Political Ideologies I

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Political Ideologies I

• Liberalism, Conservatism, and Socialism

Analyzing Politics Chapter 5
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Political Ideologies I

• Political Ideologies are the pragmatic
  application of normative theories.
• Each ideology draws on the history of political
  theory and seeks to apply the lessons of this
  history to the present.
• Ideological debates are fascinating testimony to
  the diversity of the human imagination.

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Political Ideologies I

• Liberalism
• a term rooted in the Latin word liber which means
  free advocates liberty.
• John Locke (1632-1704)
• English philosopher who is often called the
  father of liberalism
• In his writings he argued in favor of limited
  government and protection for individual rights.
• Rejected the popular doctrine of the divine right
  of kings.

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Political Ideologies I

• Classical Liberalism teaches
• The individual is more important than the state
  and becomes a citizen of the state only through
  consent.
• The individual is rational and capable of making
  his or her own decisions this makes the
  individual capable of autonomy and
  self-government.
• Progress is possible in political affairs, so
  change is not to be feared.

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Political Ideologies I

• Classical Liberalism cont.
• State power should be limited
• Economic inequality is not necessarily bad.
• Economic freedom (individual freedom to make
  economic choices) is more important that economic
  equality.
• Adam Smith (1723-1790)
• Economic writings offer justification of both
  classical liberalism and capitalism.

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Political Ideologies I

• Modern Liberalism
• Government intervention into individual and
  social life is sometimes necessary to prevent
  some individuals from denying freedom to others.
• Liberty should be understood in broad, expansive,
  positive terms as the liberty to seek out ways
  to develop human potential and contribute in a
  meaningful way to society.

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Political Ideologies I

• Modern Liberalism (continued)
• Economic inequality is to be regarded with
  suspicion, as a condition likely to undermine the
  welfare of those who have lower incomes and thus
  to erode their chances of being free (freedom
  being defined as expansive liberty).
• The New Deal policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt
  reflected the ideas and spirit of Modern
  Liberalism.

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Political Ideologies I

• Classical and Modern Liberalism Today
• Many classical liberals disassociate themselves
  from Modern Liberalism
• Examples
• The Republican today is against big government
• Instead of calling themselves Classical Liberals
  many call themselves conservatives
• Conservative and former Prime Minister Margaret
  Thatcher described herself as a Lockean-inspired
  conservative
• Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Regan were close in
  ideology

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Political Ideologies I

• Contemporary classical liberals call themselves
  Libertarians.
• Favor strict limits on state action
• Believe the individual is more important than the
  state
• Believe in the maximum amount of freedom as long
  as no one is injured, exploited, or forced.

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Political Ideologies I

• Libertarians support
• Legalization of drugs
• Legalization of prostitution
• Abolition of Congressional subpoena powers
• Prohibition of censorship of books and movies
• Legalization of suicide
• Abolition of the Central Intelligence Agency
  (CIA)
• Support for abortion rights
• Support for gay rights

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Political Ideologies I

• Conservatism
• An ideology that is generally thought of as
  seeking to conserve or preserve some reality.
• There is not single type or form of conservatism.
• Traditional Conservatism
• Traditional morality is more important than
  individual liberty
• Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
• British philosopher, scholar, and member of
  Parliament.

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Political Ideologies I

• Edmund Burke
• Wrote Reflection on the Revolution in France.
• Advocated conserving tradition, authority, and
  moral values.
• Asserts
• That because of the profound human tendency
  toward irrational behavior, humans need guidance
  and direction from traditional authorities for
  society to enjoy peace and stability.

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Political Ideologies I

• Traditional Burkean Conservatism
• Argues that traditional authorities should pass
  on long-standing moral teachings through the
  family, religious institutions, and governmental
  laws.
• Insists that compliance with traditional morality
  is more important than individual liberty in
  other words, people should not have the freedom
  to violate moral precepts.

