Political Ideologies

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Political Ideologies

• Unit 1
• AP Government and Politics

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• One cannot separate geography political science,
  economics, and history. Geography sets the stage
  for human interaction. Politics is the control of
  the economy. History, when accurately and fully
  recorded, is that story. In most textbooks and
  classrooms, not only are these four fields of
  study separated, but they are further
  compartmentalized into separate subfields,
  obscuring the close interconnections between
  them.
• -J.W Smith, The Worlds Wasted Wealth 2

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Political Ideology

• What we believe and why
• Political Ideology Definitions
• A comprehensive, integrated set of views about
  government and politics
• A coherent set of ideas of on how people should
  live together
• A plan of action for applying these ideas

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1. Our Ideology Comes from OurPolitical Culture

• Political Culture is the widely shared beliefs,
  values and norms concerning the relationship of
  citizens to government and to one another.
• Name some of the beliefs shared by most
  Americans.

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Did you name these?

• Liberty
• Democracy
• Political Equality
• Individualism
• Justice and the Rule of Law
• Capitalism and Free Enterprise
• Nationalism, optimism, and idealism
• The American Dream

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2. Our Ideology Comes from our Political
Socialization

• Political Socialization
• The process by which we are taught and develop
  our individual and collective political beliefs
• Name some factors that influence our Political
  Socialization

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Did you name these?

• Family
• Peers
• Race and ethnic differences
• Religious differences
• Gender
• Social and economic differences (SES)
• Sectional/regional differences
• Media influences
• Age
• Can be linked to Historical events (e.g., Pearl
  Harbor, Vietnam, Watergate, September 11 and War
  on Terror)

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Basic Ideology Disagreements

• Is Human Nature
• Naturally good, cooperative, even perfectible?
• Inherently flawed, evil, dangerous?
• Is the Individual more important than the Group?
• Should we look out for number one?
• Should we be concerned about our fellow humans?

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Many people Many opinions Many viewpoints
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Overview of PoliticalIdeologies

• I. Liberalism
• II. Conservatism
• III. Socialism
• IV. Communism
• V. Fascism
• VI. Populism
• VII. Libertarianism

Raphaels The School of Athens
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The Classic Political Spectrum
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I. Liberalism

• Classical Liberalism
• Desire for a free, open, tolerant society
• Humans as rational and able to recognize and
  promote self-interest
• Limited role of government.
• That government is best which governs least.
• Government was seen as the chief threat to
  liberty.
• Theory of government to protect property rights.
• Liberty and equality of opportunity

John Stuart Mill
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Basic Tenets of Classic Liberalism

• Social conditions are the result of individual
  choices and actions
• Societies work best when individuals are free to
  do as they wish without harming or violating
  rights of others

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Modern Liberalism

• New Deal helped to expand the role of government.
  
• Theory of government is to protect peoples
  well-being.
• Need for a strong central government to smooth
  out the rough edges of capitalism.
• Corporations seen as the chief threat to liberty.
  
• Promote opportunity for all citizens
• Favor using government to
• Reduce economic inequalities
• Champion the rights of the disadvantaged
• Tolerate a more diverse range of social behaviors
• Finance social welfare programs with higher taxes
  on the rich

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The New (?) Left

• Neo-liberals
• Late 20th century and 21st century
• Believe that government certainly has some role
  to play, but not as big a role as desired by New
  Deal liberals.
• Need to get back to more individualism and less
  reliance on big government.
• Discrediting of liberalism in 1980s and 1990s
• A feeling that liberalism has gone too far.
• Less likely to rely upon government as a solution
  to problems.

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Neoliberalism

• Neoliberalism in theory, is essentially about
  making trade between nations easier.
• It is about freer movement of goods, resources
  and enterprises in a bid to always find cheaper
  resources, to maximize profits and efficiency.
• To help accomplish this, neoliberalism requires
  the removal of various controls deemed as
  barriers to free trade, such as
• Tariffs
• Regulations
• Certain standards, laws, legislation and
  regulatory measures
• Restrictions on capital flows and investment

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II. Classic Conservatism

• Learn from the past
• Custom and tradition as latent wisdom
• Look to the past??
• Freedom and order
• Focused on conserving existing social order
• Organic or unrefined view of society
• Belief in human imperfection
• Acceptance of inequality

Edmund Burke
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Modern Conservatives

• Generally
• distrust government
• have greater faith in private enterprise and
  free markets
• BUTthey are willing to use government to enforce
  traditional moral standards.
• They favor a larger military and a more assertive
  pursuit of national self-interest.
• Also advocate lower taxes to stimulate growth and
  to restrict the governments capacity to finance
  social welfare programs.

