Neo-Conservatism Essays - Political Ideologies, Capitalism

Neo-Conservatism There are two inter-related spheres, which this paper will explore. The first one asks what the relative appeal of Neo-conservatism was in Britain and Germany. The second determines the extent to which Neo-conservative policies were successfully implemented in the two respective countries. The perspectives chosen here try to explain Neo-conservatism with theories of social and cultural change to provide examples of its effects. The New Right is "conceptualized as populist Neo-conservative reactions to fundamental change in culture and values in a society. Neo-conservatism reflects a new cleavage based on value change." Neo-conservatism still fell within the confines of traditional conservative ideologies, for example, opposition to the welfare state and the redistribution of income. In this paper the comparison between Britain, a country with long-standing democratic traditions and a civil society, and Germany, which has had strong non-democratic traditions, a fascist past and the recent establishment of a civil society will help to determine to what extent they has been 'socialized'. Neo-conservative governments came to power in Britain prior to 1979, and in West Germany to 1982. Prior to their victory, there was great discontent with certain aspects of the existing social democratic politics over issues of state-influenced and state intervening economic policy. Polls taken in Britain prior to the 1979 election likewise showed "a massive 75% of respondents in favour of a reduction in state spending." Similarly, "the fall of the West German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 1982 coincided with a dramatic collapse of public confidence in the Schmidt administration's handling of the economy. Only 17% of voters considered the SPD the party that guaranteed job security." The lack of faith in government to solve such economic crises reflected a more general loss of faith in the political system. This lack of faith was also evident through the widespread decline in support for the major parties in Germany and Britain. Further, a deep skepticism was expressed over the capacity of government to handle economic depression or mitigate its effects. This was most clearly evident in attitudes to mass unemployment. Surveys conducted in "Britain in 1984 found that 55% of respondents accepted that high unemployment was something'we'll just have to live with'. In West Germany as well as Britain, majorities were all recorded in 1984 who believed economic conditions would deteriorate rather than improve in 1985." This continued to deter the credibility of the social democrats and other major parties in the views of their constituents. Between 1980 and 1987 "the SPD were seen as less competent than the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on every question relating to the economy: unemployment, inflation, economic growth and even social security." In assessing the appeal of the Neo-conservatism one of the first indications would be the broad shift in social attitudes. An essential part of the strategy of politicians like Margaret Thatcher in Britain was "to adapt their party's ideological appeal to perceived social changes in outlook and behaviour while simultaneously seeking to direct or shape those changes in order to create a permanent majority for their brand of politics." Thatcher had made serious inroads into the post-war political culture in Britain, which were based on full employment, state intervention, and the welfare state. Both Britain and West Germany had noted severe changes in political behaviour in the 1980s. This suggested a growing fragmentation of the party system and the diminishing credibility of the political process as a whole in the eyes of the voters. Along with economic issues, there were other public concerns such as law and order, the threat of war and racial issues. In Britain "prior to the election of conservative governments, law and order came second only to unemployment in polls of the most pressing political issues among the voting public." This was further supported by a poll taken in "January 1978, which found that 61% of respondents agreed with Thatcher's televised pronouncement that Britain was 'in danger of being swamped by people of different cultures'. Her personal popularity also leaped 11% in the immediate aftermath of the interview." This behaviour of the general public indicates that the rise to power of Neo-conservative governments was preceded and accompanied by strong anti-liberal sentiments anong the general voting public. At this time there was also a deep crisis of belief in the corporate model of economic management, which was also expressed as "marked skepticism over continued state intervention in the economy." Initially, the Conservatives in Britain were committed to experiment with mixes of private and public sector provision in such areas as the National Health Service (NHS). The Conservatives sought to make changes to the