Political Thought

2. Political Thought

3. 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

4. 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.)

5. 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

6. Traditionalism Basic features Associated US region Advantages Disadvantages Stability Predictability Laws and customs tend to remain constant • Strong attachment to long-established institutions • Preference for traditional ‘modes and orders’ • Suspicion of change • Family legacies The “Old South”: South Carolina North Carolina Virginia Tennessee Georgia Mississippi Alabama Louisiana Texas What about Canada? Inflexibility Lack of social mobility Tolerance of corruption in the public sector Hostility to reform Fatalism Examples: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” “You can’t fight city hall.” Uncontested elections Political Dynasties (Bush, Thurmond, Moncrieff, Kennedy)

7. Individualism Basic features Associated US region Advantages Disadvantages Opportunity Privacy Recognition of individual efforts Accountability • 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”: Wyoming Texas Colorado New Mexico Arizona Nevada Montana North Dakota South Dakota Canada? Isolation Lack of community support Intolerance of public sector involvement Tolerance 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”

8. Moralism Basic features Associated US region Advantages Disadvantages Community Accountability Active social support structures “safety nets” • Strong belief in community, “commonwealth” • Preference for formal community action • Suspicion of private institutions and interests • Strong regulatory presence “New England”: Massachusetts New Hampshire Connecticut Maine New York Pennsylvania Also prevalent in the Pacific NW and in capital cities Canada? • 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 programs Public education programs

9. 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

10. Examples of ideologies • Economic ideologies • capitalism • communism • globalism • protectionism • Keynesianism • monetarism • Market fundamentalism • Political ideologies • Libertarianism • Liberalism • Conservatism • Anarchism • Socialism • Fascism • Communism • Communitarianism • Statism • Social ideologies • Tribalism • Ethnocentrism • Nationalism • Feminism • Multiculturalism • Supremacism

11. 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

12. 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

13. Comparative Ideology: Left and Right Wings Motto of the French Revolution: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (liberty, equality, brotherhood) Origins in the French National Assembly 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

14. 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

15. Radical Liberal Moderate Conservative Reactionary Left Right Centre

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. The political spectrum diagrammed The extremes are not democratic. Left Right

22. Moderate Liberal Conservative democracy dictatorship Radical Reactionary Left Right

23. Left and Right: The Political Spectrum The most common comparative model of ideological preference in the West (USA, Canada, UK) Left Wing Right Wing Communism Socialism Liberalism Centrism Conservatism Statism Fascism

24. 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

25. Ideology Applied to Issues

26. Problems in Society

27. Government in Society

28. Equality and Freedom

29. The People’s Rights

30. Morality

31. Democrats vs. Republicans (USA)

32. NDP vs. Green vs. Liberal vs. Conservative (Canada)

33. 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

34. Problems with the Left-Right Spectrum