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PART 8 IDEOLOGIES

IDEOLOGYis a verbal image of the good society, and of the

chief means of constructing such a society. (AnthonyDowns)

It is a comprehensive set of beliefs and attitudes about social

and economic institutions and processes. It suggests the means for moving from the existing to the ideal.

Notes:

Ideologies are not purely political.

Political ideologies are not the same as political science.

Ideologies are important cement holding together

movements, political parties and revolutionary groups.

Not all ideologies preach revolutions.

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The Major Ideologies

A. Classic Liberalism is anchored basically on the ideas of

the Scottish economist Adam Smith. He published a bookcalled The Wealth of Nations founding classic laissez-faire economics.

In Mercantilism, the wealth of a nation is determined by the

amount of gold and silver bullions in the treasury.In laissez-faire (French which means letting the economy

alone), the wealth of a nation is determined by the amountof goods and services a nations people produce.

Getting the government out of the economy will give youthe best system.

The market itself, will regulate the economy through theunseen hand (the rational calculations of individuals all

pursuing their Self-interest.

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Just as the government should not supervise the economy,so also should it not supervise religion, the press or free

speech. Government is best that governs least. (Thomas Jefferson)

Liberalism comes from the Latin word, liber, meaning free.

Note:During the 19th century changed and split into modern

liberalism and what we call now conservatism.

B. Classic Conservatism is largely based on the ideas ofEdmund Burke, an Irish who was a member parliamentrepresenting Bristol, England. In 1792, in his workReflexions on the Revolution in France, he predicted thatFrance would fall under the rule of a military dictator. In

1799, Napoleon took over.

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According to Burke, humans are only partly rational

thats why society over the years has evolved traditions,

institutions and standards of morality.

Institutions and traditions are products of hundred of

years of trial and error and cannot be all too bad.

Remove these traditions, institutions and standards, and

you will have chaos which will result to tyranny. Change can happen but should only be gradually so as

to let the people adjust.

Burkes emphasis on religion, traditions and morality

strikes a responsive chord in many modern conservativehearts.

Burkes ideas have been called anti-ideology because

they aimed to shoot down radicalism.

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C. Modern Liberalism was brought about by EnglishmanThomas Hill Greens rethinking of Liberalism in the late 19 thcentury.

According to Green, the goal of liberalism is freedom, andif economic developments take away that very freedom,the government must step in.

Ex. To ensure that the wages of workers are abovestarvation level, the government must take measuresguaranteeing the peoples freedom to live at an adequatelevel.

Classic liberalism had expelled government from themarketplace, modern liberalism brought it back to protectthe people from a sometimes unfair economic system.

Modern liberals championed wage and hour laws, the rightto form unions, unemployment and health insurance,educational opportunity to all.

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One strand of the classic liberalism that remains in themodern liberalism is the emphasis on the freedom of the

press and speech.

D.Modern Conservatism is basically the ideology of thosepeople who remained true to Adam Smiths originaldoctrine of minimal government intervention.

Milton Friedman argued that the original doctrine of AdamSmith is still the best route and that whenever governmentintervenes, it messes things up.

Modern Conservatism also borrowed from Burkesconcern for tradition especially in religion.

Modern conservatism is therefore a blend of the economicideas of Adam Smith and the traditionalist ideas ofEdmund Burke.

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Note:

Contemporary Americans who emphasize freedom of themarket think of themselves as conservatives simply

because they disagree with those Americans who callthemselves liberals. Nevertheless, these Americans areseen by Europeans as liberals and the Americans thinkthose European liberals who adhere to the freedom of themarket doctrine as actually conservatives.

E. Socialism is an ideology that evolved out of concern forthe suffering caused by human exploitation of otherhumans.

Socialists believe that human beings readily engage incooperative social activity when given a chance. However,there are structures of control that make it impossible forthis cooperative instinct to thrive in a society.

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The possibility to acquire unlimited property hasstimulated the greed that causes some people to exploitothers.

To remedy this, it is imperative to establish a communityin which the land , the factories and other means ofproduction are owned by the state.

The Development of Socialism The early socialists believe that the suffering of the

people because of the excesses of the ruling classescan be eliminated peacefully and cooperatively throughan evolutionary process. Karl Marx believed otherwise.

