In power and choice - modern ideology and political philosophy

Question 1

What is an ideology?

Answer 1

An ideology is an organised set of related ideas that modify one another and that evolves as new quandaries are presented.

Question 2

How are ideologies useful?

Answer 2

Ideologies are useful in that they help us make sense reasonably easily and quickly of the varied political questions that come to our attention.

They are also useful in the public sphere. They can be used in order to persuade individuals and gather allies for public arguments.

They help us guide our decisions.

Question 3

What are the two main American ideologies?

Answer 3

American Liberalism and American Conservatism.

Question 4

How do we determine an ideology and give an example?

Answer 4

This is usually done through an intellectual structure - a core value or values, from which we can derive a number of disparate policy positions by deduction. An example of this in Liberalism would be ‘all individuals should be able to develop their capacities to the fullest deducing from this the protection of free speech.

Question 5

What are the core values of American Liberalism?

Answer 5

A big tradition for supporting underdogs. In terms of policy this includes support for economic equality; interests of ethnic minorities, women and gays; environmental protection; defence of freedom of expression.

Question 6

What are the core values of American conservatism?

Answer 6

This traditionally emphasises a smaller role for government. This has led to positions such as the right to guns without regulation; the right of consumers to make decisions free of oversight; the right of businesses to operate with minimum government regulation. Morale and spiritual concerns have also been voiced in the opposition to legalise abortion.

Question 7

Why are both American conservatism and liberalism not tidy ideologies?

Answer 7

This is because individuals usually agree with different policies in different ideologies. It is rare to see someone completely embody one ideology entirely.

Question 8

How does the two party system affect ideology?

Answer 8

It is usually the case that people squeeze into a coalition even though they may have wide ranging ideas on different issues. This is proven by the fact that issues migrate between ideologies. An example of this can be seen by the migration of abortion from as an issue from liberals to conservatism’s due to the rise of feminism

Question 9

Why are ideologies more prevalent now and what lies beneath this?

Answer 9

Possible reasons include new techniques and technology (direct mailings, focus groups, polling, social media) that have made it easier for ideologues to raise money and fire up their troops; the involvement of the newly active religious right; abortion; partisan realignment of the 1960s and 1970s in which the south moved to the republican party.

Ultimately however, it is because ideologies articulate real conflicts between real groups in the population.

Question 10

Where did the three main ideologies develop?

Answer 10

Liberalism, conservatism and socialism developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth century in Europe.

Question 11

What created the modern state and liberalism?

Answer 11

The growth of trade and commerce, as it necessitated a move away from the the strict arrangements of the medieval period in which people were bound to each other in complex systems of domination and the arrangements themselves were static and difficult to change due to many things being granted in perpetuity.

Question 12

What is liberalism’s core value and what does this require?

Answer 12

The ability of members to develop their individual capacities to the fullest. That is, in a good society, all individuals should be able to develop their minds, musical talents, athletic abilities, or any other gift as much as possible. This requires that people be responsible for their own actions so they may develop. This also requires choice of the individual and a limitation of politics itself.

Question 13

How did conservatism develop?

Answer 13

Conservatism developed as a response to liberalism as defenders of the existing social arrangement needed its own ideology.

Question 14

What is conservatisms core value and how does this differ from liberalism?

Answer 14

Conservatisms core value is the order and structure of society and the maintenance of this ordered community and of common values.

Liberalists focus on the individual and the parts of a group as opposed to the sum of its parts. Conservatism views this as selfish and lonely with no regard for the people around them.

Question 15

How do conservatives view power?

Answer 15

Conservatives accept and welcome power. They think appropriate arrangements for power will ensure good treatment for everyone.

Question 16

How do conservatives view the responsibilities of power?

Answer 16

They view them as binding and shaping its holder in a good way as to increase responsibility.

Question 17

How do Liberals and conservatives view religion?

Answer 17

Liberals are wary of religion as being part of the state. Conservatives traditionally welcome the values of religion but recent generations have decreased in religious practice.

Question 18

How do we characterise the politics of most western European states since WW2?

Answer 18

As a conflict between moderate socialism and a modified conservatism.

Question 19

Why did Liberals move to socialism in the late nineteenth century?

Answer 19

They found themselves too reliant on government socially and economically causing them to question the basic philosophies of Liberalism.

Question 20

What is Socialism?

Answer 20

Socialism assumes that all persons deserve equal treatment by the state and equal opportunities to develop themselves. Where it differs from Liberalism is in the the way people develop - through class.

Question 21

What was Socialisms view of the working class and their role?

Answer 21

The view is that the working class is oppressed in which they give up their Labour in order to feed the rich capitalist class. As a result the view was that the working class should take over government and the government should take over industry so that workers through government would control the industry they work in and ensure fair treatment for everyone.

Question 22

What was Marx’s theory of history?

Answer 22

That a revolution of the working class was inevitable. That history was a repetition of domination by one group and revolution by another.

Question 23

How was communism created?

Answer 23

Communism was created as the revolutionist side of socialism as opposed to the democratic socialist parties. This started with Lenin’s creation of the USSR.

Question 24

What constitutes fascism?

Answer 24

It is not an ideology as leaders of fascism reject intellectualism and ideology. Analysts, in turn, look at what fascists did. They have found that it constitutes mostly a rejection of institutions and modern life as well as a national rebirth with a charismatic dictatorial leader.

Question 25

Who did fascism appeal to?

Answer 25

Those who were left out of society such as the traditional elites in Spain and Italy and the middle class, small farmers and shopkeepers in Germany.

Question 26

What is the discourse on ideology in the twenty first century?

Answer 26

Liberalism has blended more with socialism in sharing ideas as the prominent ideology of the left. Green parties have also risen in the West. Anti-immigrant parties like France’s national front has also seen the possible rise of Fascism in France. Religious states supported by militant Islam have also taken hold in the North of Africa, the Mideast and South Asia. Faith has also been a big part of the religious strand of American conservatism.

Question 27

What is Neoliberalism?

Answer 27

Neoliberalism is adoption of a lack of regulation in the government regarding the economy including lower trade barriers and independent central banks without adopting the full ideology of liberalism.

Question 28

Why is it that religion is able to influence politics so strongly and what is its relationship to an ideology?

Answer 28

This is mainly because of the fundamentalist religious beliefs in which an individual takes every word within scripture literally. Less fundamentalist believers are more open to interpretation - this is more akin to an ideology. Religious groups and individuals - more specifically the fundamentalists - are more easily swayed due to religions effect on emotions like love and hate. This is rooted in the idea that religion is not just an ideology but an identity group. Furthermore it is not an ideology in the same sense as Liberalism due to its static nature and lack of compromise.

Question 29

Why does ideology arise?

Answer 29

This is out of the need to deal with prominent problems and dilemmas that people face.

Question 30

How did changes in the major problems of society over the past millennia shape the development of political philosophy?

Answer 30

Changes in the major problems of society led to groups and individuals creating solutions, methods and ideas in dealing with these problems. As problems changed so did the ideas evolve to deal with them. Examples of this can be seen with Machiavelli in reaction to the power of the Church and Thomas Hobbes’ dense of authority in reaction to a republican England.