Chapter 2: Political Culture: Ideas in Conflict Flashcards
Political Culture
Widely shared ideas about who should govern, for what ends, and by what means
Widely shared ideas about who should govern, for what ends, and by what means
Beliefs and Values
Beliefs are
Shared ideas about what is true, and can determine values
Values are
Shared ideas about what is good and desirable and provide standards for judging what is right and wrong
Individual liberty
The high worth of individual liberty is widely accepted
Classical liberalism
Political philosophy asserts the worth and dignity of the individual and emphasizes the rational ability of human beings to determine their desires
Political liberty: According to John Locke, argued that a natural law, or moral principle, guaranteed every person:
“certain inalienable rights,” among them “Life, Liberty, and Happiness.”
Political liberty and Social Contract Theory
Implicit in these concepts is the belief that governmental activity and restrictions on individuals should be kept to a minimum
Economic freedom
Classical liberation as a political idea is closely associated with capitalism
Capitalism is
An economic system in which individuals have a right to own, buy, sell, rent, and trade property in a free market
Equality of Opportunity
Elimination of artificial barriers to success in life and the opportunity for everyone to strive for success
American are generally willing to have government act to ensure
Equality of opportunity
Equality of results is
Equal sharing of income and material goods regardless of one’s efforts in life
Equality of results appears to
Be growing in popularity among Americans
Fairness
Americans value “fairness” even though they do not always agree on what is fair
Income increases are due to
1) The decline of the manufacturing economic sector and the increase of communication, information, and service economic sectors
2) The rise in the number of two-wage families, female-headed households making a single wage
3) Demographic trends, including a larger elderly population
Global competition, which restrains wages in
Unskilled and semiskilled jobs while rewarding people in high technology, high-productivity occupations
Social mobility
The extent to which people move upward or downward in income and status over a lifetime or generations
Immigration policy is
The responsibility of the national government
Experience has shown that the only way to effectively reduce
Illegal immigration the flow of illegal immigration is to control it at the border
Ideology
A consistent and integrated system of ideas, values, and beliefs
Conservative support restrictions on
Abortion, endorse public religious expression, favor a war on drugs and pornography, oppose legitimizing of same-sex relationships, advocate tougher criminal penalties
Conservative support limited on
Regulations on business, limits social programs to the “truly needy”, keep taxes low, and rejects programs to equalize income or wealth
Liberals support
Extensive government social programs, extensive environmental protection, and favor programs to equalize income or wealth
Liberals oppose
Restrictions on abortion and religious expression in public; favor legalizing marijuana use; support gay rights and tolerance towards alternative lifestyles; oppose restrictions on pornography, and strive to protect the rights of criminal defendants
Populists
Support strong government to regulate business and provide economic security, and to closely regulate social conduct
Libertarian
Oppose government intervention in both economic affairs and in the private life of citizens
Left
Refers to liberal, progressive, and/or socialists side of the political spectrum
Right
Refers to the conservative, traditional, anticommunist side of the political spectrum
Fascism
A political ideology that asserts the supremacy of the state or race over individuals
Every individual, interest, and class are
Secondary to the good of the nation. It opposes rights of liberty or equality and stresses duties of service, devotion and discipline
Marxism
A political ideology that views capitalism as an economic system that allows the owning class to exploit the working class
The working class will inevitably rise across the world in a revolution to
Create a classless society. Marriage and religion will not be practiced after the revolution
Leninism
A political ideology that claims the key to a successful revolution is the organization of small, disciplined, hardcore groups of professional revolutionaries that create a centralized totalitarian party
Communism
A system of government in which a single totalitarian party controls all means of production and distribution of goods and services
Socialism
A system of government involving collective or government ownership of economic enterprise, with the goal being equality of results, not merely equality of opportunity
The agenda of academic radicalism is
Politically correct thinking
Politically correct (PC) is
Characterized by repression of attitudes, speech, and writings that are deemed racist, sexist, homophobic (anti-homosexual), or otherwise “insensitive.”
Politically correct thinking
Does not tolerate open discussion or debate
Opposition is
Denounced as “insensitive”, racist, sexist, or worse, and intimidation is frequent
