|
|
Battle for the Conservative Flag
| Article
# : |
14588 |
|
|
Section : |
BOOK WORLD
|
| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1988 |
3,029 Words |
| Author
: |
Larry D. Nachman
|
THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT
Paul Gottfried and Thomas Fleming
Boston: Twayne, 1988
152 pp., $ 18.95
The Conservative Movement is an attempt to survey, in a short book, the thought and political goals of American conservatives since the end of the Second World War. The authors, conservatives themselves, are particularly interested in examining the effects on conservatism, its coherence as a political theory, and its prospects as a political movement, of the swelling of its ranks in the last two decades by two groups who differ greatly from each other and from those who previously constituted conservatism: the neoconservatives and the largely Evangelical Protestants of the New Right.
The Conservative Movement reflects in both tone and substance something of the character of its subject matter. Conservatives have frequently claimed that their position reflects the real position of a majority of Americans. In the decade before the Goldwater debacle, conservatives argued that the reason a large number of Americans did not vote in elections was that the two major parties did not present them with viable alternatives. They were being asked to choose between two versions of the reigning liberalism. The slogan for the Goldwater campaign was "A choice, not an echo." It was a way for conservatives to deal with the uncomfortable fact that, in the great democratic republic, a majority of Americans persistently voted for liberal policies and liberal candidates. This theme was repeated in the later phrases, "silent majority" and "moral majority." These appeals to a hidden, rejected majority demonstrate an important fact about American conservatism which distinguishes it from its European counterparts: American conservatives, though critical of attempts to construct a social democracy, embrace whole-heartedly the principles of political democracy.
The disquiet of conservatives
And yet the evidence of their senses tells them that they are in a minority. Many of the same voters who created the large majorities that twice captured the presidency for Ronald Reagan went on to vote for liberal Democrats in congressional, state, and local elections. Moreover, in the areas in which conservative writers and thinkers lead their lives--the media and the universities--they find themselves to be not merely a minority, but an embattled minority. Intellectuals themselves, they respect the way in which thought and words can shape opinion. As they gauge the dominance of the Left in these institutions, they cannot be sanguine about what the future holds. The authors of The Conservative Movement plainly are concerned about the fragility of conservatism's recent political successes. They speak of conservatives as "an embittered and marginalized minority." This concern casts its shadow over their work, whose final words, intended to be comforting, include the following observations:
Before giving in to anything like despair, conservatives in the 1980s might take considerable comfort from contemplating their forty-year rise to power.... Several powerful institutions--National Review and the Heritage Foundation--had demonstrated their staying power as well as the ability to adjust to changing times.
There is a
...
Read Full Article
|
|
