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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.

Conservatism has played a significant role in the development of American politics notwithstanding the revolu tionary tradition in the United States. In the absence of a crown and a nobility, conservatism has centered around the Con stitution and the institution of private property. Deeply per turbed by the appearance of New Deal and Fair Deal welfar ism, many conservatives hoped the security state was a passing phenomenon. The persistence of the Cold War and the accept ance by the moderate Eisenhower regime of the New Deal re forms have left many conservatives profoundly disturbed. Anti communism developed around the investigative function of Con gress as the chief device used to combat liberalism. Since 1960 a secret organization, 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 Republican 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 resem blance to fascism but should not be so regarded unless stronger leadership and more violence develop.

There are 3 widely-held theories of conservatism: (1) the aristocratic theory defines conservatism as the ideology of the European aristocracy in the 18th & 19th cent's. (2) The autonomous theory defines conservatism in terms of certain general values (such as order & balance) of universal applicability. (3) The situational theory defines it as the ideological response of the defenders of any existing soc order against any fundamental challenge to that order. The appearances of conservative thought in history & the inherent nature of that thought both suggest that the situational definition is the most accurate & the most useful one. Only this definition accounts for the absence of a substantive ideal in conservatism & the absence of a conservative intellectual tradition. Accepting this definition, conservatism has no place in America today in the struggles of one soc group against another, but it does have a relevant role in the defense of American liberal society as a whole against the challenge of the USSR & communism. Consequently, the liberals are the true conservatives in America today. AA-IPSA.

Does conservative political thought have a place in America today? The answer to this question depends upon the general nature of conservatism as an ideology: its distinguishing characteristics, its substance, and the conditions under which it arises. By ideology I mean a system of ideas concerned with the distribution of political and social values and acquiesced in by a significant social group. Interpretations of the role and relevance of conservative thought on the contemporary scene vary greatly. Underlying the debate, however, are three broad and conflicting conceptions of the nature of conservatism as an ideology. This essay deals with the relative merits of these concepts.

Although David Hume's stature as a philosopher has rarely been questioned, his claims as a political theorist have fared less well. Jefferson showed deep hostility towards Hume's ideas, while John Adams could find agreement with only a few points. Later opinion has been less vehement but still reserved. Thomas Huxley thought Hume's political writings suggestive, but on the whole marred by an unabashed desire for literary success. In Sir Leslie Stephen's judgment Hume was guilty of a "cynical conservatism" that was at once superficial and unhistorical.More recent studies, such as those of Sabine and Halévy, have established more securely Hume's place in political thought but have left certain ambiguities. Sabine has coupled Hume with Burke as an opponent of eighteenth-century rationalism, while Halévy viewed him as a forerunner of the "philosophical radicalism" of Bentham, Adam Smith, James Mill, and Ricardo. To have fathered squabbling children is always something of an embarrassment, but particularly so when one is, like Hume, temperamentally averse to taking sides. It is true, nonetheless, that if a temporary distinction is made between Hume's doctrine and his influence, it is possible to maintain that his influence worked in two quite different directions. His inquires into causation, the role of reason, and the nature of moral judgments helped eventually to undermine the natural law structure of eighteenth-century liberalism, while his emphasis on utility as the test of institutions contributed an important ingredient to Benthamite liberalism.