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Roger Scruton looks at the central ideas of conservatism over the centuries. He examines conservative thinking on civil society, the rule of law and the role of the state on the one hand; and freedom (including freedom of expression and association), morality, equality, property and rights on the other. He traces the origins and development of the conservative ideology in the philosophies and thoughts of, among others, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, John Ruskin, Michael Oakeshott, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Robert Nozick. He shows how conservative ideas have worked out in the politics and policies of leading figures people such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Salisbury, Calvin Coolidge, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. He also looks closely at the degree to which capitalism and free markets have been, and are integral to, conservative ideology and politics in the UK and in the USA. Professor Scruton's clear, incisive guide is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the politics and policies of the west now and over the last three centuries. --

Conservatism has played a signif role in the development of US pol notwithstanding the revolutionary tradition in the US. In the absence of a crown & a nobility, conservatism has centered around the Constitution & the instit of private property. Deeply perturbed by the appearance of New Deal & Fair Deal welfarism, many conservatives hoped the security state was a passing phenomenon. The persistence of the Cold War & the acceptance by the moderate Eisenhower regime of the New Deal reforms have left many conservatives profoundly disturbed. Anti-communism developed around the investigative function of Congress as the chief device used to combat liberalism. Since 1960 a secret org, the John Birch Society, has been created which advocates radical action, such as the impeachment of the Chief Justice. The Supreme Court is the current focus of criticism. The strategy of the extreme right appears to be the splintering of the Repulibcan party. Amply financed by the nouveaux riches, especially the oil beneficiaries of special tax privileges, widespread propaganda is being spread to inflame the unthinking masses. The radical right has some resemblance to fascism but should not be so regarded unless stronger leadership & more violence develop. AA.

A large segment of the US public believes that the causes of moral decay have not been correctly identified by the media. According to the 'traditional conservatives', drugs, AIDS, murder, poverty, feminisation, sexual promiscuity, aberrant cults, the erosion of family life and the environmental crisis are all a result of the infiltration of Marxists and their allies who seek 'global democratic peace'. (SJK)

THE CONSERVATIVES OF AMERICA, ONCE A POWERFUL FORCE, HAVE BEEN SET BACK BY FUNDAMENTAL DIVISIONS WITHIN THEIR RANKS. ON THE ONE HAND, THERE ARE THE TRADITIONAL CONSERVATIVES WHOSE PRIMARY EMPHASIS LIES IN LOYALTY TO AMERICA AS A NATION OF PEOPLE PROUD OF THEIR CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE NEW BREED OF "NEO-CONSERVATIVES" CORRESPONDS MORE CLOSELY TO NINETEENTH CENTURY LIBERALS. THE LATTER PLACE ECONOMIC INDIVIDUALISM ABOVE THE INTERESTS OF THE NATION AND OFTEN LOOK FOR FINANCIAL PROSPERITY NOT IN STRENGTH AT HOME BUT IN UNFETTERED WORLDWIDE TRADE. THE "NEO-CONSERVATIVES" THINK NOT OF NATIONS BUT OF INDIVIDUALS AND THEY CHAFF AT THE OLD TRADITION OF MERCANTILISM.

Defining Russian conservatism -- The reign Of Alexander I -- Official nationality -- The Slavophiles -- The Great reforms -- The era of counter-reform -- Between revolutions -- Emigration -- The Soviet Union under Stalin -- Late Soviet conservatism -- Post-Soviet Russia.