How Does Conservatism Support Pragmatism Over Principle

'Conservatism supports pragmatism over principle.' Discuss
Pragmatism is the belief that behaviour should be shaped in accordance with practical circumstances and goals rather than principles, beliefs or ideology. Pragmatism is a flexible approach to politics. To a large extent it is true that Conservatism supports pragmatism over principle. Conservatism is not a doctrine of ‘no change’ or one that treats its own principles as external and fixed. Conservatism instead has a pragmatic view of politics where politics should be according to Oakeshott, ‘a conversation not an argument’. The belief is that political actions should not come from conflict but instead come from a gentle relationship between the government and the governed. However
the extent of this belief varies. The traditional paternalistic conservatives support this more pragmatic view but authoritarian and liberal conservatives are more attached to principles of individualism and free market economics.
Traditional conservatives clearly favour pragmatism over principle.
They generally portray their ideas not as an ideology, but as common sense based on practical experience. Ian Gilmour once said that ‘The wise conservative travels light’ meaning that important principles held by conservatives would only be protected by taking into account practical circumstances and experiences. Although traditional conservatives believe in conserving what is good they also believe that it is important to reform where necessary. This pragmatic approach is necessary in order to preserve the best traditions and institutions. The basis for this position is the belief that human beings are intellectually limited. The idea that the world is too complicated for human reason to fully grasp led Michael Oakeshott to describe the political world as ‘boundless and bottomless’. He believed politics should not have a fixed goal or specific direction because it had to adapt to the world as it changes and it is not always possible to apply principles from one century to
today.
Traditional conservatives such as Burke are suspicious of abstract ideology and prefer to base their ideas on tradition and experience. This means they adopt a cautious, moderate and pragmatic approach to politics and try to avoid doctrinaire or dogmatic beliefs. Traditional conservatives would argue that principles such as ‘rights of man’, ‘equality’, and ‘social justice’ are potentially dangerous ideas because they provide a blueprint for the reform or remodelling of the world, and these manmade blueprints are unreliable. Oakeshott saw pragmatism as the best guide in decision-making to ensure that ‘the cure is not worse than the disease’. He felt that political action based on fixed theories and principles lead to conflict and does not take into account the wishes of the people. In this way he and other traditionalists support pragmatism over principles.
One nation conservatism under Disraeli also tried to base itself on pragmatism not principle. He was aware of the growing social inequality in the country and believed that this would lead to revolution if nothing was done. For this reason it was in the interests of the rich to pass the 1867 reform act because making a change would prevent a greater change. Failure to change would lead to revolution and therefore a pragmatic approach was important in insuring that society was protected. Moderate conservative governments in the 1950s faced a number of radical reforms introduced by the labour party which in principle the party was opposed to. However, the party recognised that these reforms such as the NHS, were popular and successful and therefore they followed a pragmatic decision to keep the changes. They realised that principles had to be sacrificed and supported pragmatism instead.
However, it is not always true to say that conservatism favours pragmatism over principle. The rise of the neoliberal New Right within conservatism challenges this. The neoliberal New Right have very strong principled beliefs in economic liberty and the free market based on the classical liberal economic theories of Adam Smith, as set out in Wealth of Nations. These ideas formed the basis of neoliberal economic theories put forward by Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek and in the 1970s and 1980s these ideas became dominant in conservatism in the UK, USA, New Zealand and many other western style states. This conservatism had inflexible and fixed ideas about issues such as taxation and welfare which they believed damaged economic progress.
The conservative approach to change was based on free-market economic theorists and leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan followed these principles.
They have remained influential within conservatism. Thatcherism’s attempts to cut back on government regulation in the 1980s is similar to the US Tea Party’s attack on big government and both believed in the principles of individualism and rejected pragmatic paternalistic state intervention of one nation conservatism. Margaret Thatcher declared ‘there is no such thing as society’ adding ‘there are individual men and women and there are families’. This New Right position is clearly influenced by acceptance of theory and principle over pragmatism. Some have argued that this approach to conservative politics was another form of conservative pragmatism. It was partly motivated by the previous conservative government’s failure to deliver economic growth and was a pragmatic acceptance that change was
needed.
Overall pragmatism is fundamental to conservatism. Although it might be seen as a party of no change with fixed principles, this is not the case. Conservatism has historically and traditionally been based on understanding what is best for people, what is acceptable and what will preserve stability in society. Conservatism builds on the successes of the past and rejects a dogmatic approach and strongly held ideology. Conservatives regard ideology as radical and often dangerous. Despite the emergence of the New Right in the 1980s the party remains focused on its principles socially.