Political Theories

PoliticalTheories 5th lecture. The postmodern theories and the 21st century

Division of the semester • 1st lecture: Introduction and ClassicalAntiquity. • 2nd lecture: Politicalideas of theMiddleAges. Church and stateinmedieval Europe. The investiturecontroversy. • 3rd lecture: Politicalideas of early Modern Age. Separation of Church and State. The Separation of powers, and theimportance of institutions. Machiavelli, Hobbes, Montesquieu. • 4th lecture: Politicalideas of 19th century. Birth of modern streams of politicalthinking. Liberalism, conservativism and left-wingmovements, (Marx and Marxism). • 5th lecture: Main trendsinpoliticalmovements (thinkersand ideasandinstitutionsinthe 20th century.)

Assessment process Obligatory literature: „Civilizations and world-religions” and the „History of political ideas” ppt-presentations on the web-page: www.marosan.com Recommended literature: Marosán György. (2006): Hogyan készül a történelem? Money-Plan kft The course implies an exam. There are two components of the mark: an essay and a written exam. If someone participates at least 3 lectures from the 5, and writes an acceptable essay at home, then he or she could receive a mark after his or her essay, (that is: no written exam needed then). When someone does not participate enough lectures, and/or his or her essay is not acceptable or is not good enough, then he or she must make a written exam too. The topic/theme of the essay must be in a connection with the subject matter of the course, and it should be an analysis of a definite, designed topic, or movie. The essay must be of 2600 words long, the dead-line is: 17. december, 2012.

Topics and treatments of essays Everybody should write two essays: one from „Civilizations and World-religions” and another from „History of Political Ideas”. The topic of the first essay: one should watch a film, (which is set in the case of each student individually), then write an essay concerning the topic or theme of the movie, (perhaps a recommendation of 20 lines at the end of the essay). The topic of the second essay: the decisive events of 21st century on the basis of articles and news downloaded from the internet. The student must choose 5 news, events or articles, and write an essay on its ground. Both essays should be unbiassed, objective, multisided.

Movie-titles.Possible themes for essay • A katedrális (német-kanadai) • Hullám (N) • Ajami (Izraeli film) • Ég velünk (USA) • A vágy forradalma (francia) • Ütközések (USA) • Vittorio de Sica: Csoda Milánóban (Olasz) • Aki szelet vet (USA) • Isten nagy, én kicsi vagyok (francia) • Fellini: Róma (Olasz) • Megfoghatatlan (Il Divó) Andreotti film (O) • Pasolini: Médeia (Olasz) • Rosellini: Róma nyílt város (Olasz) • A háborúnak vége (F) Semprun könyvből film • Berlin fölött az ég, (német) • Kapcsolat (USA, Jodie Fosterrel, 1997) • Tarkovszkij: A tükör • A kelet, az kelet. (A) • Anna és a király (USA) • Pasolini: Máté Evangéliuma (Olasz) • Polanski: Rosemary gyermeke (USA) • Enyedi Ildikó: Simon mágus (magyar) • Ámen (francia-német-német film) • Bergman: Úrvacsora (svéd) • Andrzej Wajda: Szenthét (Lengyel) • A paradicsom meghódítása (Angol-amerikai-francia-spanyol) • Bergman: Suttogások, sikolyok (svéd) • A Magdolna nővérek (ír) • Luther (N) • Goya kísértetei, (spanyol). • Mennyei királyság, (Amerikai-angol, stb.) • Bergman: A hetedik pecsét • Bresson: Egy falusi plébános naplója (francia) • Bergman: Tükör által homályosan (svéd) • Tarkovszkij: Andrej Rubljov (szovjet-orosz) • Szent Lajos király hídja (spanyol-angol-francia) • Enyedi Ildikó: A bűvös vadász (magyar) • Hét év Tibetben (Amerikai) • Bresson: Jeanne D’Arc pere • Vera Drake • Bresson: A bűn angyalai (francia)

The points of view of the analysis of the film: What is the movie about? What is its relationship to the particular, chosen topic (to Religions or History of Political Ideas) What is the „message” of the movie? What is its peculiar importance in relationship to the history of 20th and 21st century? Does it have a „message” in regard of nowadays Hungary? Which opposite opinions are expressed in the movie? Which opposite opinions are present according to the topic in question in the contemporary Hungarian and/or global society? You could select the behaviour, story or path of life of one or more characters, and you could present and analyse them in your essay. With what other movies and literary works could you compare the actual, chosen movie? What is the relationship of this film to the reality: does it alter the latter drastically or rather mirrors it in a quite acceptable, adequate way?

