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Political Thought
The role of ideas• What people think and believe about society, power, rights,
etc., determines their actions• How do the ideas and beliefs appear in our minds?
– Critical examination of reality – thinking for oneself– Influence of others’ opinions – family, education, mass media, etc.
• Family• Culture• Religion/Spirituality• Gender• Environment• Relationship to the land• Language• Media
Two main concepts about the role of ideas in politics
• Political culture – the broad pattern of political orientations shared by a
large group of people (a nation, a region, a class, an ethnic group)
• Political ideology – a system of political ideas, developed for the purposes
of political action (governing a country, launching a social movement or a political party, organizing a revolution – or a counterrevolution, etc.)
Political Culture
• A general set of Ideas, attitudes and beliefs• Shapes a region’s politics• Political Cultures in the US may identify with
certain principles in the Declaration of Independence
• Political culture sometimes confused with ideology
• For example many communities in the US and Canada participate in at least one of the following:– Traditionalism– Individualism– Moralism
TraditionalismBasic features Associated US region Advantages Disadvantages
•Strong attachment to long-established institutions•Preference for traditional ‘modes and orders’•Suspicion of change•Family legacies
The “Old South”:South CarolinaNorth CarolinaVirginiaTennesseeGeorgiaMississippiAlabamaLouisianaTexasWhat about Canada?
StabilityPredictabilityLaws and customs tend to remain constant
InflexibilityLack of social mobilityTolerance of corruption in the public sectorHostility to reform Fatalism
Examples:“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”“You can’t fight city hall.”Uncontested electionsPolitical Dynasties (Bush, Thurmond, Moncrieff, Kennedy)
IndividualismBasic features Associated US region Advantages Disadvantages
•Strong belief in self-reliance•Preference for individual and independent action; free enterprise•Suspicion of public institutions•Resistance to regulation•“The Self-Made Man”
The “Old West”:WyomingTexasColoradoNew MexicoArizonaNevadaMontanaNorth DakotaSouth Dakota
Canada?
OpportunityPrivacyRecognition of individual effortsAccountability
IsolationLack of community supportIntolerance of public sector involvementTolerance of corruption in the private sector, provided one isn’t caught
Examples:“You’ll get my gun when you pry it from my cold dead hands.”“You’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.”Entrepreneurs, independent contractors“Caveat emptor”
MoralismBasic features Associated US region Advantages Disadvantages
•Strong belief in community, “commonwealth”•Preference for formal community action•Suspicion of private institutions and interests•Strong regulatory presence
“New England”:MassachusettsNew HampshireConnecticutMaineNew YorkPennsylvaniaAlso prevalent in the Pacific NW and in capital cities
Canada?
CommunityAccountabilityActive social support structures“safety nets”
•Intrusiveness•Tolerance of corruption in the public sector if it serves the “moral duty” of serving the commonwealth•Inaction unless initiated by community officials•High public debt; high taxes
Examples:“Did you bring enough for everybody?”“We’re from the government and we’re here to help you.”Social Security, social welfare programsPublic education programs
Political Culture vs. Ideology
• Political Culture• A set of general
attitudes, ideas and beliefs
• Broadly informs and shapes a region’s politics
• Ideology• A set of specific
attitudes, ideas and beliefs
• Provides or advocates a coherent plan for social, political, or economic action
Examples of ideologies• Political ideologies
– Libertarianism– Liberalism– Conservatism– Anarchism– Socialism– Fascism– Communism– Communitarianism– Statism
• Economic ideologies– capitalism– communism– globalism– protectionism– Keynesianism– monetarism– Market fundamentalism
• Social ideologies– Tribalism– Ethnocentrism– Nationalism– Feminism– Multiculturalism– Supremacism
What ideology Is
• A set of specific ideas, attitudes and beliefs
• Provides or advocates a coherent plan for social, political, or economic action
• Plan is consistent with, and is explained in terms of, the ideas, attitudes and beliefs held
What ideology is not:• Ideology is not political culture
– Traditionalists are not necessarily conservatives– Liberals are not necessarily moralists
• Ideology is not partisanship– Liberals are not necessarily liberal – Conservatives are not necessarily conservative
• Ideology is not a policy position– E.g. Abortion
• advocates are not necessarily libertarian or liberal • opponents are not necessarily conservative or libertarian
Comparative Ideology: Left and Right Wings
Origins in the French National Assembly
Motto of the French Revolution: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (liberty,
equality, brotherhood)
Revolutionary Advocates of Liberté and Egalité, opposing the ancien régime (the Old Order) sat
on the left side of the room
Opponents of Liberté and Fraternité,
sympathetic to the ancien régime, sat on the right side of the room
Thus…
• The terms “Left” and “Right” began to take on a political meaning.
