To what extent is the New Right internally coherent? (45)

The New Right was a political system that emerged in the UK and USA in the 1970s and 80s, as a response to the failures of the post-WWII consensus. It married neoliberal economics and neoconservative social values. However, differences over the nature of society, the role of the state and economics meant the movement was purely practical, and lacked internal coherence. For example, neoliberals believed that society was atomistic - made up of self-centred individuals. Thatcher even argued that "there is no such thing as society - only individuals and their families." This vision of individuals freely moving throughout social structures is largely incompatible with the neoconservative belief in an organic hierarchy. They believe society is like a natural organism, and any inequality that emerges is therefore natural and necessary. This has implications for beliefs on the role of the state in limiting inequality. Neoconservatives would evidently be averse to breaking down social hierarchy, because they believe society to be governed by 'natural leaders', and any social mobility would lead to instability or even chaos. In contrast, neoliberals would argue the individual should be free from 'natural authority', and that individuals should have equal human rights, including the right to rise and fall in society through their own merit. These views on the role of human individuals within society are therefore contradictory and reflect the incoherence at the centre of the New Right political system.