study of political science poli 111: introduction to the · pdf filecollege of education...

College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education2014/2015 – 2016/2017

POLI 111: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Session 13– IDEOLOGIES

Lecturer: Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, Department of Political Science Contact Information: [email protected]

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Session Overview

• An ideology begins with the belief that things can be better than they are; it is basically a plan to improve society. As Anthony Downs puts it ideology is “a verbal image of the good society and, and of the chief means of constructing such society”.

• Usually followers of a given ideology argue that if their plan is followed, things will be much better than they are at present. Political ideologies then are not the same as Political Science; that is, they are calm, rational attempt to understand political systems. In this session, my focus is to introduce you to the often contending or controversial body of beliefs and principles which can shape the good society. 2 evansaggreydarkoh

Session Outline

The following topics will engage our attention:

• What is political ideology

• What are the characteristic themes, theories and principles of each of the major ideologies?

• What rival traditions does each ideology encompass?

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Reading List

• Roskin, M.G., Cord R. L., Medeiros J.M., & Jones W. S., Political Science: An Introduction, Fourth Edition, (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall International Inc., 1991).

• Michael G. Roskin, Robert L. Cord, James A. Medeiros and Walter S. Jones, Political Science: An Introduction, 4th Edition, (New Jersey, Prentice-Hall Inc. 1991).

• Andrew Heywood, Politics 3rd edition, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

• Andrew Heywood, Political Ideas and Concepts: An Introduction, ( New York: Macmillan, 1994)

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TOPIC ONE

WHAT IS POLITICAL IDEOLOGY?

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What is Political Ideology?

• Ideology came into existence in the early nineteenth century. • Ideology is a hotly disputed and often difficult to define and

consequently difficult to measure. • An ideology refers to a set of ideas and beliefs which makes

clear what is valued and what is not, what must be maintained and what must be changed, and what shapes the attitudes of those who share it.

• It involves general ideas about how we think about and behave in the world.

• Ideology is made up of a collection of doctrines, theories and principles which claim to interpret the present and offer a view of a desired future.

• An ideology is a set of beliefs that affect our outlook on the world.

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What is Political Ideology? (Cont’d)

• According to Mullins( 1975), political ideologies involve, a programme of collective action for the maintenance, alteration or transformation of society.

• Political ideology is also the specific aspect of political culture which relates culture to action in the political sphere.

• Political ideologies are belief systems which aim to cure the ills of societies.

• Political ideologies are abstraction-broad, amorphous bodies of thought which provide the motivating force for individuals and groups in society to act politically.

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What is Political Ideology? (Cont’d)

Ideologies can be distinguished by four basic elements.

• A negative perception of where society is headed;

• A reasoned view of what is wrong and why;

• A prescription to reform or overthrow the present system; and

• An attempt to form a movement which will follow the prescription to its natural conclusion.

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TOPIC TWO

THEMES, THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES OF EACH OF THE MAJOR IDEOLOGIES

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Liberalism

• Liberalism was the natural, intellectual haven of the new commercial class who wanted freedom to change the old social order.

• It provided guidance in moral, political and economic spheres.

• The historical root of “liberal” is the Latin “liber” meaning “free (man)”.

• The concept of freedom is at the heart of liberal ideology.

• Liberalism is often portrayed as meta-ideology that is capable of embracing a wide variety of values and beliefs.

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Liberalism (cont’d)

• Freedom here means that one has legal, guaranteed control over what one does. One is neither prevented from doing what one wants nor forced to do what one does not want.

• It is true that even in a democracy individual freedoms are subject to many limitations

• Exponents of liberalism in the 18th and 19th centuries believed that rights are ends in themselves and called for freedom in all areas of life, social, political and economic. 11 evansaggreydarkoh

Leading exponents of liberalism

• John Locke, an English political philosopher argued that all human beings have the right to life, liberty and property and that they create government to protect and preserve these basic rights.

• To Locke, if a government fails in this task, the people have every right to overthrow it. He wrote that “freedom is…to have a standing rule to live by, common to everyone of that society and made by the legislative power erected in it”.

• John Stuart Mill, in his famous essay On Liberty (1859) contended that the only justification for restricting the freedom of any individual is to prevent harm to others. The state should therefore not restrain individual actions that are not coercive to others.

• Jean Jacques Rousseau also believed that political authority derives from the people. He argued that the people are sovereign and their sovereignty is infallible and indestructible.


Elements of Liberalism

• Individualism- a belief in the supreme importance of the human individual as opposed to a group or a collective body.

• Freedom-individual freedom or liberty is the core value of liberalism. It is given priority over justice, equality or authority.

• Reason – liberals believe that the world has a rational structure, and that they can be discovered by the exercise of critical reasoning.

• Equality- liberals believe in fundamental equality ( individuals are born equal), at least in terms of moral worth. They believe in legal equality.


Elements of Liberalism (cont’d)

• Toleration- liberals believe that toleration (forbearance: willingness of people to allow others to think, speak and act in ways of which they disapprove) is both a guarantee of individual liberty and a means of social enrichment.

• Consent- it is the belief of liberals that authority and social relations should be based on consent or willing agreement. Government must therefore be based on the consent of the governed.

• Constitutionalism- liberals believe in limited government. This is achieved by the fragmentation of power by the creation of checks and balances among the various institutions of state.


Classical Liberalism

• Commitment to the extreme form of individualism • Human beings are seen as egoistic, self-seeking and

largely self-reliant creatures. • In what C.B Macpherson (1962) described as

‘possessive individualism’, individuals are the proprietors of their own persons and capacities, owing noting to society or to other individuals.