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Political Ideologies I

• Traditional Burkean Conservatism
• Individuals are incapable of using their reason
  to run their own lives smoothly.
• Society is best arrange when individuals who are
  natural rulers do the ruling.
• Humans have a fundamental need for order and
  control.

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Political Ideologies I

• Traditional Conservatism Today
• Christian Coalition formed in 1988 by Pat
  Robertson and Ralph Reed.
• Antiabortion policy
• Opposition to legalization of gay rights, such as
  gay marriage
• Support for school prayer
• Opposition to sex education in the public schools
• Opposition to sidewalk sales of pornography

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Political Ideologies I

• Traditional Conservatives Today
• Log Cabin Republicans (LCR)
• Support Lockean/Smithian principles of capitalist
  economics and small government.
• They are also gay activist
• They believe the government has no more business
  regulating sex lives than it does regulating
  business.

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Political Ideologies I

• Socialism
• Marxism
• Marxist-Leninism and
• Social Democracy
• An ideology that believes that citizens are best
  served by policies focused on meeting the basic
  needs of the entire society rather than on
  serving the needs of individuals as individuals

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Political Ideologies I

• Socialist Theorists
• Henri de Saint-Simon (1750-1825)
• Robert Owen (1771-1859)
• Charles Fourier (1772-1837)
• They believed
• Competitive individualist societies destroyed the
  possibility o f collective harmony.
• All community members shared both the
  responsibility of labor and the wealth produced
  by it.

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Political Ideologies I

• Socialism
• Judeo-Christian inspiration Book of Deuteronomy
  release from debt
• Book of Acts, Chapters 4 5 early Christians
  sold their individual possessions and contributed
  the proceeds to a common stock from which all
  lived.
• I Timothy, warns against the pursuit of
  self-gratification and worldly riches as
  meaningless distractions.

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Political Ideologies I

• Socialism
• Social obligations prevail over individual
  desires.
• Marxism
• Named after German theorist Karl Marx
  (1818-1883).
• Marx contributions to socialism were vast and
  complex.
• Wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848.

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Political Ideologies I

• Marxism
• History moves forward from the push and pull of
  conflict.
• Each new period of history is a creative response
  to what has gone before.
• Critiques capitalism
• Capitalism is an economic system composed two
  large classes of people.

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Political Ideologies I

• Marxism
• 2 classes Proletariat and Bourgeoisie
• The Proletariat is the class that lives primarily
  by its labor power for a wage.
• The Bourgeoisie is the class that lives primarily
  by purchasing the labor power of others and using
  it to operate the factories and businesses owned
  by the bourgeoisie.
• Class is defined in terms of functions

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Political Ideologies I

• Marxism
• Subsistence wages the lowest possible wage to
  fill job openings.
• Surplus labor profit for the owner
• The state supports and protects the status quo
  (bourgeoisie).
• Alienation describes the emotional, cognitive,
  and psychological damage done to the proletariat
  by capitalism.

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Political Ideologies I

• Marxist-Leninism teaches
• Society needs a centralized vanguard and does not
  need multiparty competition through peaceful,
  lawful, political participation.
• Imperialism has shaped the development of
  capitalism and altered the terms of revolutionary
  struggle from those outlined by Marx namely,
  revolutions are more likely in less developed
  capitalist economies, contrary to Marxs theory.

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Political Ideologies I

• Social Democracy (also known as democratic
  socialists) teaches
• Socialism and democracy are consistent with each
  other.
• Economic oppression is no less harmful than
  political oppression, and therefore government
  should promote economic equality no less than
  political equality.
• Socialism should be brought about through
  peaceful, lawful, democratic means.

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Political Ideologies I

• Social democrats
• Take from socialism a commitment to serving the
  needs of the entire society.
• Social democrats reject communism in favor of
  free elections.
• The Finnish (Finland) Social Democratic party is
  an example.
• Social democrats reject fundamentalism but try to
  reconcile individualism, democracy and socialism.