Lesson 3.3.1.2

3.3.1.2 Conservatism Quiz: AQA Politics, Unit 3

20 questions

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Lesson 3.3.1.2, Conservatism: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Politics (7152), Unit 3: Political ideas, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What does conservatism value most strongly?

    • Institutions and customs that have evolved over time, which embody tested wisdom and should be preserved
    • Traditions that have value only when they are written into a formal constitution with clear rules
    • Customs that should be abolished whenever a majority of citizens votes to reject them in a referendum
    • Institutions redesigned by reason to match abstract principles of justice at every stage of development, then reviewed by experts

  2. What is the conservative view of human nature?

    • Humans are naturally equal and co-operative, so they need no authority or institutions to live together
    • Humans are perfectible through rational education, so society can be redesigned without authority or restraint
    • Humans are shaped entirely by economic class, which determines their moral character from birth onward
    • Humans are imperfect and fallible, so society needs established authority, restraint and moral order

  3. What is the core emphasis of the New Right within conservatism?

    • State ownership of industry and extensive welfare provision funded by progressive taxation of the wealthy
    • Free markets, limited government and individual responsibility
    • The abolition of private property in favour of communal living arrangements in each local community
    • Collective ownership of resources and the rejection of all market competition in favour of planning

  4. How does traditional conservatism differ from the New Right?

    • Traditional conservatism favours revolution, while the New Right favours gradual reform of existing institutions
    • Traditional conservatism values social order and gradual change, while the New Right is more market-oriented and individualist
    • Traditional conservatism rejects the free market, while the New Right supports nationalisation of key industries
    • Traditional conservatism and the New Right both reject private property and the market economy in full

  5. Which thinker argued that without a strong sovereign, life in the state of nature would be 'nasty, brutish and short'?

    • Edmund Burke, who argued that the state of nature was a condition of tradition and inherited custom
    • Michael Oakeshott, who argued that the state of nature is an illusion created by rationalist philosophy
    • Thomas Hobbes
    • Ayn Rand, who argued that the state of nature was the only condition in which individuals are truly free

  6. Why did Hobbes argue that the sovereign's power should be absolute?

    • To guarantee the natural property rights of landowners against any interference by the monarch
    • To allow the church to govern in matters of moral conscience without interference from the state or the courts of the realm
    • To prevent a return to the war of all against all by securing peace and individual self-protection
    • To ensure that the sovereign can be removed by the people at any time through a formal vote

  7. Which work by Burke criticised the French Revolution?

    • Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
    • Leviathan (1651), which set out a theory of the sovereign and the natural condition of humankind
    • Two Treatises of Government (1689), which defended natural rights against the claims of divine kings
    • A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790), which defended the French Revolution against its critics

  8. Which idea from Burke links the past, present and future of a society?

    • Society as a contract between individuals who consent to be ruled by the majority of their fellows
    • Society as a market in which individuals trade their rights in exchange for security from the state
    • Society as a partnership between the living, the dead and those yet to be born
    • Society as a collective enterprise owned by the workers and managed on their behalf by the state

  9. What did Oakeshott contrast in 'The Politics of Faith and the Politics of Scepticism'?

    • Democratic politics against the politics of a single-party state with an official ideology
    • Religious faith in the monarch against the scepticism of secular courts and their judges
    • Faith in the free market against faith in the state planning of every industry in the economy, which both sides accept as necessary
    • Utopian faith in grand projects against a sceptical preference for gradual, tested improvement

  10. Which criticism did Oakeshott make of rationalism in politics?

    • Rationalists assume abstract principles can be applied to any society, ignoring practical knowledge built up over time
    • Rationalists are right to reject all practical experience as irrelevant to sound political decisions
    • Rationalism is a form of religious belief that conservatives must reject entirely in every context
    • Rationalism relies on the authority of the monarch, which is an obstacle to social progress in every age

  11. Which thinker opposed collectivism and statism and defended rational egoism?

    • Ayn Rand
    • Michael Oakeshott, who opposed rationalist politics and defended the importance of inherited tradition
    • Edmund Burke, who opposed the French Revolution on the grounds of its abstract and rationalist reasoning
    • Thomas Hobbes, who defended an absolute sovereign as the only guarantee of peace within the state

  12. What did Rand argue about individual self-interest?

    • That rational self-interest is a moral virtue and should guide individual conduct
    • That self-interest is inevitable but irrelevant to the proper organisation of society and its institutions
    • That self-interest should be restricted to economic matters only, and kept separate from moral questions
    • That self-interest is always immoral and must be replaced by duties owed to the state and the community

  13. Which thinker argued for a limited state and justified inequality resulting from freely exchanged contracts?

    • Anthony Crosland, who argued that socialism should prioritise equality, welfare and personal liberty in government
    • Robert Nozick
    • John Rawls, who argued that inequality is justified only when it benefits the least advantaged members of society
    • Rosa Luxemburg, who argued that the working masses must act spontaneously to overthrow the capitalist state

  14. According to Nozick, when is a distribution of holdings just?

    • When holdings match the needs of each citizen as assessed by the government in a fair and open process
    • When holdings were acquired justly and transferred through voluntary exchange
    • When the state redistributes wealth so that each citizen has an equal share of the nation's resources
    • When holdings are distributed by lot to ensure fairness across all social classes in the population

  15. Which is the most commonly held conservative view of authority?

    • Authority and order are necessary for a stable society and should be respected as a check on human fallibility
    • Authority is illegitimate unless it is elected by a majority of all citizens in an annual national vote
    • Authority should be shared equally among all members of society through collective decisions taken in every matter of public life
    • Authority should be abolished in favour of local self-government in every community across the country

  16. A government plans to abolish an ancient constitutional institution overnight in favour of a rational design. Which conservative response is most likely?

    • A demand for an immediate referendum on abolishing all institutions, since the people alone can decide
    • Proposals to nationalise the institution so that it serves the working class in a planned way
    • Caution, preferring gradual change that respects the tested wisdom in existing institutions
    • Enthusiastic support, because inherited institutions are irrational and should be replaced by reason

  17. Which conservative value underpins support for private property?

    • The belief that property is a religious duty owed to the monarch, who holds all land in trust for the nation
    • The belief that property is theft and must be redistributed by the state to correct unfair advantage
    • The belief that property should be held in common by all for the benefit of the community as a whole
    • The belief that property supports independence, personal responsibility and social stability

  18. Which strand of conservatism is most associated with privatisation and reduced welfare spending?

    • Social democracy, which favours extensive state ownership of public services and welfare provision
    • The New Right
    • Traditional conservatism, which favours nationalisation of key industries to protect the national interest
    • Revolutionary socialism, which favours the abolition of all privately owned enterprise and markets

  19. A conservative argues that family, religion and community are essential to social stability. Which concept does this reflect?

    • Collective ownership of property within the community, managed by its members through local councils
    • Immediate abolition of all inherited customs by rational reform, carried out by an elected assembly
    • Tradition and the importance of social institutions that transmit values across generations
    • Equal sharing of incomes across all households in a region, enforced through a national welfare system

  20. Which is the best evaluation of conservatism as a political ideology?

    • Its emphasis on tradition has no value, because all change is progress and must be welcomed without reservation
    • Its emphasis on caution and tradition offers stability, though critics argue it can resist justified reform
    • Its emphasis on caution is always harmful, because it prevents any change in any society at any time
    • Its emphasis on authority is irrelevant to politics, because politics concerns only economic matters and wages

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