Lesson 1 BASIC TENETS OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
Ideology
- Comprehensive set of
normative beliefs, conscious
and unconscious ideas, that
an individual, group or society
has.
Political Ideologies
- Can be proposed by dominant
class of society such as the
elite to all members of society
MAJOR POLITICAL
IDEOLOGIES
1.Anarchism
- Belief that the best
government is absolutely no
government.
- Argues that everything about
governments is repressive
and therefore must be
abolished entirely.
2. Absolutism
- Belief that a single ruler should
have control over every aspect
of the government and of the
people’s lives. Rulers have
variety of titles including
chieftain, king, shah, pharaoh,
emperor, sultan and prince.
- Absolute ruler was seen as god
in human form.
- Many cultures with absolute
rulers practiced caesaropapism-
belief that the ruler is head of
both the governmental and
religious authority .
ADVOCATES OF
ABSOLUTISM
- Plato and Thomas Hobbes
believed that the best
government would be run by a
Ruler who would have the
people’s best interests at
heart.
Absolutism emphasizes:
a strong sense of order:
Everything should be
carefully structured,
including society. Disorder
and chaos are generally
considered to be dangerous.
a clear-cut law of nature ( law
of God ): This law must be
obeyed. According to this law,
some people are inherently
better than others.
a natural hierarchy: a power
structure in which some people
have authority over others
exist. The superior should rule
the inferior.
3. Liberalism
- Began in England in the
1600s.
- Classical liberalism refers
to the relationship between
the individual and society,
as well theorized about the
rights and responsibilities
of the individual.
Liberalism emphasizes:
Individualism- individual
takes priority over society
Freedom- right to make
choices for themselves
Equality- no person is
morally or politically
superior to others.
Hierarchies are rejected;
Rationalism- capable of
thinking logically and
rationally. Logic and reason
help us solve problems.
Progress- traditions
should not be kept unless
they have value. New ideas
are helpful because they
can lead to progress
Free market- liberalism and
capitalism go hand in hand.
Liberals like the free market
because it easily creates wealth
4. Conservatism
- Began as reaction against
liberal ideas
- Edmund Burke attacked
liberalism for many reasons.
They argued that liberalism
destroyed tradition.
Conservatism emphasizes:
Stability- precious thing,
change must be made
gradually in order to preserve
it. Undermining stability is
very dangerous because
societies can easily fall into
chaos and violence.
Concreteness- Liberalism is
too abstract. It focuses on
abstract . It focuses on
freedom and equality, not on
the concrete way people live
everyday;
Human fallibility- liberalism
overestimates human beings.
Humans are frequently
ignorant
prejudiced, and irrational.
Unique circumstances- there
is no universal answer to the
problems of society; the
circumstances are unique in
each country.
Burke thought limited
democracy was a good form
of government for England, as
long
as maintained the customs
and mores it inherited
from its predecessors.
Most people who label
themselves conservatives
are more like American
conservatives.
5. Socialism
- Arose a response to the
Industrial Revolution,
which was the mergence of
technologies such as the
steam engine and mass
production.
- Karl Marx is the best-
known theorist of socialism.
Socialism emphasizes:
Collectivism- human beings
are social by nature, and
society should respect this.
Public ownership- society,
not individuals should own
the property.
Central economic
planning- government plans
the economy
Economic equality- all
citizens have roughly the
same level of prosperity.
Class Warfare
- According to socialists,
liberalism fails to live up to
its promises of freedom and
equality. Under a capitalist
system, money and means of
production are the
measures of power. The
rich use the government to
further their control and to
increase their power over
the lower, poorer classes,
so people are neither free
nor equal.
Communism- an authoritarian
revolutionary approach to
achieving socialism.
-emphasizes a classless society
in which all members jointly
share the means and output
of production.
Democratic Socialism-
emphasizes a classless society
in
which all members jointly share
the means and output of
production.
-attempts to achieve its goals
peacefully via the democratic
processes.
- Reject the need for immediate
transition to socialism
- Achieved by working with a
democratic government.
