To what extent does the contemporary Conservative Party promote traditional conservative values? (30 marks)

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Created on: 30-12-14 20:29

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To what extent does the contemporary Conservative Party promote traditional conservative values? (30 marks)
- traditional conservative values
  - The acceptance of human imperfection and inequality
  - A commitment to tradition and established national institutions
  - Strong support for hierarchies, authority and order
  - A belief in the private ownership of property
  - Preference for pragmatism over ideology
  - As a philosophy, it's a reaction against ideological tendencies
    - Conservatives view them as:
      - threatening the order and unity of society
        these are seen as being based on false assumptions and principles
- recent decades
  - new consensus has emerged in the UK
    - based on neo-liberal and neo-conservative principles
      - Most of the neo-conservative beliefs and values are firmly rooted in the conservative tradition
        these have been adapted to meet the needs and requirements of the day
      - Influences of neo-LIBERALISM
        neo-liberalism owes more to classical liberalism than it does to traditional conservatism
        its influence was strongest during Thatcher’s time in government in the 1980s
        The Conservative Party then, and indeed for much of the post-Thatcher era
        resisted over-government and over-regulation
        
        saw social disorder as largely the responsibility of individuals rather than being attributable to the circumstances in which people lived
        
        Economy wise
        economic policies influenced by supply-side theories and monetarism
        
        social policy intended to reduce the influence of the ‘nanny state’ on individuals in the quest to achieve responsible enterprise cultures
        
        preference for power to be reserved for individual states and not supra-national organisations (although this could also be interpreted as a traditional conservative view)
    - influence of neo-conservatism on the contemporary Conservative Party
      - links between traditional positions on morality and lifestyles and social policy and law-and-order policies
        David Cameron
        opposing house of lords and electoral reform
        
        reduction of the top rate of income tax
        
        public sector cuts
        
        pushing for free school
        
        also plenty of traditional ideas in his manifestos
        marriage tax allowance
      - how views on patriotism and national sovereignty have influenced defence and foreign policies as well as recent and current policies on immigration
        David Cameron's proposal in his manifesto
        referendum over changes to European treaties
      - post-Thatcher Conservative Party from 1990 to 2005
- extent to which traditional views have impacted upon policies and programmes in the Conservative-Party-dominated coalition government
  - 2010 Conservative Party manifesto contained proposals that were influenced by both neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism
    - reality of power-sharing, however, has been compromised on many policies
      - disgruntled Conservative Party members and commentators have accused their own party of betraying core conservative values and principles
        Criticisms
        the softening of policies on law and order and immigration
        
        failure to abolish inheritance tax
        
        the repatriation of powers from the European Union
        alongside the uncertain future for the Trident defence programme and strategy
        
        Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
        
        House of Lords reform
        
        responses to the 2011 summer riots

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To what extent does the contemporary Conservative Party promote traditional conservative values? (30 marks)

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