Lectures 5-6

Question 1

Wealth of Nations

Answer 1

Written by Adam Smith in 1776, the book explores his belief in the “invisible hand of self interest”, which is the the idea that individuals acting freely in a market will achieve the best economic utility.
“By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.”

Question 2

On Liberty

Answer 2

Written by J.S. Mill in 1859. Defines three types of liberty: liberty of thought, liberty of Action, and liberty of association. In this work, Mill also

Question 3

Welfare Liberalism

Answer 3

A form of liberalism that believes in positve freedoms and equity. It is an idealogy that belives in state intervention (that the state has a duty to provide) and therefore advocates for redistribution of wealth and “tax and spend”.

Question 4

Libertarianism

Answer 4

An idealogy that seeks to maximize autonomy and political freedom by limiting the state, which it believes should only interfere to protect natural rights.

Question 5

The Enlightenment

Answer 5

An intellectual and philosophical movement that originated in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries that espoused secularism, the individual, reason, and skepticism of knowledge.

Question 6

Classical Liberalism

Answer 6

A form of liberalism that values individual rights as paramount. This includes a free market, division between public and private spheres, equality of opportunity, and a representative government. This idealogy also involves the concept of the “rule of law”, where a state is expected to use force to protect individual freedoms.

Question 7

Nationalism

Answer 7

An ideology that holds national identity is politically important. Often emphasizes ideas of self
determination, loyalty to certain institutions and values, and/or preference for a cultural, religious, or
ethnic group.

Question 8

Fascism

Answer 8

An ultra-nationalist reactionary ideology originating in 20th century Europe. Anti-liberal, anti-marxist, and anti-intellectual, fascism emphasizes group identity, hierarchy, power, and action for action’s
sake.

Question 9

Anarchism

Answer 9

An ideology that views the state as illegitimate and harmful. Can follow the classical liberal/libertarian tradition or the socialist tradition, and as such will vary as to why they oppose the state, what alternatives they favor, their position on other authority structures, etc.

Question 10

Republicanism

Answer 10

An ideology that rejects corruption, domination, and tyrannical rule to embrace civic freedom, secularism, and citizens’ duties as central to a “good” political life and the republic as a whole. Anti-monarchical, secular, and involves the separation of powers.

Question 11

‘Res publica’

Answer 11

The Latin phrase that means ‘public affair’ and is the root of the word ‘republic’.

Question 12

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Answer 12

Wrote The Social Contract in 1762 and believed in the “general will of the people”, the duty of the citizen, secularism, smaller units of government, and popular sovereignty. Rousseau was the philosophical inspiration for Republicanism and the French Revolution.

Question 13

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Answer 13

Written by Edmund Burke to criticize the revolution in France in 1790, it is a key text of Conservatism. In the book, Burke was critical of Republicanism the concept of rights and instead had a pessimistic view of human nature and believed in the conservation of Tradition, political hierarchy, and duties law and order.

Question 14

Conservatism

Answer 14

An ideology which seeks to avoid large-scale or radical change, conserve tradition, maintain existing institutions and defend general law and order.

Question 15

Neo-Conservatism

Answer 15

An ideology that defends two older
traditions: fiscal conservatism (economic
classical/neo liberalism) and social conservatism
(traditional social values along with law and
order/security).

Question 16

Evolutionary Socialism

Answer 16

Written by Eduard Bernstein in 1899 as a response to Marx and Engels and argued that the transition to socialism could be gradual and work within the current structures and did not have to be violent.

Question 17

Dialectical Materialism

Answer 17

Marx’s idea that views historical and social development as the result of the interplay of material conditions and opposing forces, emphasizing the role of class struggle and other economic factors in shaping societies. Includes the idea of the base (what people do) and superstucture (how they justify it).

Question 18

Socialism

Answer 18

An ideology that believes capitalism is an economic system that creates poverty, class conflict, alienation and inequality and must be replaced or modified by a more egalitarian system (common ownership, greater redistribution of public money, free public education, healthcare and social services).

Question 19

Communist Manifesto

Answer 19

Written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848 and promotes the idealogy of communism as well as the ideas of scientific socialism and dialectical materialism. Believed that capitalism was inherently doomed to fail and be replaced by communism.

Question 20

Harm Principle

Answer 20

A principle created by J.S. Mill in On Liberty (1859) that states “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”

Question 21

Tyranny of the Majority

Answer 21

According to J.S. Mill and other scholars, an inherent where a majority group of voters pursue their own interests, at the expense of the minority group.

Question 22

Liberalism

Answer 22

An ideology that values individual liberty and argues that the state, being a contract between citizens and their government, must preserve the rights of the
individual.

Question 23

Ideology

Answer 23

A systematic and comprehensive political doctrine based on rational principles that
provides both an explanatory theory and a
prescriptive program of mass action.