Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal

1. Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal Chapter 1 Ideology and Ideologies

2. A Working Definition of “Ideology”

3. A Working Definition of “Ideology” • Ideology: a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that:

4. A Working Definition of “Ideology” • Ideology: a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that: • explains and evaluates social conditions

5. A Working Definition of “Ideology” • Ideology: a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that: • explains and evaluates social conditions • helps people understand their place in society

6. A Working Definition of “Ideology” • Ideology: a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that: • explains and evaluates social conditions • helps people understand their place in society • provides a program for social and political action

7. The Four Functions of “Ideology”

8. The Four Functions of “Ideology” • Explanatory

9. The Four Functions of “Ideology” • Explanatory • Evaluative

10. The Four Functions of “Ideology” • Explanatory • Evaluative • Orientates

11. The Four Functions of “Ideology” • Explanatory • Evaluative • Orientates • Programmatic

12. The Four Functions of “Ideology” • Explanatory • Evaluative • Orientates • Programmatic • Ideologies perform these four functions because they are trying to link _____ to ______.

13. The Four Functions of “Ideology” • Explanatory • Evaluative • Orientates • Programmatic • Ideologies perform these four functions because they are trying to link thought to action. • Ideologies provide a vision of the social and political world as it __and as it _____ be.

14. 1. Explanation

15. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are?

16. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are? • Particularly in times of crisis people will search for some explanation of what is happening.

17. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are? • Particularly in times of crisis people will search for some explanation of what is happening. • Why are there wars?

18. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are? • Particularly in times of crisis people will search for some explanation of what is happening. • Why are there wars? • Why do depressions occur?

19. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are? • Particularly in times of crisis people will search for some explanation of what is happening. • Why are there wars? • Why do depressions occur? • What causes unemployment?

20. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are? • Particularly in times of crisis people will search for some explanation of what is happening. • Why are there wars? • Why do depressions occur? • What causes unemployment? • Why are some people rich and others poor?

21. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are? • Particularly in times of crisis people will search for some explanation of what is happening. • Why are there wars? • Why do depressions occur? • What causes unemployment? • Why are some people rich and others poor? • Why are relations between different races so often strained, difficult, or hostile?

22. 1. Explanation • Why are social, political, and economic conditions as they are? • Particularly in times of crisis people will search for some explanation of what is happening. • Why are there wars? • Why do depressions occur? • What causes unemployment? • Why are some people rich and others poor? • Why are relations between different races so often strained, difficult, or hostile? • Every ideology tries to answer these questions and to make sense of the complicated world in which we live.

23. 2. Evaluation

24. 2. Evaluation • By which standards and criteria are we to evaluate social conditions?

25. 2. Evaluation • By which standards and criteria are we to evaluate social conditions? • Given a certain set of social conditions, how do we decide whether things are good or bad?

26. 2. Evaluation • By which standards and criteria are we to evaluate social conditions? • Given a certain set of social conditions, how do we decide whether things are good or bad? • Are all wars evils to be avoided, or are some morally justifiable?

27. 2. Evaluation • By which standards and criteria are we to evaluate social conditions? • Given a certain set of social conditions, how do we decide whether things are good or bad? • Are all wars evils to be avoided, or are some morally justifiable? • Are depressions a normal part of the business cycle or a symptom of a sick economic system?

28. 2. Evaluation • By which standards and criteria are we to evaluate social conditions? • Given a certain set of social conditions, how do we decide whether things are good or bad? • Are all wars evils to be avoided, or are some morally justifiable? • Are depressions a normal part of the business cycle or a symptom of a sick economic system? • Is full employment a reasonable ideal or a naive pipe dream?

29. 2. Evaluation • By which standards and criteria are we to evaluate social conditions? • Given a certain set of social conditions, how do we decide whether things are good or bad? • Are all wars evils to be avoided, or are some morally justifiable? • Are depressions a normal part of the business cycle or a symptom of a sick economic system? • Is full employment a reasonable ideal or a naive pipe dream? • Are vast disparities in wealth between rich and poor desirable or undesirable?

