European political systems and ideologies

1
European political systems and ideologies

• Political parties and movements from the end of
  the 19th century up to 1991

2
General background parties, ideologies,
mentalities

• the essence and power of political parties
• to make any system operate
• the motives, goals, mentalities
• reflections of values and mentalities
• the way to control and govern
• the limits of political parties
• social and economic structures, individuals,
  groups, conspiracies etc.

3
Mentality and ideology

• mentality
• not written, not necessarily conscious
• "instinct", "taken for granted", "permanent"
• ideology
• discussed, debated, written down at least
  conscious
• resembles the same phenomenon in other countries
• "concrete policy" and comparisons

4
Definition of terms

• Liberalism
• an imprecise term attitude, temperament etc.
  no wish for "totality"
• mostly a positive stereotype reformism,
  democracy, human rights, law, optimist view of
  human nature (rationality and unselfishness),
  tolerance, internationalism
• negative "anything goes", vagueness, weakness,
  lack of responsibility
• American "Pinko"

5

• Conservatism
• equally, if not even more imprecise and usually
  a "label"
• aversion towards "theories" compared to "natural
  way of things"
• pessimist view of human nature
• negative stereotype movement of the wealthy and
  egoistic, soft on Fascism, reactionary, rightist,
  intolerance, fear of anything new, militarism,
  nationalism, prejudices

6

• Socialism
• definitely a political term the orientation
  thoroughly researched plenty of sources
• drawback political passions and rivalry
• only Marxists?
• Social Democrats or Communists?
• stereotypes from Red Terror to patronizing
  welfare state and individualist idealism

7

• Social Democrats / Socialists
• collectivist, class interests, equality
  nationalism, individualism secondary
• theory and determinism
• adaptation and reformism
• a will to "organize everything"
• pacifism and antimilitarism contra class
  struggle?
• in principle an optimistic view of human nature

8

• Communism
• ideological foundation, theoretical background
  the same
• conclusions more radical, reformism often
  condemned
• conformism, no opposition allowed infallibility
  of the party, democratic centralism
• "Homo Sovieticus"

9

• Fascism and National Socialism
• specific problem does "Fascism" mean anything
  anymore?
• Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet Le Pen, Pol Pot?
  "health fascism"? "gender fascism"?
• stereotypes definitely negative

10

• Common features of NS and Fascism
• collectivist, anti-liberal mass movements,
  anti-conservative, anti-capitalist, anti-clerical
• admiration of action, not theories
  anti-intellectualism
• militarism, soldier virtues, masculinity
• Führerprinzip
• outside the "distorting" parliamentarism

11

• Distinct Fascism
• state more important than nation
• Empire rather than a nation state
• Roman past but also future-orientated
• originally not anti-Semitic
• a conflict between labour and capital
• corporatism

12

• Distinct to National Socialism
• the nation more important than the state
• anti-Semitism, racism, "Blut und Boden"
• Führerprinzip even more total and mystified
• no corporatism or conflict between labour and
  capital
• nostalgic rather than future-orientated

13

• Populism?
• defending the "small man" against plutocrats and
  institutions
• leaders not Führers, but even more necessary to
  political survival
• nationalism, xenophobia
• emotion and instinct above rationalism
• however, no consistent beliefs or reference to
  violence

14
General features of the late 19th century

• Starting points which no political orientation
  could escape
• mentalities, beliefs, possibilities and resources
• the French Revolution(s), the "old" or the "new"
  world?
• tradition and a knowledge that change was
  possible and could be impossible to control
• economic liberalism, booms and depression, Social
  Darwinism, the Marxist alternative

15

• the "scientific" aspect of Marxism
• the "new" very diffuse rhetoric radicalism and
  pragmatism or barbarism?
• nationalism, imperialism and Eurocentric thinking
• the self-evidencies and morals very different
  from today and the main belief was one of
  progress

16
The Model English Parliamentarism

• Parliamentarism did not mean democracy and
  universal suffrage even in England
• the English reputation of success
• economy, "Bank of the World", Empire, no
  revolutions, gradual change and "upbringing"
  the ruling middle class
• practical, sound, no-nonsense people and a system
  that worked
• liberal statesmen Mill, Gladstone conservative
  reformist Disraeli

17

• principle of Parliamentarism
• reforms of 1832, 1867, 1884
• the first real parties (Whig and Tory Liberal
  and Conservative)
• the English system was not universally admired
  but it was thought to be the direction the
  political society would go to
• the European labour movement, however, had rather
  German models