• This atomistic view of society is underpinned by a believe in negative liberty, meaning noninterference or the absence of external constraints on the individual.

• Tom Paine, has argued that the state is a necessary evil in that it establishes order and security and ensures that contracts are enforced. 15 evansaggreydarkoh

Modern Liberalism

• It has sympathetic attitude towards state interventions.

• It support ‘big’ government rather than ‘minimal’ government

• It also champions a positive view of freedom-the development of the individual, the ability of the individual to gain fulfillment and achieve self-realization.


Conservatism

Central beliefs of conservatism are based around the ideas of:

• Tradition

• Human imperfections

• Organic society

• Hierarchy and authority

• Property


Conservatism (cont’d)

TRADTION: Conservatives argue for the preservation of ‘tradition’, in particular with regards to values, practices, and institutions

• They see tradition as being one of the foundations of society, without it, they believe society will collapse.

HUMAN IMPERFECTTION: Conservatives argue that human beings are imperfect and not perfectible, thus they will need stability and security in their lives, which the government can provide. 18 evansaggreydarkoh

Conservatism (cont’d)

HIERARCHY AND AUTHORITY: Conservatives believe that society is hierarchical, and that authority develops naturally.

PROPERTY: Conservatives have a firm belief in the importance of owning property, and encourage private savings and investment in property, property seen as a way to create a stable world.

People are less likely to damage someone else’s property if they also own property.


Socialism

Core Themes:

The core themes of socialism include the following:

• Community

• Cooperation

• Equality

• Class politics

• Common ownership


Socialism (cont’d)

COOPERATION NOT COMPETITION: Socialists believe that the natural relationship among humans is one of cooperation rather than competition.

EQUALITY: • Socialists are committed to equality Social Class- Emphasis on social class as the determining factor of

society. COMMON OWNERSHIP: • Disagree with the idea of private property, as they see this as one

of the causes of competition and therefore social inequality • Thus, have a view that all property should be communal • ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need’-

Karl Marx


Socialism (cont’d)

COMMUNITY: Human beings are tied to one another by the

bonds of a common humanity.

‘We are all brothers and sisters’.

View on human nature:

• Belief in the plasticity of human nature, or that humans can change and be molded by life experience .

• Firm belief that humans are not predestined, but have the capacity to become something greater than what they are.


Fascism

Origin

Whilst liberalism, conservatism and socialism are ideas that have their roots in the 19th Century, fascism was born in the period between the first world wars, and emerged most dramatically in Italy and Germany.


Italian Fascism

• Benito Mussolini and his Fascist Party cam to power in Italy in the 1920s and lasted until the Second World War, upon which he was executed by the Italian partisans an hung by his feet in a square in Milano.


German Fascism

• Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party came to power in the 1930s and lasted until the Second World War, until the defeat of Germany by the allied forces.


Core Features of Fascism

It is a difficult ideology to define, but some of its common themes include the following:

• A reaction against rationalism, or the use of reason to make sense of the world.

• A belief that life is a struggle, and that the strongest survives ( influenced phenomenally by Darwin’s idea of natural selection).

• Does not believe in equality, instead believes in elitism, or that some people are born leaders.

• An extreme embrace of nationalism; incorporating a belief that certain nations are superior to others.


Capitalism

• Is an economic system that is focused on profit, and the major part of production is privately owned

• Goods and services are created in order to generate profit.


Capitalism (cont’d)

THE MARKET • The market is seen to be the defining mechanism in

ordering society. • In this sense, the market refers to the procedure of

selling and buying goods in general, not necessarily a physical market like Makola Market.

• The market procedure is a way where people bring their goods and services to sell to consumers, and it is thought that through trade society’s order is maintained.

• In economic talk, ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ are terms used to describe this process.


Capitalism (cont’d)

ECONOMIC GROWTH

• Belief in the idea of economic growth, so that all people increase their material wealth and become better off, no matter their position in the economy.

• If all people are concerned with increasing their wealth, this will maintain order in society.


Marxism

• As a theoretical system, Marxism has constitute an alternative liberal rationalism.

• As a political force, Marxism was seen as the major enemy of western capitalism

• The leading lights associated with Marxism are Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Lenin.


Elements of Marxism

The core elements of Marxism are as follows:

• Historical Materialism: This highlights the importance of economic life and the conditions under which people produce and reproduce their means of subsistence.

• Dialectical Change: Following Hegel, Marx believed that the driving force of historical change was the dialectic, a process of interaction between competing forces that results in higher stage of development

• Alienation: It is the process whereby, under capitalism, labour is reduced to being a mere commodity, and work becomes a depersonalized activity.


Elements of Marxism (cont’d)

• Class Struggle: The existence of private property in capitalist society is a contradiction. This creates division between the bourgeoisie and proletariat.

• Surplus Value: The relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is one of irreconcilable conflict, because the proletariat is constantly exploited by the bourgeoisie. The quest for profit by the bourgeoisie makes them extract a surplus value from labour by paying them less than their real value.


Elements of Marxism (cont’d)

• PROLETARIAT REVOLUTION: Marx believed that capitalism was doomed and the proletariat was its ‘grave digger’. The class consciousness that result from overexploitation will inevitably lead to the revolution of the proletariat.

• COMMUNISM: Marx argued that the revolution of the proletariat will ultimately usher in a transitory socialist period during which a dictatorship of the proletariat would be required to contain a counter-revolution mounted by ousted bourgeoisie. The state will wither away and in its place a communist society which is classless would be established. 33 evansaggreydarkoh

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