The Ten Principles of the Orthodox Conservatives - 8. That Government Ought to Provide Moral Leadership to Its Citizens.

The Eighth Principle of Conservatism, from the Orthodox Conservative website. 

From Orthodox Conservatives

8. That government ought to provide moral leadership to its citizens. (Government does not merely serve the role of administrator.)

8. That government ought to provide moral leadership to its citizens

Whereas socialists believe government can only ever be good, and libertarians believe government can only ever be bad, conservatives believe that government can only ever be. To the conservative, government is a natural and irresistible conclusion of the natural association of free individuals, but a free association that demands structure and rules to ensure harmonious living. 

Conservatives see these rules as emerging from below and through experience, meaning that law and order as enforced by the State should be made by the people, not by alien agents forcing an agenda on a people who do not want it. Some may argue that liberal and socialists are still "of the people" because they are, at the end of the day, people and chosen by their constituents. But they are not agents of the people; they are agents of ideology, and ideology can never belong to the people, because it's focus is on the future, on some indeterminate utopia when it's goals have been achieved, whatever they may be and whenever that time may come.

This is where conservatives must tread a steady line with government action; it must be responsible and following the flow of society, as well as offering moral guidance and conditions for the achievement of happiness, and occasionally offer positive examples where the fabric of society looks to be tearing itself apart. But it cannot force onto people what they do not want;

Let us return to first principles: what does government do? There are a multitude of answers - provide healthcare; regulate business; organise the police - but all are variations on the simple reality that government either acts, or does not act. A government, in acting, can legislate, be diplomatic, give pronouncements, and so on; and in not acting, explicitly or implicitly delegates the responsibility for these things to another body or actor - the market, the family, a trade union, etc. But either choice is to make a decision, and this decision-making capacity realises that government's two potential in the moment of decision are two faces of the same reality - to act.

It is a truth of government that it does make moral pronouncements in the act of governance. As George Will says, the decision to do nothing is itself a decision, and therefore an act. In this respect, government should not pretend it has no say - or no influence - on the internal character of its citizens. As Anthony Quinton (see principle 9) recognises, the identity of each person is shaped by the institutions he grows up in - so too does his sense of right and wrong.

But government is not simply composed of laws and speeches and conventions, but politicians also. And politicians are the leaders of the society over which they have been chosen to govern. So moral leadership is not a truth simply of good laws, but also of actors - remembering of course that politicians are as human as the rest of us, we expect of them good conduct and to obey the rules as we all do - and in doing so provide the leadership that we ask for, and entrust them with.