Many political analysts are of the view that the support for right wing governments is rising and this phenomenon is visible both in rich and poor economies. In our discussion today we will try to understand the ideology of the right wing governments.
What is Right wing government?
This term originated during the French Revolution. Estate General was an assembly during the French revolution and this assembly was tasked to frame the constitution for France. Those people who were in the support of the conservative ideas and did not want radical changes used to sit to the right of the chairperson and those who were in the support of radical ideas and wanted full government interference to provide social equality sat to the left of the chairperson. Since then the difference in ideologies is termed as right wing and left wing.
What are the characteristics of the right-wing government?
To understand this we need to understand the difference between Right wing and left wing ideology.
- Left wing believes in the idea of collective economic wellbeing of the people. That is, they believe that the state should control all the resources and must plan the economic activities of a state, whereas conservatives are of the opinion that the government should focus on the overall wellbeing of the people and this can be done when the government plays the role of a supporter not the controller.
- The conservatives believe that idea of socialism that is supported by the left-wing ideology, is like a political slavery. They believe that society can development only with the development of individuals and this is possible only when humans are politically free.
- Conservatives also claim that in socialist economy some people try to play God by controlling all the resources of a nation and this has been proved many a times when the controller of socialist governments turned dictator and finally, they were removed after the civil war. Socialist government is nothing but the will of those who wants to control the resources in the name of politics.
- Conservatives also believes that too much of freedom can also lead to the adverse conditions in the society hence, there is a need to keep vigilance and care through political government. Individuals should be bounded by the laws and ethics of the society but must be economically and politically free.
- If everything has to be controlled by the state then there is no meaning of the fundamental rights and individual liberty granted by the constitutions throughout the world. Constitution itself is a document that promotes the idea of limited government. Government must be the servant of its people not the controller.
Why Right-wing government supports traditional values?
- They believe that traditional practices are full of values that are essential for the future development of individuals. History is full of examples where people with their own qualities were able to leave an everlasting impact on the history. Similar discipline and values will help the present generation to make their place in the history.
- History also shows that the old society order always respected the authority and the law of the land and most of the developments took place within these boundaries. In the similar manner people should also respect the authority and law of land for their individual and societal development.
Relation between Right Wing and Nationalism will be discussed in the next post.