Topic of theotheressay Therewerethreeoptions: Youshouldchoose and downloadfromthe internet 5 events, news, informationinthelasttwoyears, whichyouconsiderto be decisiveinregard of thehistoryof 21st century. I willgiveyouonecase, aboutwhichyoucouldwrite an essay. Therearesome TED case, whichalsoprovideoptiontowriteessay.

The points of view of the analysis concerning the 21st century Youshouldchoose and downloadfromthe internet 5 events, news, informationinthelasttwoyears, whichyouconsiderto be decisiveinregard of thehistoryof 21st century. Youshould show and argueforwhydoyouthinktheseeventsto be decisive (ratherthanothers). Youshouldunfoldtheirconnections and internalrelationship, andformyouropinionwhatkind of futuretheyforeshadowtogether. Youshoulddeterminethepossiblemessage of thisforeshadowedpictureinregardof Europe, and inparticularinregard of East-Europe. Youshoulddeterminethepossiblemessage of thisforeshadowedpictureinregardofpresentHungariansociety. The essay must be approximately 8 pages, out of whichonepageshould be abouttheanalysis of thesefivetendencies. Deadline: 17. December, 2012. Room, E II 22.

An example At least 45 people, including women and children, have been killed in sectarian violence involving two ethnic groups over land row in Nigeria's northern state of Benue, police and witnesses said today.Those killed belong to Tiv ethnic group while the attackers were the Fulani people who are mostly cattle herdsmen, witnesses said.The Tiv, who are mostly farmers, also had some of their houses burnt down by the invaders.EjikeAlaribe, the police spokesman, said the number of people killed in Sunday's violence is 16 but a witness who spoke to PTI on condition of anonymity insisted the number could not be less than 45, adding that the country's police is known for reducing casualty figures.The cause of the violence is related to land row between the two ethnic groups. The Fulanis, who are mostly Muslims, seek land for their cattle to graze while the Tivs want to preserve it for farming.Ethnic conflict over land are widespread in northern Nigeria. Most frequently, these occure in the country's north-central state of Plateau where Fulani herdsmen engage in clashes with the Biroms and other ethnic groups.

Suggested TED presentations (www.TED.org) • PaddyAshdown: The globalpower shift. • ClayShiky: Institution vs. collaboration • ClayShirky: Howthe internet transformgovernment • RachelBotsman: The currency of theneweconomy • JammyDrummond: Let’scrowsource • Don Tapscott: Fourprinciplesforopenworld • Howard Rheingold: The newpower of collaboration • YochaiBenkler: New open-sourceeconomics • Sam Harris: Science cananswermoralquestions • SchlomoBenartzi: Saving fortomorrow, tomorow • R. Wilkinson: Howeconomicinequalityharmssociety • NiallFerguson: A jólét 6 kegyetlenül jó "app"-je • Mark Forsyth: What’s a snowgoster • M. Jakubowski: Nyílt forráskódú tervrajzok a civilizációhoz • Gladwell: Choice, happiness, spagetti sauce • Lean-Baptist Michel: The mathematics of histoty • J. Diamond: Whysocietiescollapse • J. Haidt: Religion, evolution, and theextasy of self-transcence • J. Haidt: The moralroots of liberalism • Hans Rosling: A vallások és a demográfia • Hans Rosling: The beststatistics… • Frans de Waal: Moralbehaviorinanimals • DanAriely – irracionalitásaink.. • D. Ariely: Our buggy moral • DevduttPattenaik: Kelet kontra nyugat – elkápráztató mítoszok • Joseph Pine: Whatconsumerwants • Roy Sutherland: an add man life • Gopnik: Whatdobabiesthink • JamieDrummond: Let’tcrowsource .. • Marc Googman: A vision of crime int he future • Jean Baptiste Michel: Matehmatics of history • SherryTurtle: Connectedbutalona • Berry Schwartz: Paradox of choice • Laurie Santos: Monkeyeconomy • Geoffrey West: A városok és cégek meglepő matematikája

