Overview of Political Ideologies

• I. Liberalism

• II. Conservatism

• III. Socialism

• IV. Communism

• V. Fascism

Raphael “School of Athens”

Political Ideology

• Political Ideology

• A coherent set of ideas about how people should live together

• A plan of action for applying these ideas

• Four Key functions

• Explanatory (How the world works)

• Evaluative (Deciding whether things are good or bad)

• Orientation (Supplies the holder with a sense of identity.)

• Programmatic (What to do and how to do it. )

Foundational Disputes

• Human Nature• Naturally good, cooperative, even perfectible• Inherently flawed, evil, dangerous

• Individual versus Collective• A normative choice with empirical implications

• Conception of Freedom• Freedom as an essentially contested concept• “Freedom from . . .” Versus “Freedom to . . .”

Liberalism

• Desire for a free, open, tolerant society

• Humans as rational and able to recognize and promote self-interest

• Liberty and equality of opportunity

• Classical Liberalism versus Modern “Welfare” Liberalism

• John Stuart Mill

Liberalism’s “Four Functions”

• Explanatory: Social Conditions are the ruslut of individual choices and actions

• Evaluative: Societies work best when individuals are free to do as they wish without harming or violating rights of others

• Orientation: Rational, self-interested indivudiauls (and hence equal)

• Programmatic: Programs for promoting individual liberty (classical) and opportunity (welfare)

Conservatism

• Human inperfection

• Focused on conserving existing social order

• Custom and tradition as “latent wisdom”

• Organic view of society

• Acceptance of inequality

• Freedom and order• Edmund Burke

Conservatism’s “Four Funcitons”

• Explanatory: Social Conditions are the result of human imperfections (intellectual and moral).

• Evaluative: Success is a question of social order and harmony

• Orientation: Each of us is part of a greater whole, and we should act with interest of society (not just self) in mind.

• Programmatic: Slow and cautious change

Socialism

• Flaws of Liberalism

• Individualism and Social Class

• Economics and Political Power

• Economic Equality as “True Equality”

• Economic Planning and the Welfare State

• Robert Owen

(British capitalist turned socialist who founded socialist colony in New Harmony, IN)

Socialism’s Four Functions

• Explanatory: Social Conditions can only be understood by reference to economic and class relations.

• Evaluative: Sharpness of economic divisions (exploitive?) determines health of society.

• Orientation: People should think of themselves in terms of their economic (class) position.

• Programmatic: Policies must be put into place to advance economic equality (which is a prerequisite for true political equality).

Communism

• Historical Materialism

• Economic (material) foundation of social change

• Class conflict as engine of history

• Historical progression

• Primitive Communism Slave-based Empires Feudalism Capitalism Communism

• Inherent contradictions

• Capitalism, profit and exploitation

• Revolution

• Karl Marx

“The Communist Manifesto”

Marxist view of Society

Communist four functions

• Explanatory: Social Conditions determined by economic and class relations.

• Evaluative: Sharpness of class division determines “stage of development”.

• Orientation: People should think of themselves in terms of their class position.

• Programmatic: Policies must be put into place to advance movement toward communist revolution and “classless society”

Fascism

• Organic view of society (society over individual)• Mussolini Slogan: Credere, obbediere, combattere

(Believe, obey, fight)• Irrationalism• Rejection of Democracy• Elitism• Statism• Militarism• Hypernationalism/Rascism

• Nation/People as determining identity

Fascism Four Functions

• Explanatory: Problems from “enemies of the nation of people” (scapegoats).

• Evaluative: Strength and unity of the nation or people.

• Orientation: Define yourself as part of the nation/people. (not as individual)

• Programmatic: Establish fascist elite in uncontested power (Believe, obey, fight).

How do these ideologies work in 19th Century society?

