Tentative Answer - Burke

3. The label “Conservative”, often applied to Burke, has been used by polemicists and analysts as meaning some or all of the following:

1) attaching moral importance to ‘traditions’,

2) supporting the claims of the existing elites to their privileged positions,

3) adhering closely to moral values,

4) resisting social change, and

5) skepticism of abstract thinking.

Which of these apply to Burke?

Out of these statements, I believe 'attaching moral importance to traditions,' 'supporting the claims of the existing elites to their privileged positions,' and 'resisting social change' most apply to Burke. His belief tradition can be seen in his comments about the French monarchy. Of the queen he says: "I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone" (126). Considering that his comment is preceded by descriptions of the queen's beauty, Burke is here lamenting the loss of the tradition of honoring of the queen, rather than the actual political effects of the loss of the monarchy's power. This shows that he values tradition for tradition's sake. 

In terms of political and social change, Burke says: "The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end, and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable. ... Governments must be abused and deranged indeed, before it can be thought of" (50). Thus Burke is willing to change to form of government if necessary, but is much more hesitant to do so than the revolutionaries of his time. Thus compared to them, at least, he can be described as conservative.

Finally, Burke claims that the ideas of the revolution "embitter that real inequality..., which the order of civil life establishes as much for the benefit of those whom it must leave in an humble state, as those whom it is able to exalt to a condition more splendid, but not more happy" (59). Thus Burke presents a defense for inequality, namely that those in a lower status are not necessarily less happy, and frames this inequality has a fundamental part of 'civil life.'