POLITICS Flashcards
theme 2 - political ideology
What does Heywood define ideology as? (1)
- is an action-orientated belief system, can guide or inspire political action.
What do all ideologies offer? (3)
- account of existing order/world-view.
- module of a desired future.
- outline on how political change should and could be brought about.
What are the classical ideologies? (3)
- liberalism
- conservatism
- socialism
What is Liberalism portrayed to be, and why? (1)
- meta-ideology
- seen as the ideology of the industrialised west.
- thus seen as capable for embracing a broad range of values and beliefs.
What is ‘laissez-faire’ ?
- abstention of governments from interfering in the workings of the free market.
What was the purpose of ‘early liberalism’? (3)
- reflected to rising aspirations of the industrial middle class.
- seen as a ‘political doctrine’.
- advocated for a constitutional and representative government.
What are the key concepts of liberalism? (7)
- individualism
- freedom
- reason (critical enquiry and human reason)
- equality (meritocracy)
- toleration
- consent (willingness)
- constitutionalism (limited government)
What is the central theme of classical liberalism? (2)
- commitment to an extreme form of individualism
- therefor human beings are seen as egoistical, self-seeking and largely self-reliant creatures
-heavy belief in meritocracy
What does ‘atomistic’ mean?
- a belief that society is made up of largely self-sufficient creatures, who owe little or nothing to one another.
Why did classical liberals use, ‘laissez-faire capitalism’? (4)
- guaranteed prosperity
- holding up individual liberty
- allows individuals to rise and fall in accordance to their own merit
- ensured social justice
What are the characteristics of ‘modern liberalism’? (3)
- more sympathetic attitude to state intervention
- were more supportive over a ‘big government’
- abandoned the belief in laissez-faire capitalism
Why did the shift between classical and modern liberalism occur? (2)
- recognition of massive injustices that were generated by industrial capitalism.
- the injustices lead to large masses of the population subject to the unpredictability of the free market.
What was ‘social/welfare liberalism’ characterised by? (2)
- recognising state intervention
- safeguard individuals from ‘social evils’
What are the identified ‘social evils’? (5)
- want (vanity and self-esteem)
- ignorance (lack of awareness)
- idelness (lazy and inactive)
- squalor (extremely dirty and unpleasant)
- disease (something that adversely affects a person or a group.)
Why did modern liberals abandon their belief in laissez-faire capitalism? (2)
- prosperity and growth could only be maintained through a managed or regulated system of capitalism
- need for key economic responsibilities
What happened in the 19th century with regard to socialism? (2)
- took shape as a political creed.
- formed as a reaction against the emergence of industrial capitalism.
What was the goal of the earliest form of socialism?
- abolish the capitalist economy
- replace it with a qualitatively different socialist society
- common ownership
Define Reformist Socialism. (2)
- gradual integration of the working class into the capitalist society.
- make gradual and legal changes in order to transition into socialism.
What are the 2 sources of reformist socialism? (2)
- humanist tradition/ ethical socialism, (morally conscious economy, opposing possessive individualism.)
- a form of revisionist marxism.
What is ‘revisionism’? (1)
- the modification of original or established beliefs.
What were the two rival ‘camps’ that emerged in 20th century socialism? (2)
- revolutionary socialist / communists
- reformist socialists, constitutional politics, later called, ‘social democracy’
What were the key ideas regarding socialism? (6)
- community, (nurture over nature)
- fraternity, (cooperation over competition)
- social equality, (central value) (equality of outcomes over equality over opportunity)
- need, (resources distributed on the basis of need and not simply on merit or work.)
- social class, (oppressed and exploited working class), (eradication of economic and social inequalities.)
- common ownership, (no private property)
Orthodox Marxism (1)
- enhances Marx’s idea of revolution and little importance to the concept of freedom
What is classical marxism described as? (1)
- materialist conception of history
- economic conditions ultimately structure law, politics and culture etc.
