What are the key ideas of conservatism and how do traditional and New Right conservatives differ?
The core ideas of conservatism, including tradition, pragmatism, human imperfection, order, hierarchy and property, the divide between traditional conservatism and the New Right, and the contribution of theorists such as Burke.
An SQA Higher Politics answer on conservatism, covering its core ideas of tradition, pragmatism, human imperfection, order and hierarchy, the divide between traditional conservatism and the New Right, and key theorists including Edmund Burke.
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What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to set out the core ideas of conservatism, explain the divide between traditional conservatism and the New Right, and reference relevant theorists such as Edmund Burke. Conservatism is one of the five ideologies in Political Theory; candidates study two ideologies in depth. Questions ask you to analyse a core idea or evaluate the ideology's coherence, so you need precise concepts and a balanced judgement.
The answer
The core ideas of conservatism
The conservative view of human nature
Because people are flawed, conservatives doubt grand schemes to remake society and prefer to reform gradually so as to conserve what works, an idea associated with Burke's defence of "change in order to conserve".
Traditional conservatism
The New Right
This internal tension, between rolling back the state economically while strengthening it morally, is why examiners ask how far the New Right represents a break with traditional conservatism.
Examples in context
The conservative preference for gradual reform is visible whenever a conservative defends an established institution by arguing that long experience, not abstract theory, should guide change. Traditional conservative paternalism shaped one-nation politics, where the better-off accept a duty to the rest of society. The New Right reshaped policy through privatisation, deregulation and tax cuts (the neo-liberal strand) alongside a tougher line on law and order and traditional values (the neo-conservative strand). These examples let a Higher answer evaluate whether conservatism is one coherent ideology or a coalition of traditional caution and New Right radicalism.
Try this
Q1. Explain the conservative view of human nature. [4 marks]
- Cue. Humans are imperfect, morally flawed and intellectually limited, so they need order, authority and tradition rather than untested radical schemes.
Q2. Describe two ideas of the New Right. [6 marks]
- Cue. Neo-liberalism wants free markets, a rolled-back state and individual responsibility; neo-conservatism wants strong authority, law and order and traditional values.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher 202120 marksEvaluate the view that the New Right marked a break with traditional conservatism.Show worked answer →
A -mark essay: up to marks for knowledge and understanding and up to for analysis, evaluation and a sustained conclusion.
KU should set out traditional conservative ideas (tradition, pragmatism, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy) and the New Right's two strands: the neo-liberal free market and the neo-conservative emphasis on order and authority. Naming Burke and the New Right gives precise KU.
Evaluation marks come from judging the tension: the neo-liberal free market sits awkwardly with traditional conservative caution and organic society, yet both share order, property and anti-socialism. A sustained conclusion on how far the New Right broke with tradition lifts the answer.
SQA Higher specimen12 marksAnalyse the conservative view of human nature.Show worked answer →
A -mark analysis question, roughly half KU and half analysis. Markers reward developed reasoning linked to conservative theory.
KU should explain that conservatives see human nature as imperfect: morally flawed, psychologically limited and intellectually fallible, so people need order, authority and tradition to live well.
Analysis marks come from explaining how this pessimism justifies other conservative ideas: caution about radical change, support for a strong state to maintain order, and trust in tradition over abstract theory. A judgement on how this shapes the whole ideology lifts the answer.
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Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher Politics Course Specification — SQA (2020)