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 Moderate Conservative

Reactionary

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

radical

conservative

reactionary

Problems with the Left-Right Spectrum