the Canadian Conservative Party used the title ‘Progressive Conservative’ between 1942 and 2003, precisely to distance itself from reactionary ideas. In continental Europe, where some autocratic monarchies persisted into the twentieth century, a very different and more authoritarian form of conservatism developed, one which defended monarchy and rigid autocratic values against the rising tide of reform. Only with the formation of Christian democratic parties after World War II did continental conservatives, notably in Germany and Italy, fully accept political democracy and social reform (see pp. 71–2 for further coverage of Christian democracy). The USA, on the other hand,
was traditionally influenced relatively little by conservative ideas. The US system of government and its political culture reflect deeply established liberal and progressive values, and politicians of both major parties – the Republicans and the Democrats – have historically resented being labelled ‘conservative’. It was only in 1964 that the USA was presented with an unequivocally conservative candidate for the presidency in the form of Barry Goldwater, who led a crusade against what his followers
Christian democracy: An ideological movement within European conservatism that is characterized by a commitment to the social market and qualified state intervention.
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