30. 2. Evaluation • By which standards and criteria are we to evaluate social conditions? • Given a certain set of social conditions, how do we decide whether things are good or bad? • Are all wars evils to be avoided, or are some morally justifiable? • Are depressions a normal part of the business cycle or a symptom of a sick economic system? • Is full employment a reasonable ideal or a naive pipe dream? • Are vast disparities in wealth between rich and poor desirable or undesirable? • Are racial tensions inevitable or avoidable?

31. 3. Orientation

32. 3. Orientation • Who am I? To which groups do I belong, and how am I related to the rest of the world?

33. 3. Orientation • Who am I? To which groups do I belong, and how am I related to the rest of the world? • An ideology supplies a person with an orientation and a sense of identity— the group (race, nation, sex, and so on) to which he or she belongs, and how he or she is related to the rest of the world.

34. 3. Orientation • Who am I? To which groups do I belong, and how am I related to the rest of the world? • An ideology supplies a person with an orientation and a sense of identity— the group (race, nation, sex, and so on) to which he or she belongs, and how he or she is related to the rest of the world. • If you are a communist, for example, you think of yourself as a member of the working class.

35. 3. Orientation • Who am I? To which groups do I belong, and how am I related to the rest of the world? • An ideology supplies a person with an orientation and a sense of identity— the group (race, nation, sex, and so on) to which he or she belongs, and how he or she is related to the rest of the world. • If you are a communist, for example, you think of yourself as a member of the working class. • If you are as feminist, you think of yourself as first and foremost a woman.

36. Political Ideologies • Gender • “Race” • Class • Religion • Nationality

37. 4. Political Program

38. 4. Political Program • “What is to be done?”

39. 4. Political Program • “What is to be done?” • An ideology performs a programmatic or prescriptive function by setting out a program of action.

40. 4. Political Program • “What is to be done?” • An ideology performs a programmatic or prescriptive function by setting out a program of action. • An ideology tells its followers what to do and how to do it.

41. 4. Political Program • “What is to be done?” • An ideology performs a programmatic or prescriptive function by setting out a program of action. • An ideology tells its followers what to do and how to do it. • Having diagnosed social conditions that are bad, ideologies supply a program for action that may improve matters.

42. What counts as an ideology?

43. What counts as an ideology? • To qualify as an ideology, a system of ideas must perform the four functions specified in the functional definition.

44. What counts as an ideology? • To qualify as an ideology, a system of ideas must perform the four functions specified in the functional definition. • Common misconceptions:

45. What counts as an ideology? • To qualify as an ideology, a system of ideas must perform the four functions specified in the functional definition. • Common misconceptions: • Any word that ends in “ism” is an ideology • Alcoholism, Magnetism, Nationalism, Anarchism

46. What counts as an ideology? • To qualify as an ideology, a system of ideas must perform the four functions specified in the functional definition. • Common misconceptions: • Any word that ends in “ism” is an ideology • Alcoholism, Magnetism, Nationalism, Anarchism • Democracy is an ideology • Democracy is an ideal to which nearly all ideologies aspire

47. What counts as an ideology? • To qualify as an ideology, a system of ideas must perform the four functions specified in the functional definition. • Common misconceptions: • Any word that ends in “ism” is an ideology • Alcoholism, Magnetism, Nationalism, Anarchism • Democracy is an ideology • Democracy is an ideal to which nearly all ideologies aspire • Religions and other “belief systems” are ideologies • Religion tends to be focused on the supernatural and the divine; ideologies focus on the here and now

48. Human Nature and Freedom

49. Human Nature and Freedom • HUMAN NATURE • the basic human drives & motivations

50. Human Nature and Freedom • HUMAN NATURE • the basic human drives & motivations • set limits on what is possible by saying what humans are truly like and what they can achieve.