Main features of a political theory • A political theory treats the principles, guide-lines, norms and values according to which (in the thinker’s opinion) the society has to organize its institutions, functions, structures, hierarchy and its general way of working. • The aim of a political theory is to find the best way of running a society and a state. • The political thinker in question has to argue for his or her ideas, so for his or her opinion according to which she/he finds some values to be the best for a society. • She or he has to fix the most basic values according to which the society or the state has to organize itself, and its particular way of functioning. So: she or he has to say what she/he thinks to be the most important in regard of a society: the preserving the traditional values of a nation (conservativism), guaranteeing the invulnerability of sphere of personal, individual freedom (liberalism), social justice and the defense of the rights of the needy (left-wing movements, Social democracy).

How to govern a state? Two solutions • For the Greek political thinkers there were generally three possible ways of governance: kingship, aristocracy and politeia (democracy, republic). • Kingship or kingdom, which meant monarchy, was the dominance of one person or family, that „privatized” the community, and its most important resources, using the latter entirely at his and their will and pleasure. • The republic (democracy, politeia) was the community of several, principally equal citizens, who looked for the proper method of how to decide those question together, which were decided in a kingdom by only one person or just a few. • Of course there are transitional forms between republic and kingdom, which were described by the theoreticians of Athenian democracy, (e.g. oligarchy, aristocracy – the dominance of a few people).

Recurrent problems of republics • How can we achieve that everybody could have a role in the republic? – Everybody is eligible. • How can we achieve that everbody could have an equal chance to have an access to the public state? – The elections were done by means of drawing of lots (sortition). • How could we avoid the tyranny? – By ostracism. • How could we achieve that the people participate in political life in real? – We should make the participation in politics an obligation, and we should pay for managing the proper social, political, public offices.

„Assignedsovereignity” as an achievement of thehistoryof European civilization The sovereign and all-powerful monarch assigns certain rights in certain fields that an organization could determine and controll its functions and working in an autonomous, sovereign and free way. Thus emerge in the history of Europe: • Free cities, • Free guilds, • Free religious communities, • Free universities, • Free societies (e.g. Academies) • Free enterprises

Evolution of separation of powers, 1. John of Salisbury, AD1120-1180. • He wittnesses the assassination of his mentor Thomas Becket by the men of the king, Henrik II, in 1174. • His main work is „Policraticus” (1159), in which he determined the just governance limited and controlled by laws, and acceptance of separation of powers as the highest task of the monarch. • On the one hand he wrote about the difference between monarch and tyrrant, according to which the monarch subjects himself to the reign of just law, while the tyrrant subjects everything to his own subjective will and pleasure. • On the other hand he argues for that the Church is such an autonomous, sovereign organization, which falls beyond the sphere of competence of the king; thus the people, dominions, lands, properties and rights to nominate its own people to ecclesiastic positions are inviolable, invulnerable by the king.

