ConservativeHome's Dictionary

Social justice

A term - being reclaimed by Britain's Tories - that is popularly understood to mean 'fairness for those in need of help and fairness to those who provide it'.

Vulnerable people

The British public believes that pensioners and children are society’s two most vulnerable groups.

Social capital

The institutions and values that a society can draw on - and must always replenish.

Social vaccine

The values of a community - such as an aversion to indebtedness - that can protect against serious social ills.

Welfare society

The most important care for vulnerable people does not come from the state. It is provided by a free society's people-sized institutions, particularly the family.

Stakeholder-directed funding

Taxpayers’ money delivered via vouchers, matched funding and asset transfer can build a voluntary sector that is less politicised and more rooted in the needs of stakeholder communities.

Society (or civil society)

For left-wing politicians society is synonymous with government. For conservatives, however, society is the rich diversity of civilising institutions that populate the space between the individual and the state.

Social (or permissive) liberalism

Social liberals - because of their indifference to civil society's health and their permissive attitude to destructive behaviours - are unwitting allies of big government.

Social Darwinism

The cruel (and destructive) belief that the weak be allowed to sink, and the strong be allowed to swim, in order for a society to flourish.

Social conservatism

Social conservatives believe that strong families and traditional values underpin 'one nation'.