Political Ideaologies

Question 1

Define a political ideaology

Answer 1

A package of interrelated ideas and beliefs about government, society, and human nature that inspires political action

Question 2

What ideological perspectives are associated with the left?

Answer 2

• greater advocacy of social and economic equality
• laws based on universal human rights rather than traditional morality
• opposition to state support for religious institutions

Question 3

What ideological perspectives are associated with the right?

Answer 3

• opposition to imposing greater social and economic equality
• concerned with maintaining traditional values and institutions

Question 4

What is the basic idea of liberalism?

Answer 4

• emphasizes the desirability of a high level of individual freedom based on the belief in value and dignity in every individual
• the assumption that every individual is capable of governing their own lives with little government interference

Question 5

What is the rule of law?

Answer 5

The idea that people should be subject to impartial rules of conduct, rather than to the arbitrary orders of individuals
rulers and the ruled should be equally subject to the law

Question 6

Define liberal democracy

Answer 6

A political system that combines the liberal ideas of limited government and the rule of law with a democratic system of governing based on the election of representatives

Question 7

Define classical liberalism

Answer 7

A form of liberalism that views government as having limited purposes of protecting life, liberty, and property

Question 8

What is a laissez-faire economic system?

Answer 8

A system in which privately owned businesses, workers, and consumers freely interact in the marketplace without government interference

Question 9

Has there been any problems with the laissez-faire system?

Answer 9

In countries such as Britain, the laissez-faire system seemed to offer little to develop the capabilities of workers as well as disadvantaged sectors of society

Question 10

Define reform liberalism

Answer 10

a version of liberalism that combines support for individual freedom with a belief that government action may be needed to remove obstacles to personal development

Question 11

What would reform liberalism look like?

Answer 11

certain measures such as employment insurance, old age pensions, health care, and subsidized education

Question 12

Define neo-liberalism

Answer 12

• a perspective based on a strong belief in the free marketplace and opposition to government intervention in the economy
• involves a strong belief in the value of entrepreneurship and reduces taxes to encourage it
• belief in privatizing government services with individuals choosing which services they pay for

Question 13

What is the basic idea of conservatism?

Answer 13

an ideology that emphasizes the values of order, stability, respect for authority, and tradition based on the belief that humans have a limited capacity for reason

Question 14

What are some conservative perspectives?

Answer 14

• critical of those who advocate for change
• views the institutions of private property, religion, traditional marriage, and the family as the main supporters of society
• against government attempts to work towards greater equality such as redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor
• less concerned over the rights of individuals

Question 15

What does it mean to be a reactionary?

Answer 15

A conservative who favours return to values and institutions of the past and opposes reform

Question 16

What is a welfare state?

Answer 16

A state in which the government ensures that all people have a decent standard of living and are provided protection from hardships resulting from unfortunate circumstances

Question 17

What is the new right?

Answer 17

a perspective that combines the promotion of free market capitalism and limited government and traditional values

Question 18

Define social conservatism

Answer 18

A version of conservatism that advocates public policies based on traditional values
This would include opposition to progressive ideas such as abortion and same-sex marriage
Belief that the Bible is the utmost truth and reject the modernization of society

Question 19

What is the basic idea of socialism?

Answer 19

It is a perspective based on the view that human beings are social and that the capitalist system undermines the cooperative nature of humanity
Advocates the establishment of an egalitarian society

Question 20

Define egalitarian

Answer 20

believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and oppurtunities

Question 21

How did socialism develop?

Answer 21

as a reaction to the exploitation of workers under the rising capitalist system

Question 22

What do socialists believe?

Answer 22

• a more equal society in terms of the distribution of wealth and power will lead to a greater sense of community and will facilitate cooperation rather than conflict
• opposing privately owned corporations so that many decisions that affect the community will not be in the hands of said powerful corporations

Question 23

What is historical materialism?

Answer 23

• The view that historical development and the dynamics of society can be understood in terms of the way society is organized to produce material goods
• the view that production involves the exploitation of the subordinate group by the smaller dominant group and that profits are based on exploitation

Question 24

Define communism

Answer 24

a system in which private property has been replaced by collective or communal ownership and everyone is free to take from society what they need

Question 25

Define leninism

Answer 25

the version of Marxism that includes the belief that the capitalist system can only be overthrown by force and a tightly disciplined party controlled by a revolutionary vanguard

Question 26

Define democratic socialism

Answer 26

the perspective that socialism should be achieved through democratic means and that a socialist society should be democratic in nature with political freedoms respected

Question 27

What are some things that democratic socialism advocates?

Answer 27

• prefers public ownership of some key industries rather than complete state ownership
• advocates government provision and subsidization of various services
• advocates redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor through the tax system

Question 28

Define social democracy

Answer 28

• the belief that the capitalist economy can be reformed to ensure that it works for the common good
• believes that market economies have generated the wealth needed to provide effecrive social rights, however its unequal distribution of power is contradictory to the democratic goal of equal citizens

Question 29

Define anarchism

Answer 29

an ideology that views the state as the main oppressor and seeks to replace the state with a system based on voluntary cooperation

Question 30

Define socialist anarchism

Answer 30

• advocates the elimination of both the state and private property
• advocates a communal society based on voluntary cooperation among a network of local communities rather than large powerful states

Question 31

Define fascism

Answer 31

• the ideology that combines ultranationalist ideology with a strong belief in inequality being natural and opposition to both liberal democracy and communism
• the belief that the well-being of individuals is based on the well-being of the nation-state and that the state has the right to control all activities to promote its interests

Question 32

How is ultranationalism linked to fascism

Answer 32

in the fascist view, foreigners and minorities are viewed as a threat to the formation of a homogenous society based on the dominant nationality. This is tied to the belief that certain nationalities and races are superior

Question 33

Define nazism

Answer 33

• a version of fascism associated with Adolf Hitler that included antisemitism, racism, extreme nationalism, and imperialism
• the nazis held the belief that Germans and related Nordic peoples were the heirs of an “Aryan master race” and that Jewish people were their key racial enemy

Question 34

What is the belief in natural inequality?

Answer 34

• fascists hold the belief that there is a natural inequality within society between the masses and their leaders
• belief that democratic leaders are weak because they pander to the masses to gain support
• fascists prefer strong authoritarian leadership

Question 35

What is enlightenment in the context of politics?

Answer 35

an intellectual movement that developed in the mid-18th century emphasizing the power of human reason to understand and improve the world

Question 36

Why did fascists reject enlightenment?

Answer 36

• rejection of enlightenment underlies fascist ideology because fascists believe that humans are motivated by emotion rather than reason and that they can be mobilized through propaganda

Question 37

How did fascism oppose liberal and socialist beliefs?

Answer 37

• fascists do not view a peaceful world as possible, and that struggle for dominance and use of force is inevitable
• believes that it is right and natural for the strong to subjugate the weak and that policies aiming to aid the disadvantaged lead to weakness
• believes that war is merely “survival of the fittest”

Question 38

Define corporate state

Answer 38

• a system associated with fascist Italy in which businesses and labour work harmoniously to achieve goals established by the state to advance the good of the nation
• involved the subordination of labour and businesses and the suppression of the labour movement

Question 39

What is “a new order” in fascist view

Answer 39

• the rejection of many modern ideologies while celebrating modern technology
• embracing select myths from from the past and glorifying the ethnically homogenous communities of the past

Question 40

How does fascism continue to be significant?

Answer 40

• many semi-fascist regimes remained in power until the early 70s
• several far-right and neo-fascist parties have developed in european countries, such as Greece’s Golden Dawn party which called an “ethnically pure Greece”