The activitiy index of the first European Parlaments from the 11. to the 17. century. There are interesting differences development of parlamentarism between the North and South Europa

Machiavelli , "Il Principe," contains a number of maximsconcerningpolitics, butratherthanthe more traditionalsubject of a hereditaryprince, itconcentratesonthepossibility of a "newprince." Toretainpower, thehereditaryprince must carefullymaintainthesocio-politicalinstitutionstowhichthepeopleareaccustomed. Scholarsoftennotethat Machiavelli glorifiesinstrumentalityinstate-building - an approachembodiedbythesayingthat "theendsjustifythemeans.„.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)Evolution of separation of powers, 2. The pre-historical period before state organization was not – as it was generally thought by many – a time of harmony, a „golden age of young and innocent mankind”, but just the opposite: the world of permanent and brutal conflicts. It was the time of „bellum omnium contra omnes”, „the war of all against all”. But the man possesses not only instinct, but also reason, he is capable of thinking of the future, of anticipation, and it makes him able to end this period of „natural state”, following his own interests. He founds the social contract, according to which each man abandon his or her absolute right to self-affirmation, to do whatever he wants, and assign this right to an absolute sovereign – if and only every other man does the same.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) „Insuchcondition, there is no placeforindustry; becausethefruitthereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of theearth; no navigation, noruse of thecommoditiesthatmay be importedbysea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing, suchthingsasrequiremuchforce; no knowledge of thefaceoftheearth; no account of time; no arts; noletters; nosociety; and which is worst of all, continualfear, and danger of violentdeath; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. Hobbes was a champion of absolutismforthesovereignbut he alsodevelopedsome of thefundamentalsof European liberalthought: the right of theindividual; thenaturalequalityofallmen; theartificialcharacterofthepoliticalorder (whichledtothelaterdistinctionbetweencivil society and thestate); theviewthatalllegitimatepoliticalpower must be "representative" and basedontheconsent of thepeople

John Locke (1632-1704). Birth of modern state Evolution of separation of powers, 3. The man adds his work to the goods of nature, and he creates value. Thus he gains the right to have property. The work is the basis for all kind of property. This idyllic picture of natural state was collapsed by the emegence of money. The money made possible the accumulation of wealth, and it resulted great inequalities. The inequal distribution of properties brought sharp conflicts, which must be controlled. „To avoid these inconveniences, which disorder men's propperties in the state of nature, men unite into societies, that they may have the united strength of the whole society to secure and defend their properties, and may have standing rules to bound it, by which every one may know what is his”, Locke, „Second Treatise on Civil Government”, [1690], London, 1821: 306. Locke rejects Hobbes’ solution, according to which the people should abandon their rights in favour of the monarch. The people would be crazy to offer all their rights for a monarch with unlimited, absolute power, and trust their fate to this uncontrolled, unrestricted overlord.

Montesquieu (1689-1755).The share of powers, „The Spirit of the Laws” He tooks the principle of separation of powers from Locke, but he elaborates this idea in great details in his work „The Spirit of the Laws”, („De l’espirit des lois”, 1748). „In every government there are three sorts of power: the legislative; the executive in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive in regard to matters that depend on the civil law. By virtue of the first, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or perpetual laws, and amends or abrogates those that have been already enacted. By the second, he makes peace or war, sends or receives embassies, establishes the public security, and provides against invasions. By the third, he punishes criminals, or determines the disputes that arise between individuals. The latter we shall call the judiciary power, and the other simply the executive power of the state.”, The Spirit of the Laws, 11th book, 6, Of the Constitution of England.

Montesquieu. Continuation.The evolution of separation of powers, 4. Montesquieu: „The political liberty of the subject is a tranquillity of mind, arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of` another. When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may anse, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.”, The Spirit of Laws. In the background of this conception one could find a peculiar insight: the effective and succesfull governance depends primarily not on the eminence of politicians, but on the appropriate manner and character of institutions.

Montesquieu (1689-1755) Montesquieu sawtwotypes of governmentalpowerexisting: thesovereign and theadministrative. The administrativepowersweretheexecutive, thelegislative, and thejudicial. Theseshould be separatefrom and dependentuponeachothersothattheinfluence of anyonepowerwouldnot be abletoexceedthat of theothertwo, eithersinglyorincombination. Thiswas a radical idea becauseitcompletelyeliminatedthethreeEstatesstructure of theFrenchMonarchy: theclergy, thearistocracy, and thepeopleatlargerepresentedbytheEstates-General, therebyerasingthelastvestige of a feudalisticstructure.