• The meaning was based on how much change to society was acceptable
Left Right
Radical Liberal Moderate Conservative Reactionary
Centre
Left of Moderate
• Liberal –– (Left) ––Believe that the government should actively promote social reform to increase individuals’ well being. Favor change but work peacefully within the existing political system.
Right Side of Moderate
• Conservative–(Right) – Government should stay out of the lives of citizens and businesses, except on moral and issues. Favor the status quo, (the way things are). Hesitant to change. Will work peacefully within the existing political system.
Middle of the Spectrum
•Moderate–(Middle) –people who have opinions between liberal and conservative and may include some of both. They are generally tolerant of many view points. They generally don’t hold any extreme viewpoints.
Far Left Side of the Spectrum
• Radical–(Far Left)–Favor a rapid, fundamental change in the existing social, economic or political order. Will use extreme measures including violence to achieve their goals.
Far Right of the Spectrum
• Reactionary–(Far Right) – Advocate a return to a previous state of affairs, often a social, political or economic order that existed earlier in history. Will use extreme measures to achieve their goals including violence.
The political spectrum diagrammed
Radical Liberal ModerateConservativ
eReactionar
y
The extremes are not democratic.Left Right
Radical
Liberal
Moderate
Conservative
ReactionaryLeft Right
democracy
dictatorship
Left and Right: The Political SpectrumThe most common comparative model of ideological preference in the West (USA, Canada, UK)
Left Wing Right Wing
Liberalism ConservatismCentrismSocialismCommunism Statism Fascism
Liberal Conservative• Change• Tradition• Problems are circumstantial• Problems are individual • Gov’t needs to be less involved • Freedom ––personal choices• Equality–fairness––level the playing
field • Human rights• Property rights • Moral Absolutes• Relative Values
Change
Pro Choice
Gay Marriage
Tradition
Pro Life
Heterosexual Marriage
Ideology Applied to Issues
Circumstantial
Welfare Programs
Healthcare for all
Drug rehabilitation
programs
Individual
Welfare limits
Private health care
Tough on crime
Problems in Society
Gov’t is responsible for social reform
Education funding
Assistance Programs
Environmental Protection
Gov’t should be less involved
School vouchers
Charity tax deductions
deregulation
Government in Society
Social Equality
Anti-discrimination
Gender equality
Affirmative action
programs
Individual Freedom
The right to hire
Merit pay
competition
Equality and Freedom
Human Rights
Environment
Assistance Programs
Crime prevention-
rehabilitation
Property Rights
Pro-business
Tax cuts
Tough on crime
death penalty
The People’s Rights
Relative Values
Pro-choice
Gay Rights
Legalize Drugs
Moral Absolutes
Pro-Life
Traditional Family
Criminalize drugs
Morality
Democrats vs. Republicans (USA)
NDP vs. Green vs. Liberal vs. Conservative (Canada)
Rex Tugwell, an advisor to president FDR, said that different attitudes toward change characterize adherents to different political philosophies. He wrote that if a community needed a new train station. Or education reform, crime control, etc.
• ____________ would like to rebuild the train while the train is running;
• ____________ prefer to blow up the train station and forgo service until the new structure is built.
• _____________ would prefer to keep the old station, being satisfied with it,
• While, a ____________ would abandon the station entirely since they do not approve of trains in the first place.
liberal liberal
radical radical
conservativeconservative
reactionaryreactionary
Problems with the Left-Right Spectrum