How and why do conservatives believe in an organic society? (15 marks)

(1) What is an organic society? - DefinitionAn organic society is the idea that society operates like an organism or a living entity. In this sense, the whole of an organism is seen as more important than a its individual partsIn this sense, an organism is made up of a set of fragile relationships, to which any damage would see the death of the whole organism.This is important to understand when examining conservatism as it has a particular implication on the conservative view of the state.
(2) Change Not DesirableConservatives believe Humans are dependent and security seeking creatures. Therefore the individual cannot be separated from society.'Anomie', as described by Durkheim, therefore arises, as the individuals values are weakened due to their consequential mismatch between personal and group standards.As humans are security seeking creatures who best work in social order and social groups, change is undesirable.Indeed conservatives would, as Burke argues only "Change in order to Conserve". Similarly Oakeshott argues that "The cure is not worse than the disease": meaning we should aim for continuity wherever possible, and reform is not worth it unless it is significantly better than the status quo.This links back to the organic society - as it explains conservative reasoning for this view of society focuses so heavily on the 'whole'
(3) Society is functionalist & embedded in traditionFor Conservatives society is shaped by forces beyond human control, and as it is so delicate society should therefore be respected and preserved.In this sense conservatives have a functionalist perspective, that is that institutions are best understood in the role they carry out in the world.This is seen through conservatives respect of tradition - Tradition is a "democracy of the dead" (Chesterson)The result of this, is that conservatives tend to support policy to protect this functionalist society.They will seek to uphold established institutions like the Church/Monarchy, support traditional values; strengthen law and order + discipline.
(4) Organic Society's link to One Nation ConservatismOrganic Society can be further viewed through the ‘Communitarian’ ideas of traditional conservatism.This can be demonstrated and seen through One Nation Conservatism and the work of Disraeli, who highlighted the social obligation that everyone has in society. Conservatives call this 'noblesse oblige' - literally meaning privilege entails responsibility.With this idea society is held together by acceptance of duty, and the privilege of wealth leads to people needed to shoulder the burden of social responsibility and charity.This can be seen through Disraeli's actions. In 1876 for example he passed the second reform act, which gave suffrage to the working classes and improved their housing conditions