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October 22, 2009. Objectives: To develop a better understanding of political parties and ideologies. Question: What is an ideology? How does that apply to politics? Agenda: NOTES- This time you take them! Make sure to turn in your Reviews from the test, as well as your Nation State papers
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October 22, 2009 • Objectives: To develop a better understanding of political parties and ideologies. • Question: What is an ideology? How does that apply to politics? • Agenda: NOTES- This time you take them! • Make sure to turn in your Reviews from the test, as well as your Nation State papers • For tomorrow: Bring with you printed items to work on your CBA! I will give you a set of due dates as well as a calendar for this unit.
Left Right What is a political spectrum? • A way to measure and compare governments, economies, and other politically influenced differences
What does the political spectrum help us measure? • There are various different opinions about what is actually being measured along this axis: • Whether the state should prioritize equality (left) or liberty (right). • Whether the government's involvement with the economy should be interventionist (left) or laissez-faire (right). • Whether the government should be secular and separate itself from religious beliefs (left) or should take a stance of religious morality (right). Fair outcomes (left) versus fair processes (right) • Whether one embraces change (left) or prefers rigorous justification for change (right) • Whether human nature and society is malleable (left) or fixed (right). • Support for the economic interests of the poor (left) or the rich (right).
The Political Spectrum • The 3 Major Characteristics of the Political Spectrum • 1. The DEGREE/SCOPE of change • 2. The DIRECTION of change • 3. The METHOD of change
THE DEGREE/SCOPE OF CHANGE • As you move away from the the center of the political spectrum, your want of change becomes greater • Liberals and Conservatives want minimal change • Reactionaries and Radicals want maximum change
THE DIRECTION OF CHANGE • As you move to the right on the political spectrum, you become more retrogressive in the type of change desired (have more traditional views and desires) • As you move to the left on the political spectrum, you become more progressive in the type of change desired (have more of a modern view and desires)
THE METHOD OF CHANGE • Those closer to the center of the spectrum will use the current political system to institute their changes • Those further away from the center of the spectrum will use revolutionary methods to institute their changes • As you move away from the center, the method of change can become more violent • Conservatives see the individual as the major instrument of change • Liberals see government as the major instrument of change
Left Right What does it measure? Beliefs on anything: • Political issues • Foreign policy, size of gov’t, censorship • Economic issues • Taxes, nationalized systems • Social issues • Welfare, Social Security, marriage
Left and Right: The Political Spectrum The most common comparative model of ideological preference in the US Left Wing Right Wing Communism Socialism Liberalism Centrism Conservatism Statism Fascism
World Political Spectrum Left Right Socialism Socialism • Government controls everything to force equality • “Classes and greed make people poor” • Evens out wealth among people, give everyone equal/fair standing in society, provide services through taxes • The government is ‘for’ the people • Extreme: militaristic; used to keep ‘equality’ Small scale: May be used for specific systems within democratic countries (health care, education, etc.)
World Political Spectrum Left Right Socialism Communism • Extreme economic form of Socialism • Government controls entire economy • Don’t allow competition = no greed, inequality • Provide everything (jobs, housing, etc) • Keep everyone middle class • Tends to be a dictatorship Communism
The U.S. World Political Spectrum Left Right Socialism Fascism/Nazism • Government controls everything to create the perfect nation/race; heavy nationalism • Business remains private but controlled by national gov’t • People are ‘for’ the government and don’t matter • Nation/State > people • Military nation; forces compliance Communism Fascism/Nazism KKK
So, is it helpful? • It’s based on a “law of averages” • Many debate placement on the single-axis spectrum because groupings are not always correct
Interventionist foreign policy Isolationist foreign policy Raise taxes on wealthy Lower taxes Pro-Choice Pro-Life • Most political scientists have transitioned into a dual-axis “compass” or a three-axis model • You can measure whatever you want on an axis:
Authoritarian The Political Compass Economic Scale Right (Capitalism) Left (Communism) Social/Political Scale Anarchism
Authoritarian Josef Stalin Hitler Saddam Hussein United Nations Ronald Reagan Tony Blair JFK Right (Capitalism) Left (Communism) FDR Anarchism
“American Political Compass” Libertarian Right(Conservative) Left(Liberal) Centrist Economic Issues Statist(Big Gov’t) Personal Issues
The Political Compass:Political Control vs. Economic Freedom With a Cowsmic view of things…
Authoritarian Left/Communism Right/Capitalism Anarchism
Authoritarian One political leader with absolute power (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition, etc.) Dictatorship Oligarchy Collective ownership of property and the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members. Government by the people, exercised through representatives selected in a popular vote Rule by a collective or group who make all decisions without outside inputs Republican Democracy Left/Communism Right/Capitalism Communism Capitalism Means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned, and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. Government by the people, who are directly involved on all decisions Pure Democracy The absence of any form of political state or leadership Anarchy Anarchism
Pure Communism You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk. Actual Communism You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. There’s not a lot, it is expensive and smells really funky. . .
Capitalism You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Creative Capitalism You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows' milk back to the listed company. The annual report says that the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Meanwhile, you kill the two cows because the Feng Shui of their barn is bad.
Anarchy You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price, or your neighbors kill you and take the cows. Dictatorship You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.
Pure Democracy You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk. Representative Democracy You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk. Bureaucracy You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. After that, it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.
Authoritarian Centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of opposition through terror and censorship; typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and/or racism. Dictatorship Fascism Oligarchy Socialism RepublicanDemocracy Left/Communism Right/Capitalism Communism Capitalism The means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively (or by a centralized government) that often plans and controls the economy to maintain social and economic equality. Pure Democracy Anarchy Anarchism
Fascism You have two cows. The government lets you keep them but tells you what price to sell the milk for the good of the nation. Pure Socialism You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need. Bureaucratic Socialism You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the birds the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and as many eggs as the regulations say you should need.
Totalitarianism Fascism Authoritarian Dictatorship Oligarchy Reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during the Middle Ages, revolving around three key groups: lords, vassals and fiefs Militarism Feudalism Socialism Predominance of the armed forces and collective military responsibility in the administration or policy of the state. RepublicanDemocracy Left/Communism Right/Capitalism Communism Capitalism Government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed. Pure Democracy Anarchy Anarchism
Feudalism You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk and agrees to protect you from the mad British cows. Militarism You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you. Totalitarianism You have two cows. The government takes both and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned. …McDonaldsim You have 2 cows, you mix them with soy and create hamburgers to sell to the world population
Fascism Authoritarian Dictatorship China 2050? Castro’s Cuba Stalin’s USSR Where China thinks they are… Where China actually is today Socialism Venezuela Modern day Europe RepublicanDemocracy Left/Communism Right/Capitalism Communism Capitalism Collapse of central government in mid-1990s led to country run by economic opportunists, terrorists, and militaristic gangs. Currently trying to reestablish central government, but it controls only part of the capitol and none of the body of the country. Pure Democracy Anarchy Somalia Anarchism
Social Economic Political
Social Traditional political spectrum. Left Libertarian Liberal Conservative Statist /Authoritarian Right Economic Monarchy Oligarchy Republic Democracy Anarchy Political