“Conservatism is defined by its support for free market capitalism.” Discuss.
The view that Conservatism is defined by its support for free market capitalism came to be with the rise of the liberal New Right, who saw much popularity and largely dominated Conservative politics during the 80s.However, I personally do not believe it is what ‘defines’ Conservatism, due to it being a relatively new core principle. Instead, I believe that Conservatism is primarily defined for its desire for control, stability, and order, and that its support for free market capitalism is itself born from this desire.
New Right Conservatives, such as Margaret Thatcher, advocated the implementation of free market policy during their time in power. They believed that this unregulated free market, composed of many competitors, was the solution to almost all of the country’s economic and social problems at the time. To achieve this goal of a laissez faire economy, the New Right had to reduce the role of the state in the economy itself; we can see a direct example of this in Thatcher’s decisions, primarily her privatisations of various state-run businesses, such as British Telecoms. Therefore, it’s clear to see how one can believe that the support of free market capitalism defines Conservatism if you witnessed this period, however, in my opinion, this stance on the free market came to be from what truly defines Conservatism: The preservation of society through order and control.

Through their support of free market capitalism, it could be seen that Conservatives were seeking to promote individualism, something that, as Von Hayek argued, was being heavy diminished by state planning and interference. Indeed, Thatcher, a key figure in New Right Conservatism, was a firm believer in the words laid out by Hayek in ‘The Road to Serfdom’. Hayek believed that through socialist economic policy, it would lead to major problems in the future, such as tyrannical dictators and an oppressive state. This idea likely caused fear to rise amongst Conservatives, as these problems could be seen as a threat to order, and a cause of severe instability, eventually leading the country into a state of nature; what Conservatives will fear most. A key concept of Conservatism being the belief in original sin – that all humans are inherently evil, and need order and a sense of security to thrive. Free market capitalism provides this order, allowing individuals to flourish with entrepreneurial spirit and progress through the classes with no reliance on state-provided welfare, which neoliberal Conservatives wanted to heavily roll back.
On the other hand, some believe that free market capitalism is what defines Conservatism, with the preservation of order being a definition of the past. Believers of this will argue that the support of free market capitalism clearly defines Conservatism, as in addition to delivering widespread prosperity and assured growth, its outcome is what Conservatives have constantly advocated for in the past: tax and spending cuts, rising individualism, privatisation, and the shrinking of the welfare state.

However, in addition to my belief that order and control is what defines conservatism, there is a further argument against this belief. As of late, neoliberal thinking has been challenged by One-nation conservatism that believes in a balance between the market and the state that allows for a limited measure of social and economic intervention. This balance is based on pragmatism, or ‘doing what works’, which is another key concept of Conservative ideology. Indeed, this one-nation model of Conservatism is heavily influenced, if not architected by the renowned Conservative politician Benjamin Disraeli, who justified this paternalistic outlook through his belief of the ‘organic society’, in which the different classes have obligations to one another, with the rich in society helping the poor – noblesse oblige. One-nation Conservatives think that society is hierarchical in nature, and this hierarchy must be sustained to maintain order in society, however the classes must work together to prevent the country dividing into two nations: the rich, and the poor. Indeed, even one nation conservatism can be seen as agreeing with my point that it is not free market capitalism that defines Conservatism, but the desire to maintain order and security. Furthermore, one-nation Conservatism has been rising in popularity in modern times, with the current Conservative government under David Cameron seeming to be following this principle, with Cameron himself stating that Disraeli was his favourite conservative.

With two major brands of Conservatism in dispute with one another in regards to the emphasis of free market capitalism, it would be naive to claim that the entire ideology is defined by the neoliberal argument, without even considering that of the ever popular one-nation branch. Yet there is one constant between these two branches of Conservatism, and it is what, in my opinion, truly defines Conservatism: the preservation of order and security to maintain society. We can see this on the New Right side directly from Thatcher herself, who once stated that "economics is the method, the object is to change the soul". This could indeed be seen as Thatcher believing that the promotion of a free market, and an economy without boundaries, would lessen the original sin that Conservative’s believe humans are born with. However, one could also view this quote as Thatcher merely believing that a free market would enable the individual to aim higher, think bigger, and lose reliance on the state in favour of reliance on nobody but oneself. Either way, it’s clear that Thatcher and the neoliberals viewed individualism as a necessary fact of life, with Thatcher famously stating “there is no such thing as society.” Therefore, it could be argued that individualism is what defines Conservatism, with neoliberals putting such emphasis on its natural existence and the founding of policy based around such an idea – perhaps free market capitalism is just an extension of the idea that individualism defines conservatism? For the New Right, perhaps. For the many one-nation conservatives such as Disraeli, absolutely not. Disraeli and future one-nation Conservatives argued heavily against individualism, believing that it will inevitably lead to the splitting of classes and social revolution as a result of that. Ergo, one-nation conservatism will campaign for things the New Right would have furiously opposed:  social policy to support the working class, and to promote society as a whole (such as Cameron’s Big Society policy).

 For one-nation conservatives, it could be seen that preserving society and thus order was what defined Conservatism. For the New Right, it’s clear why you could argue that free market capitalism is what defined Conservatism, yet I believe under it all, it was the preservation of order through the economy that defined Conversatism. However, there’s a small consensus between the two major branches – they both put heavy emphasis on the preservation of order and control, to prevent the fundamental concept of original sin from being unleashed in what Conservatives would see as a chaotic, brutish state of nature.

In conclusion, I believe that it is impossible to say what one thing defines an entire ideology, as within an ideology there are many, many branches that hold different views and thus view their ideology in a different way to the other branches, however, the closest thing to a consensus within these branches of Conservatism is ultimately the preservation of control, order, and stability.