Karl Marx and his collaboratorFriedrich Engelsdeveloped a more complex and elaborate version ofsocialism which they termed communism (for othersMarxism).

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Marx asserted that human history has five stages ofeconomic organization:

1. Communalism2. Slavery

3. Feudalism

4. Capitalism

5. CommunismNote: Each stage was characterized by a different dominantmode of production and the social system was determinedby those who owned the means of productions.

Capitalism would inevitably replaced by a fifth and finalstage called communism in which all the productiveadvantages of the earlier stages would be retained butcontrol over the means of production would be restored tothe people who did the producing, the workers.

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Class struggle was the inevitable by-product of the non-communal control of the means of production.

The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of itsruling class.

Let the ruling classes trembleThe proletarians havenothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

Vladimir Lenins Major Contributions to Marxism:1. A communist revolution is possible even in States that had only been

partially industrialized;

2. Imperialism extended the life of capitalism by developing supplementarymarkets and a new source of cheap labor and material;

3. A revolution would have to be the work of a small party of dedicated and

informed revolutionaries who would take it upon themselves to act in theinterests of the proletariat at first;

4. The first stage of the revolution would produce a socialist system in whichthe apparatus of the State would still be necessary.

5. Communism would appear only and the withering of the State when it was

finally possible to introduce the formula of from each according to hisabilityto each according to his needs.

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Mao Zedongs contributions to communist dogmas

(China)

1. The use of guerrilla warfare as an instrument of politicalchange and as a tool of military takeover;

2. The massline of action could be developed by

reconciling what the masses will support and what the

party thinks they should support;3. Economic backwardness could be overcome by

encouraging the people to draw on their own common

sense and experience rather than relying on foreign

models.

Democratic Socialism is a moderate form of socialismreferred to by others as revisionism or

counterrevolutionary by the Soviet Communists.

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Democratic Socialists reject the idea that thedesperate conflict of the classes can only be endedthrough a workers revolution.

The beliefs of the Moderate Socialists:1. Contemporary society is based on class struggle;

2. The ideal society is one in which workers control the State;

3. Revolution is not essential to achieve that ideal;

4. The chief task is to organize the working class, develop itsconsciousness and give it a voice in local and nationalgovernment.

Modern-day meaning of Socialism would include:

1. No exploitation of man by man;2. A comprehensive guarantee of socio-economic rights;

3. Concern for equality;

4. Collective ownership;

5. Communal participation in the disposal of resources.

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The recent developments in the world today have ledsome people to argue that the ideological demands for a

fully socialist system are now out of the question.

F. Fascism is predicated on the belief that what is mostimportant is the nation itself.

This ideology believes that for citizens to prosper, thenation must proper first. The people are thereforesecondary only to that of the nation they live in.

It is extreme nationalism.

Similar to Conservatism, it accepts that some humansare naturally better than the others. However, forfascists, being better is not a matter of social class orcircumstance but of race and nationality.

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In Fascism, the greatest good could be achieved when

the superior people put themselves in the service of an

organization that would permit them to engage in thisperpetual struggle to kill others who are inferior.

Under this system, all human interactions, including

economic exchange, come under the sway of the state

and the leader. No dogma, discipline suffices.

The Italians under Mussolini and the Germans under

Hitler were the first to elevate fascist practices to the

heights of philosophy after the First world War. One can still find expressions of fascist principles among

right-wing terrorist organizations, secret paramilitary

groups defending dictators, religious cults etc.

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Ideology in Our Day

A. Feminism is anchored on the belief that women are atleast the equals of men, that they deserve equal inclusionin society and that they have been denied that status forcenturies of human history.

Early feminists were not seeking to create a new ideology,

they simply wanted to modify those that exist, notably,liberalism and Marxist socialism.

Contemporary feminists have placed more and moreemphasis on themes of their own: the idea of thepatriarchal society in which the oppression of women by

men precedes all other forms of oppression. The poststructuralist feminists argue that women can only

break free of the confines of patriarchal language andpractice by challenging/deconstructing all established

categories of social identity (race, class, gender)

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FACTORS that contributed to the emergence ofModern-Day Womens Movements:

1. Climate of Social Change. (Civil rights movements in the

United States)

2. Sense of Collective Injustice.3. Organization. It was made possible because of the

creation of communication networks among politically activeyoung women.