J. Locke Locke's political theory was founded on social contract theory. Unlike Thomas Hobbes, Locke believed that human nature is characterised by reason and tolerance. Like Hobbes, Locke believed that human nature allowed men to be selfish. This is apparent with the introduction of currency. In a natural state all people were equal and independent, and everyone had a natural right to defend his “Life, health, Liberty, or Possessions".[21] Most scholars trace the phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," in the American Declaration of Independence to Locke's theory of rights,[22] though other origins have been suggested.[23]

J. Locke (2) Like Hobbes, Locke assumed that the sole right to defend in the state of nature was not enough, so people established a civil society to resolve conflicts in a civil way with help from government in a state of society. However, Locke never refers to Hobbes by name and may instead have been responding to other writers of the day.[24] Locke also advocated governmental separation of powers and believed that revolution is not only a right but an obligation in some circumstances. These ideas would come to have profound influence on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

Rousseau „The first man who, havingfencedin a piece of land, said "This is mine," and foundpeoplenaïveenoughtobelievehim, that man wasthetruefounder of civil society. Fromhowmanycrimes, wars, and murders, fromhowmanyhorrorsandmisfortunesmightnotanyonehavesavedmankind, bypullingupthestakes, orfillinguptheditch, andcryingtohisfellows: Beware of listeningtothisimpostor; youareundoneifyouonceforgetthatthefruitsoftheearthbelongtousall, and theearthitselftonobody.

The lesson of French Revolution • The theoreticians will be more suspicious and careful with the conception of unlimited, absolute power, no matter whether it is practiced by a king, a group of nobles, aristocrats or eminent political people, or the entire people. • They will be more careful with separating the representation and the final, ultimate executive power. • The claim increases amongst them towards the securing of private, individual rights, of defending the rights of the minority against the power of the actual majority of the society in question.

Separation of powers after the Second World War The number of voters (freemen) increases by leaps and bounds (the age limit is brought down, there is no property qualification in voting anymore, women got a right to vote also). The new voters are interested in voting and politics in general less – they have no time, they are disinterested and no experience either. It is a question of how their own interest could be realized in political praxis. A subtly balanced system was formed and consolidated: • Parliament (with the Opposition), Government, • Shared and separated powers, • Constitutional Court, President (King), • National Bank, National Audit Office, • Media, • Civil organizations (civil advocacy groups), local governments/ authorities, • Central Statistical Office, National Academy.

The problem of separation of powers at the end of the 20th century How could such an organization be governed, that has – in case if it is a corporation – more than one hundred thousand shareholders, and – in case if it is a state – several million citizens who have the right to vote? How could it be guaranteed that the interests of such a huge amount of „beneficiaries” - shareholders or voters – would be continually represented in real and – as far as it is possible – realized by those who were trusted to manage and take care the main duties and affairs of the community in question? These questions are justified by the same fact in both cases: the „appropriate agents” • do not see through the situation in its entire complexity, • do not take the trouble to receive detailed information in a circumspective and prudent way, • do not participate the shareholders’/owners assembly or the elections, • do not take care at all of their property/state, do not spend any time and energy concerning it; the maximum is that they whine or curse when the bankruptsy or the crisis comes in. The political and business sciences though different way but found the same solution to these questions : and the answer is the institutional way of sharing or separating of powers.

Factors of goodgovernance 1) Participation 2) Rule of law 3) Transparency 4) Responsiveness 5) Consensusorientation 6) Equity 7) Effectiveness and efficiency 8) Accountability 9) Strategicvision

Dimensions of the rule of law » Limited governmentpowers » Absence of corruption » Order and security » Fundamentalrights » Open government » Effectiveregulatoryenforcement » Access to civil justice » Effectivecriminaljustice » Informaljustice

The waves of thehistory ? 2000 1973 Population, Production, and Consumption 1929 1875 1815 1650 1300 The question: is there a change in the trends after 2000? 1000 1500 2000

History of the last 500 years in a few words Upsurge (the „long 16th century” – from 1492 to 1618) Change of speed (1650-1750) „Take-off” –(1750-1850) Acceleration (1850-1970) Run-away and overshot (1950-?) The centralquestion of 21th century: stabilizationorcollapse.

