To what extent is conservatism a philosophy of human imperfection? (40 marks)

This question requires you to focus on the sub-traditions within conservatism. The argument of the essay needs to be clearly stated in the introduction, with a subsequent explanation of how you are going to answer this (by assessing each strand).

The strands to focus on are:

• Traditional Conservatism
• Authoritarian Conservatism
• Paternalistic Conservatism (One Nation and Christian Democracy)
• New Right Conservatism (Neoliberal and Neoconservative).

Through assessing each strand, it will become clear that although Traditional and Authoritarian strands of conservatism are founded upon pessimistic assumptions on human nature, Paternalistic and New Right Conservatism make appeals to both optimistic and pessimistic claims on human nature. This will become the argument of the essay.

When addressing each strand, it is important to link theories to their respective thinkers in order to gain the highest marks, e.g.

“One Nation Conservatism also adopts an optimistic view on human’s emotional imperfection. The framework of society can cause crime rates and disobedience to rise, rather than being based on an innate urge. Disraeli used this argument for his argument on the upper class in society needing to take responsibility for maintaining the structure of society, coined ‘noble oblige’.”

The key to this question is to address each sub-tradition with conservatism, using key terms and linking the theory to their respective thinkers.