People and their work (final exam prep) Flashcards
Thomas Hobbes
- Wrote Leviathan in 1651 in light of the English Civil War (bad reception towards it)
- Believes in individualism and self-preservation.
- Believes in absolute monarchy IF the sovereign respects and defends the individualism and self-preservation of others.
- Political power comes from the people, not God.
- Conservative view of state power
Plato
-Wrote “The Republic” around 375 BCE
-Talks about the art of governing
- How politics ought to be
- Politics is to create Justice
- A just state is one that is ruled by Philosophers, and focuses on the good of the people
John Locke
- Wrote “Two Treatises of Government” in 1689.
- Father of Liberalism (Classical)
-Believed in the natural rights of Self-preservation, liberty, and ownership of property.
- Believed the state should have minimal interference with the people and should only intervene to preserve these natural rights
-Representative democracy
Niccolo Machiavelli
- Wrote “The Prince” in 1532 during the period of the Renaissance.
-Analyze politics as they really are (struggle for power) rather than how they ‘ought’ to be
-Ruler must have Virtue ( Wisdom, Strategy, Ruthlessness, Strength, Bravery, etc) to overcome Fortuna (Random factors a ruler may face)
-Politics is all about power and requires dirty hands. The end justifies the means.
-Strong reliance on Hard Power and a typical framework for modern-day totalitarianism.
Karl Marx
-Wrote the “Communist Manifesto” in 1848
-Talks about how politics is negative as it is one social class oppressing another
-Social class should be erased
-Capitalism should be replaced by Communism through revolution
-power is in the economic realm and is oppressive
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Jean Jaques Rousseau
-Wrote “Social Contract” in 1762. Inspiration for the French Revolution
- Talks about the dynamic between the ruler and the ruled.
-Defends the general will of the people
-The people should be ruled by the people (republicanism)
Max Weber
-Wrote “Politics as a Vocation” in 1921
-Talks about why people obey the state (Weber’s typology of authority)
-3 types of authority
1. Traditional authority (Monarchs, inherited rights)
2. Rational-legal authority (modern democracy)
3. Charismatic Authority (Napoleon, nelson Mandela)
John Stuart Mill
- Wrote “On Liberty” in 1859
- Utilitarian thinker
- Talks about the different kinds of liberties such as the liberty of thought, action, and association.
- power should only be exercised against someone’s will is if it prevents harm to others.
- Tyranny of majority is an issue
Adam Smith
-Wrote “Wealth of Nations” in 1776
-Classic/Economic liberal take
-Belief in free market and economic individual rights.
Isaiah Berlin
-Wrote “Two Concepts on Liberty” in 1969
-Talks about the two types of liberty, Positive and negative liberty.
- Positive liberty is the capacity to master one’s own destiny and is associated with welfare liberalism. Social and economic rights
- Negative liberty is freedom from external constraint and is associated with classical liberalism. Civil and political rights.
Edmund Burke
- Wrote “Reflections on the Revolution in France” in 1790
-Believed that the French ruling system should have been reformed, not overthrown
-Classical Conservatism;
- Anti-revolution/republican/romantic
- Preservation of traditions
- Pessimistic view of human nature
- Inequality and Hierarchy
Eduard Bernstein
- Wrote “Evolutionary Socialism” in 1899
- Talks about how socialism can exist in democratic institutions in a capitalist system. (Social Democratic)
Jeremy Bentham
Did not believe in natural rights but believed in rights are positive rights given in the law.
“Nonsense upon stilts”
T.H. Marshall
Wrote “Citizenship and Social Class” in 1963
- Civil Rights (18th Century), Political Rights (19th Century), Social Rights (20th Century)
Joseph Schumpeter
Wrote “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy” in 1942
- Believed in the Elitist theory of democracy
theory. Prominent in the post-1945 period - arguing that the classical democracy model of citizen participation and involvement in political decision-making = unrealistic
& undesirable.