The „triple” revolution of the end of 18th century Industrial revolution (revolution of technique and technology) Political revolution (the birth of modern civil society) Social revolution (birth of new social identities: nation and class) The political ideas of 19th and 20th century was mainly determined and characterized by the ways in which the political thinkers and ideologues reacted to these events.

The liberal answer and evaluation • The triple slogan of French Revolution – liberty, equality, brotherhood – could be regarded in principle as the victory of liberal thought. The French Revolution gave birth to the unitary national state, which earlier was made up of separate orders. • The industrial revolution opened the way to a dynamic development, and the liberal thinking welcomed that. The liberal thinkers were the pioneers of technical and technological advancement and development. • They treated the social questions and problems as necessary implications of social changes and transformations. They proposed a strict and iron-handed defence of private property by the state. They considered the miseries and paurerdom as temporary problems of society, but they advocated the social reforms.

Conservative respond and evaluation • The revolution is considered as the disruption of social harmony. For a conservative thinker the revolution is nothing else but anarchy and general social confusion. It is a conspiracy against traditional state and traditional institutions organized by some free-thinkers (especially freemasonry) and libertines, carried out through the manipulation and deception of masses and the plebs. • The industrial revolution is considered as the disruption of earlier „peaceful” and „natural” mode of production, which lead to new contradictions and antinomies in the society. • They glanced at the masses of social difficulties and antinomies, at the emergence of a new and apparently uncontrollable class with fear, and principally with a critical attitude. They reject the „mechanical and alianated” civilization. They regard the disappearance of traditional society as disintegration and disorganization.

The socialist respond and evaluation • The social revolution is the motor of development, the Jacobin terror – as a necessity and respond to the counter-revolutionary revolts – is the possiblity of a radical political way to realize the social equality. • The industrial revolution is the possibility of enrichment and advancement, but every burden is placed onto the proletariat. • The social change results the emergence of a new class, which is deprived of any defence, and which is exposed to extreme urban pauperdom and neediness, to cruel conditions of work, and to necessary unemployment.

What is liberalism? Its central subjects are individual freedom, intangibility and inviolability of private property, and in favour of both is the limitation of the state, (Hobbes, then Locke). Main features: the affirmation of reason and advancament, religious tolerance, the common good or public benefit is a result of conflict and competition of private interests, free competition, pursuit of welfare through the above-mentioned issues. Liberalism emphasizes the equality of rights. Its basic claims are the principal, essential civil rights: the rights of association and assembly, the freedom of opinion and publication. With all these also some spiritual or intellectual rights: freedom of conscience and religion, and also some economic rights: the freedom of enterprise and (economic) contract.

What is conservativism? Originally it was a general tendency of traditionalism: it was the conception of advocation of traditional morals, values, religion, following of inherited rules and norms, and the maintenance of the status quo. The main feature of conservative feeling of life and style of thinking: concentrating on concrete phenomena, rejection of theoretical speculations. The conservative thinker rejects the abstract, egalitarian conception of freedom (socialism) as well as the negative conception of freedom given by the liberal thinkers. „The progressive thinker considers the actual present as the beginning of the future, while the conservative regards it as the last station of the past”, (Karl Mannheim, Conservatism. A Contribution to the Sociology of Knowledge).

What is socialism? The expression „socialism” appeared in the 30s years of the 19th century. Its advocators propagated the war against the defencelessness of the worker in the name of the man’s dignity. They supported the advancement and the civil revolution. They agree with the liberals concerning the central role of reason and rationality, and the importance of industrial revolution, but they rejected the circumstances which lead to the miserable conditions of the members of working class. In accordance with the conservatives they emphasized the importance of common values, but they rejected the idea of eternal and necessary inequality. Their aim was to realize the promises of the French Revolution to everybody: the principles of liberty, equality and brotherhood.

Political Theories