This document explores the concepts of Classical Liberalism and Conservatism in political science. It discusses the typology of beliefs and the core ideals of these political ideologies. The document also provides a reference list for further reading.
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1POLITICAL SCIENCE Classical Liberalism The term “Classical Liberalism” can be considered to be a political ideology, and also a branch of liberalism, that is said to advocate the civil liberties, under the rule of law and known to lay emphasis on the subject matter of economic freedom of the country itself. The concept of the classical liberalism is said to have developed in the world during the early 19thcentury itself. Many experts are of the opinion that the concept of the classical liberalism had developed in the world as a response to the concept of urbanization (Smith, 2013). This had also led to the Industrial Revolution in the continents of Europe and that of The United States of America as well. It is being said by the experts on the subject matter that the core ideals and the beliefs of classical liberalism had developed from the new ideas which had evolved out of the old ideas itself. The classical liberalism supporters are also of the opinion that the society itself is no longer the sum of the individual members of the society because the members of the society are said to be coldly calculating, atomist, egoist and essentially in inert (Horwitz, 2015). The concept of the classical liberalism can be best understood by an analysis of the theory which have been presented to the readers by Freidrich Hayek himself. Frederich Hayek’s Typology of beliefscan be best used to understand the concept of the classical liberalism and how such classical liberalism play an important role in the world itself. Hayek’s Typology of Beliefs states the fact that there are two different versions of classical liberalism, which can be identified by an individual. These are the British tradition and the French tradition itself. The typology of belief states the British tradition included philosophers likeBernard Mandeville, David Hume and Adam Smith as a tradition which were supporters of empiricism and common law itself. In the similar manner, it can also be said that the French traditionincluded the Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Encyclopedists as well as the Physiocrats, who represented the tradition of rationalism and showed hostility to the concepts of religion and tradition in their own country itself (Butler, 2015). It can thus, be said that the term classical liberalism can be applied in retrospect to the distinction of 19th century liberalism from that of the social liberalism in the world itself. Conservatism The term “Conservatism” is considered to be a kind of social and political philosophy that can be used for the promotion of the traditional institutions in the world itself. These social institutions can be seen in the context of civilization, society and culture itself. The purpose of conservatism in the world is the preservation of the religious institutions and the parliamentary, government and the property rights of the individual themselves in the world itself. It can also be said that the main aim of the conservatism in the world is the opposition of the concept of modernism and to maintain balance in the world itself (Wilson, 2013). This includes the concept of returning the society and the state of the world to the more traditional forms of the past. It is said by the experts themselves that one of the methods by which conservatism can be distinguished from that of the liberalism and that of radicalism in the world is to say that the conservationists are known to reject the fact that the human beings can be morally improved through the social and the political changes in the world itself (Light, 2013). In addition to this there are Christian conservatives in the world who are of the opinion that the human beings are originally guilty of itself, and they cannot be changed in spite of change in the society. Conservatives are also of the opinion that without the
2POLITICAL SCIENCE traditional forms of the society as it is seen by the readers, there will not be any kind of ethical behaviour or liberty in the society itself (Grossberg, 2014). In addition to this, the supporters of conservatism are also of the opinion that the framework of conservatism can include the concepts of political, cultural, religious and other issues which play an important part in the society or these can also include elements which might not have any element of themselves at all. Thus, it is this concepts of conservatism shared by the experts of the subject matter itself which makes it different from that of the classical liberalism in the field if theories itself.
3POLITICAL SCIENCE Reference List Butler, E. (2015).Classical Liberalism–A Primer. London Publishing Partnership. Grossberg, L. (2014).We gotta get out of this place: Popular conservatism and postmodern culture. Routledge. Horwitz, S. (2015).Hayek's Modern Family: Classical Liberalism and the Evolution of Social Institutions. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Light, A. (2013).Forever England: femininity, literature and conservatism between the wars. Routledge. Smith, G. H. (2013).The system of liberty: themes in the history of classical liberalism. Cambridge University Press. Wilson, G. (2013).The psychology of conservatism (routledge revivals). Routledge.