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4.8: Discussion Questions

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    1. Classical conservatives believe that political reform should always take existing traditions and institutions into account and should not reject them out of hand. How do you think they would respond to the claim that a certain institution, modern police forces for example, is structurally racist and beyond reform?
    2. Given the many differences between classical and modern conservatism, does it make sense to call them both conservative? Are the many perspectives currently called conservative bound together by any commonalities?
    3. Many classical conservatives, libertarians, and neoconservatives have argued that right-wing populism is not really conservative at all. Do you agree with this claim? If right-wing populism is deserving of the label of conservative, on what grounds? If not, why not?

    Attribution

    Dr. Tyler Chamberlain, "Conservatism: Slow Change Please!" CC BY-NC 4.0

     

    My Discussion Questions

    1. How does tradition inform Conservatism? 
    2. How do Classical Conservatives understand hierarchy and authority? 
    3. What role does the organic theory of society and the state play for Classical Conservatism?
    4. What does Chamberlain mean when he writes: “The social relationship, and the communal bonds that sustain it, has a life of its own and is therefore its own goal. It is for this reason that some classical conservatives prefer to speak of conservatism as a disposition or attitude rather than as an ideology.”
    5. Distinguish Libertarianism from Classical Conservatism.
    6. What defines Neoconservatism?

    4.8: Discussion Questions is shared under a CC BY-NC license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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