The study of Politics is the study of:

Politics

Power – the capacity to coerce

Authority – legitimate leadership based upon consent

Classification

of

Political Ideas

Left and right wing

Human nature

Origins and role of state

Power

Left and Right Wing

Background

First used in the political sense during the French revolution in 1789.

Parliamentary deputies seated in a semi-circle, from the most pro-monarchy, backward looking and reactionary on the right to the most republican (anti-monarchy), forward-looking and radical on the left.

Left and Right Wing

‘Right wing’ applies to those who support and defend the existing (the status quo)

‘Left wing’ applies to those who challenge the existing system and seek progressive changes.

WHAT DO LEFT AND RIGHT MEAN?

Reactionary and Revolutionary

A shift to the right is called reactionary.

A shift to the left is called reformist, radical or revolutionary, depending on the degree and speed of change.

WHAT DO REACTIONARY AND REVOLUTIONARY MEAN?

Nationalism and Feminism

Many political doctrines, such as nationalism and feminism, cannot be categorised on the left/ right spectrum because they attach themselves to the wider political ideologies.

Left and Right Wing

Communism and left-wing

anarchism

Socialism

Liberalism

Traditional

conservatism

Fascism and

Nazism

Right-wing

anarchism

Left wing

Public economic ownership and

equality

Right wing

Private economic ownership and

hierarchy

Human nature

Most, but not all, political theories can be classified as either pessimistic or optimistic about human nature and people’s innate capacity to reason and act cooperatively.

WHAT ARE THE 2 WORDS WE OFTEN ASSOCIATE WITH VIEWS OF

HUMAN NATURE?

Pessimistic and Optimistic views of

Human nature

Pessimistic views of human nature believe in a strong state and government to control irrational individuals.

Optimistic views of human nature believe that man has the capacity to control himself, and therefore advocate limited or no state and government.

Left-wing, collectivist theories

Generally believe:

•Humans have a social core

•Humans work better as cooperative groups

•Humans are essentially generous

•But that human nature is influenced strongly by the environment.

Individualist philosophies

Generally believe:

•Humans are rational, but in a selfish way.

Right-wing, organic theories

Have profound doubts about human rationality and human goodness.

Views of Human Nature

Left-wing anarchism

Communism/Socialism

Liberalism

Neo-liberalism

Right-wing anarchism

Traditional conservatism

Neo-conservatism

Fascism and Nazism

CAN YOU MATCH VIEWS TO IDEAS?

The state and government

The state is the formal, abstract, permanent, sovereign political power over a given territory.

It usually is made up of a legislature, executive and judiciary.

The government is the temporary agent of the state. It is the political authority and personnel responsible for implementing the aims and functions of the state.

It is made up of institutions such as the civil service, armed forces, courts, police as well as politicians.

WHAT ARE THEY?

The organic theory

Likens the state to a living organism, such as a tree.

Each part has its different place and function and is dependant on every other part.

The organic theory believes there is a natural, harmonious hierarchy within the state

i.e. inequality is inevitable and desirable.

The mechanistic theory

Likens the state to a machine, devised by humans to serve themselves, with its parts equal and interchangeable.

The individual is more important than the group or state, and the state exists to serve the individual.

The political and the social

A distinction is often made between the political and the social realms; that is between the state as a sovereign power and society as the community of people within and under the state.

Power

Who should govern?

Democracy Autocracy

Oligarchy

WHAT DO AUTOCRACY, OLIGARCHY AND DEMOCRACY

MEAN?

Rule by the few: oligarchy

Aristocracy - rule by the ‘best’. Could be noble or most wealthy.

Plutocracy – rule by the wealthy.

Meritocracy – rule by the most skilled, trained and able.

Timocracy – rule by property holders.

Technocracy – rule by technical experts, scientists and engineers.

Gerontocracy – rule by the aged, experienced and wise.

Bureaucracy – rule by professional administrators.

Organic theories

Organic theories and those with a pessimistic view of human nature, advocate elitist power structures.

WHO and WHY?

Egalitarian theories

Egalitarian theories and those with an optimistic view of human nature, advocate rule by the many.

WHO and WHY?

Mechanistic theories

Mechanistic theories are ambivalent about democracy.

WHO and WHY?

The graph model

The left/right classification is economic – it separates egalitarians from elitists.

WHAT DOES IT NOT SHOW?

The graph model

The graph model with a strong state/weak state axis is useful therefore, because it produces a more complex and sophisticated model of political ideas that the one-dimensional left/right classification.

Authoritarian (strong/total state)

Libertarian (weak/no state)

Right (private econom

ic ow

nership and

hierarchy)Le

ft (p

ublic

eco

nom

ic

owne

rshi

p an

d eq

ualit

y)

Authoritarian (strong/total state)

Libertarian (weak/no state)

Right (private econom

ic ow

nership and

hierarchy)Le

ft (p

ublic

eco

nom

ic

owne

rshi

p an

d eq

ualit

y) Stalinism

Democratic

socialism

Fascism/Nazism

Neo-conservatism

Traditional conservatism

Marxist theory

Left-wing anarchism

Social democracy

Liberalism

Neo-liberalism

Right-wing anarchism

www.politicalcompass.org