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

• Urbanization and working poor• Poor working conditions

• Child Labor laws• Labor unions

• Economic swings• Skilled artisans lost jobs• Division of labor by sex

Class Consciousness

Non-landed middle class and white collar workers – bourgeoisie

• Owners – Capitalists

• Factory and trade workers - proletariat

Conservatism

• Reactionaries (Put it back the way it was)

• Revolution of 1848

• Successful revolution in all European countries

• Monarchies returned after 6 months in all countries

Liberalism

• Poets/Novelists aimed at complacent middle class• Charles Dickens

• Social conditions

• Honore de Balzac• Stupid middle class

• Jane Austen• Against classes

• The Bronte Sisters• Against male domination

Liberalism

• Favored changing social conditions• Edmund Burke

• Opposite view of Nationalism• Supported the American Revolution but decried

the French Revolution• Law of unintended consequences

• Example: Prussia forced to take over the Ruhr Valley which, unknowingly, has the coal reserves to allow Prussia to conquer the rest of Germany

Utilitarianism

• Jeremy Bentham/John Stuart Mill (On liberty)

• Greatest happiness for greater population.

• Science and technology should be used to solve society’s problems

• Advocated activist governments

Utilitarianism

• Problems:• How do you know the long-term effects?• Who is to decide

• Leaders?

• Surveys?

• Supreme Court?

• Press?

• Is happiness the objective of this life?• Animals seek pleasure and flee from pain.

• What is God’s objective for us in this life?

The seven categories of pleasure

• Intensity – How Intense?• Duration – How long?• Certainty – How sure?• Propinquity – How soon?• Fecundity – How many more?• Purity – How free from pain?• Extent – how many people are affected?

Karl Marx

• Born in Germany

• Radical movements

• Communist manifesto

• Das Kapital

Communist Manifesto

• History of world is driven by class struggles• One class always exploits others• The Middle Class (bourgeoisie) triumphed over the

upper class in the 18th Century• The Worker Class (Proletariat) will triumph over the

Middle Class

Das KapitalBasic Premises

1. The value of a product is the amount of labor to produce it.

2. The fair wage for a worker is the value of his work (the value of the product).

3. In capitalism, the owner must sell the product for more than the worker is paid (profit).

4. The capitalist increases profits by increasing selling price or reducing wages.

5. The lowest possible wage is the subsistence level and this is the level paid (because of a surplus of labor).

6. Surplus labor is maintained by replacing workers with machines.

Capitalism Inconsistencies

1. Competition leads to expansion which hires more workers and then leads to machines on which additional profits cannot be gained

2. Concentration of economic power occurs because bigger takes over smaller

3. Economic depressions from excess labor and ruined companies.

4. Army of unemployed seeks change but captalism can’t change

5. Rebellion and victory by the workers which capitalism cannot stop.

Marx’s Plan for change

1. Abolition of private property.

2. Heavy graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of inheritance rights.

4. Confiscation of emigrant and rebel property.

5. Centralization of credit in state hands.

6. Centralization of communication and transportation in state hands.

7. Extension of state control of factories.

8. Obligation of all to work.

9. Combination of agriculture and manufacturing.

10. Free education for all children and abolition of child labor.

Marx problems

• Ignores imagination and entrepreneurship• Ignores technological improvements• Attacks natural self-interests• Leads to stagnation• Ignores human education, experience, talents, and

work differences• Assumes that capitalism/government policy will not

adjust

19th-Century Nationalism

Part I: Nations and Nationalism

What does this mean to you?

Nationalism and Daily Life

• Holidays

• Music and art

• Literature

• Food

• Costumes

• History

• Sports

• Museums and monuments

Nationalism is:

• the ideology or doctrine of nations

• the feeling of belonging to a nation

• the language or symbolism of a nation

• social and political movements on behalf of a nation

• the process through which nations are formed.Anthony

D. Smith

German Romantic Nationalism

“Nature brings forth families; the most natural state therefore is also one people, with a national character of its own.”

Herder

What Is a Nation?

“A nation is primarily a community, a definite community of people, a stable community of people…”

Joseph Stalin

“A national community is inconceivable without a common language…”

Josef Stalin

Language

“Has a people anything dearer than the speech of its fathers? In its speech resides its whole thought-domain, its tradition, history, religion, and basis of life, all its heart and soul.”

Herder

Elbe River

Where is the German’s fatherland?Then name, oh, name the mighty land!Wherever is heard the German tongue,And German hymns to God are sung!This is the land, thy Hermann’s land;This, German, is thy fatherland.

Ernst Moritz Arndt (1813)