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Modern Conservatism

• Reversal of the liberal trend of the 1930s to
  look to government as the solution to our
  problems.
• Emphasis today on the private sector to solve
  problems.
• Resurgence since late 70s  
• Strength in the formerly solid South.
• Reagan/Bush/GHW Bush
• Republican control of the Senate 1980-86,
  1994-2000, and 2002-2006.
• Republican Congresses 104th, 105th, 106th, 108th,
  109th

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The Extreme New Right

• More extreme conservatives
• Sometimes called Neo-Conservatives and the New
  Right
• John Birch Society
• Three types of Neo-Cons
• Foreign policy neo-conservatives
• Social policy neo-conservatives
• Economic neo-conservatives

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Neo Conservatives

• Foreign policy neo-conservatives
• Isolationists who want to defend the national
  interest and are wary of any New World Order,
  and are wary of international organizations like
  the
• United Nations
• World Trade Organization
• International Monetary Fund
• World Bank
• NAFTA
• Social policy neo-conservatives
• Emphasize social issues like prayer in school,
  anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality.
• Sometimes known as the Religious Right.
• Economic neo-conservatives
• Want to unleash market forces to attack various
  ills in society.
• If we just cut taxes and free up the free
  enterprise system everything will improve.

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The Far Left AND Far Right

• U.S. neo-conservatives, with their commitment to
  high military spending and the global assertion
  of national values, tend to be more authoritarian
  than hard right.
• By contrast, neo-liberals, opposed to such moral
  leadership and, more especially, the ensuing
  demands on the tax payer, belong to a further
  right but less authoritarian region.
• Paradoxically, the "free market", in neo-con
  parlance, also allows for the large-scale subsidy
  of the military-industrial complex, a
  considerable degree of corporate welfare, and
  protectionism when deemed in the national
  interest.
• These are viewed by neo-libs as impediments to
  the unfettered market forces that they champion.
• -About the Political
  Compass, January 6, 2004

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III. Socialism

• The means of production are owned and controlled
  by all of society.
• Belief that Economic Equality creates True
  Equality
• System in which means of production,
  distribution, and exchange are controlled by
  government.
• Strong impact upon Western Europe.
• Many Americans associate it with radicalism
• Americans have a strong belief in individualism
• Is this the Welfare State or the Perfect Society?

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Socialism

• How society should be run exactly and how it
  should be implemented or achieved is a matter of
  controversy
• Marxism and communism are both branches of
  socialism.
• In Marxist theory, it also refers to the society
  that would succeed or supplant capitalism, and
  would later develop further into communism, as
  the necessity for the socialist structure would
  wither away

• Robert Owen
• British capitalist turned socialist who
• Founded socialist colony in New Harmony, IN)

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IV. Communism

• Communism refers to a conjectured future
  classless, stateless social organization based
  upon common ownership of the means of production
  
• The establishment of communism is viewed as the
  culmination of the class struggle between the
  capitalist class (the owners of capital) and the
  working class.

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Karl Marx Theory

• Marxs Theory of Historical Progression

• The communist society Marx envisioned emerging
  from capitalism has never been implemented
• It remains theoretical

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V. Fascism

• Belief that society should triumph over the
  individual
• Characteristics of Fascism
• Hypernationalism/Racism
• Nation/People as determining identity
• Elitism
• Rejection of Democracy
• Militarism
• Mussolini Slogan
• credere, obbediere, combattere
• (Believe, obey, fight)

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VI. Populism

• The average Joe or Jane
• Can be traced back to politicians trying to
  connecting to the common people
• Todays Populism
• Conservative on social issues
• Strong on family issues and a slower pace
• Pro-Life issues and Prayer in school
• Liberal on economic issues
• Watch out for the little guy and his wages
• Stand up to corporate America
• Corporations should be monitored and closely
  watched
• Government regulations are necessary

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VII. Libertarianism

• Extreme emphasis on individual liberty.
• Extreme cutback on role of government.
• Look to Constitution and Bill of Rights
• Liberal on social issues
• Government should not be involved in social
  issues
• No drug laws
• Butsome pro-choice some pro-life
• Conservative on economic issues
• They essentially believe that government should
  only defend the nation.
• Lower taxes
• No public education
• No need for much of bureaucracy

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Americans IdeologicalDistributions