STEPHEN MILLER
Edmund Burke R evisited
Edmund Burke, who died two hundred years ago on July 9, 1797, remains
a surprisingly current figure in American politics-invoked by pundits and
politicians across the political spectrum. Conservatives cite Burke because
they agree with his view that " religion is the basis of civil society" and
agree with his strong support for what we now call community values. A
recent piece by a
Wall StreetJournal
columnist was entitled "Why Edmund
Burke is a Packer Fan"-the assumption being that Burke would support
the community-based capitalism that obtains in Green Bay, where rough–
ly 1900 citizens show their loyalty to the Green Bay Packers by owning
shares in the team.
Some liberals, however, claim that modern conservatives ignore the
wisdom of Burke. Modern conservatives, they suggest, are un-Burkean
insofar as they make too much of market forces and advocate radical mea–
sures that could undermine America's constitutional order; e.g., they often
propose amendments to the Constitution or even call for a new constitu–
tional convention. And they note that modern conservatives have a
negative view of the political vocation, whereas Burke always defended it.
According to Burke, it is wrong to assume that all men in public office
pursue their private interests. "If all men who act in a public situation are
equally selfish, corrupt, and venal, what reason can be given for desiring
any sort of change, which besides the evils which must attend all changes
can be productive of no possible advantage?"
Is
Burke's conservatism different from modern conservatism? Was he
even a conservative? Well-known scholars hold widely differing views of
Burke's politics. According to Isaiah Berlin, Burke was an ultraconserva–
tive who influenced the thinking of Joseph de Maistre-the leading
nineteenth-century French reactionary. In Berlin's view, Burke might have
been a Petainiste-that is, a supporter of the Vichy regime during World
War II . By contrast, Conar Cruise O'Brien suggests that Burke should not
even be called a conservative: "Burke was no more a reactionary than
Isaiah Berlin. He was a liberal and pluralist opponent of the French
Revolution."
I would argue that Burke was neither an ultraconservative nor a liber–
al but, rather, a progressive conservative. He was an honorary member of
the Scottish Enlightenment, for he supported economic and political