4. Structural Change. Women started to marry and havechildren later. More women realized that they have moretime for work outside of their homes.

B.Ethnic Nationalism is sub-nationalism based on

ethnicity

Nationalismis the belief that the interests of onesown nation must take precedence over those of anyindividual, any group, any other nation andwhen

they are in conflictthose of the state itself.

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The rise of nationalism tends to be strongly associated withthose times when a people are reaching out collectively tomaximize their collective power either by extending theirdominion over other peoples (expansionist nationalism) orby freeing themselves from domination by others (rebellionagainst colonial domination).

In ethnic nationalism, the domination that is resented may or

may not have been originally established by imperialconquest but it is always regarded as imposed by personswho are not like them.

Ethnic nationalism has become a driving force for politicalchange. However, others believe that it is still not an

ideology because it is largely without content. It simplysuggests that if you keep cheering for your nation long andhard enough, other problems will sort themselves out (ex.problems of unemployment, economic growth andimprovement of the human condition)

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C. Religious Fundamentalism is anchored on the beliefthat the truth can be found in the sacred texts of theirreligion, that in respecting that truth they live in a well-

ordered world, but that the tradition that guaranteesthem religious truth is threatened. (Neils C. Nielsen)

Notable Characteristics of Religious Fundamentalism:

1. The division of the world into believers and non-believers.

2. The sense of being the specially chosen people

3. The belief in the pre-ordained destiny that includes the

creation of a new heaven on earth4. The conviction that a sinister opposition is at work to

attempt to prevent the inevitable millennium

5. Conversion means an altogether total transformation,a complete and drastic change.

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Fundamentalists share more explicitly political beliefs. If

all truths can be found in the sacred texts, then how to

set up a government must also be in accordance withwhat is written in those texts.

Religious fundamentalists seek to establish a society in

which the modern secular division between private and

public is abolished. In such a state, all human behaviors

would be governed by religious teachings.

The religious state knows what God requires and sees to

it that He is obeyed.

Religious fundamentalism believes that the modern state

has lost its way, that socio-economic institutions must be

closely governed by religious precepts and that a new

day is coming when religious governance will prevail.

The means of moving toward a religious state vary.

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The Language of Ideology

Terms that are often misused:

Left is used for ideologies that take a positive view of humannature and demonstrate a conviction that change andprogress are necessary and possible to improve the humancondition. (Liberalism, Feminism and Socialism)

Right is used for ideologies that take a more pessimistic view

of human nature and a conviction that it is important tomaintain tradition and order. (Conservatism, ReligiousFundamentalism, Fascism)

Democracy is not an ideology. It is simply a description of therelationship between the people and their leaders.

Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism are not ideologies.They are political systems in which political power isconcentrated in the hands of a few.

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Key Characteristics of Major Political Ideologies

Preferred Means of Effecting Change

Far Left: RevolutionCenter: Persuasion and democratic elections

Far Right: Coup detat

View of Human Nature

Far Left: Predominantly unselfish and social

Center: Somewhat selfish, yet social

Far Right: Selfish, unsocial

Role of State:Far Left: Ensure fair distribution of wealth

Center: Protect Individual liberty

Far Right: Total Control

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Most Important Values

Far Left: Economic Equality

Center: Freedom and political equalityFar Right: Order

Placement in the Political Spectrum

Communism (Extreme Socialism): Far Left

Socialism, Feminism: LeftLiberalism: Center

Conservatism, Religious Fundamentalism: Right

Fascism: Far Right

Daniel Bell, a Harvard sociologist advanced the thesis thatthe great ideological debates were coming to an end.The focus of the debate would be on the technicalquestions of how to run the welfare state.

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Francis Fukuyama, a political scientist, advanced thethesis that with the end of ideology comes the end of

history in the sense of the struggle of great ideas.

According to him, life is getting boring.

Ideological debates continue because of the following:

1. The collapse of communism in Europe does not

disprove Marxs original ideas.

2. There are other ideologies besides socialism.

3. Socialist thoughts are still alive even in capitalist

democratic nations.