CHAPTER 2 – POLITICAL IDEAS AND IDEOLOGIES
- All people are political thinkers
WHAT IS POLITICAL IDEOLOGY?
- One of the most controversial concepts in political analysis
- Should be neutral but has mostly negative connotations
- Ideology → coherent set of ideas that provide a basis for organized political action
o All ideologies:
▪ 1. Offer an account of the existing order, usually in the from of world
view
▪ 2. Provide a model of a desired future
▪ 3. Outline how political change can and should be brought about
- Destutt de Tracy – ideology is a science of ideas
- Marx – ideas of the ruling class – but it is false
- Alternative developed by liberals and conservatives (Popper, Talmont, Arendt) – view
of ideology as an instrument of social control to ensure compliance and
subordination
- Oakeshott – ideologies are seen as abstract system of thought
- Rationalism → the belief that the world can be understood and explained through
the exercise of human reason, based on assumptions about its rational structure
- Pragmatism → theory or practice that places primary emphasis on practical
circumstances and goals, pragmatism implies a distrust of abstract ideas
- Although the term ideology was perceived as negative it should be neutral
o Reject the idea of good and bad
CLASSICAL IDEOLOGICAL TRADITIONS
- Political ideologies arose out of the transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism
o Shaping emerging society
- 2 rival economic philosophies – capitalism and socialism
o Strong economic focus
- John Locke
o English philosopher and political
o His views were developed against the backdrop of the English revolution
o Key thinker of early liberalism, emphasis on natural God-given rights – rights
to life, liberty and property
Liberalism
- Ideology of the industrialized West, meta-ideology
- Early 19th century
- Political doctrine – attacking feudalism and instead advocating for constitutional and
representative government (Locke)
- Meta-ideology → higher or second-order ideology that lays down the grounds on
which ideological debate can take place
, - Key ideas of liberalism
o Individualism → belief in supreme importance of the human individual as
opposed to any social group or collective body
o Freedom → core value, priority over equality, justice or authority
o Reason → rational structure, exercise of human reason, critical enquiry
o Equality → foundational, individuals are born equal at least in terms of moral
worth
o Toleration → willingness to allow others to think, speak and act
o Consent → or willing agreement
o Constitutionalism → belief in limited government
- Progress → moving forwards, the belief that history is characterized by human
advancement based on the accumulation of knowledge and wisdom
- Meritocracy → rule by the talented, the principle that rewards and positions should
be distributed on the basis of ability
Classical liberalism
- Extreme form of liberalism – humans are seen as egoistical, self-seeking and self-
reliant creatures
- Belief in negative libert7 – non-interference, no constraints
- Atomism → the belief that society is made up of a collection of largely self-sufficient
individuals who owe little or another to one another
- The state is the necessary evil – limiting the freedom of the citizens
o The goal is a minimal state
- Economic liberalism → a belief in the market as a self-serving mechanism tending
naturally to deliver general prosperity and opportunities for all
o Mechanism for free market
Modern liberalism
- More sympathetic attitude towards state intervention
o USA – support for big government rather than minimal
- Classical liberalism has generated new forms of injustice
- Mill and New Liberals (Green, Hobhouse, Hobson) – freedom does not just mean man
being left alone, which might imply nothing more than a freedom to starve
- Big government → interventionist government, understood to imply economic
management and social regulation
- Social or welfare liberalism, abandoning the laissez-faire capitalism
- Support for collective provision and government intervention has always been
conditional
o Helping individuals to be once again responsible for themselves
- John Rawls – redistribution
- Redistribution → a narrowing of material inequalities brought about through a
combination of progressive taxation and welfare provision
Conservatism
- All people are political thinkers
WHAT IS POLITICAL IDEOLOGY?
- One of the most controversial concepts in political analysis
- Should be neutral but has mostly negative connotations
- Ideology → coherent set of ideas that provide a basis for organized political action
o All ideologies:
▪ 1. Offer an account of the existing order, usually in the from of world
view
▪ 2. Provide a model of a desired future
▪ 3. Outline how political change can and should be brought about
- Destutt de Tracy – ideology is a science of ideas
- Marx – ideas of the ruling class – but it is false
- Alternative developed by liberals and conservatives (Popper, Talmont, Arendt) – view
of ideology as an instrument of social control to ensure compliance and
subordination
- Oakeshott – ideologies are seen as abstract system of thought
- Rationalism → the belief that the world can be understood and explained through
the exercise of human reason, based on assumptions about its rational structure
- Pragmatism → theory or practice that places primary emphasis on practical
circumstances and goals, pragmatism implies a distrust of abstract ideas
- Although the term ideology was perceived as negative it should be neutral
o Reject the idea of good and bad
CLASSICAL IDEOLOGICAL TRADITIONS
- Political ideologies arose out of the transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism
o Shaping emerging society
- 2 rival economic philosophies – capitalism and socialism
o Strong economic focus
- John Locke
o English philosopher and political
o His views were developed against the backdrop of the English revolution
o Key thinker of early liberalism, emphasis on natural God-given rights – rights
to life, liberty and property
Liberalism
- Ideology of the industrialized West, meta-ideology
- Early 19th century
- Political doctrine – attacking feudalism and instead advocating for constitutional and
representative government (Locke)
- Meta-ideology → higher or second-order ideology that lays down the grounds on
which ideological debate can take place
, - Key ideas of liberalism
o Individualism → belief in supreme importance of the human individual as
opposed to any social group or collective body
o Freedom → core value, priority over equality, justice or authority
o Reason → rational structure, exercise of human reason, critical enquiry
o Equality → foundational, individuals are born equal at least in terms of moral
worth
o Toleration → willingness to allow others to think, speak and act
o Consent → or willing agreement
o Constitutionalism → belief in limited government
- Progress → moving forwards, the belief that history is characterized by human
advancement based on the accumulation of knowledge and wisdom
- Meritocracy → rule by the talented, the principle that rewards and positions should
be distributed on the basis of ability
Classical liberalism
- Extreme form of liberalism – humans are seen as egoistical, self-seeking and self-
reliant creatures
- Belief in negative libert7 – non-interference, no constraints
- Atomism → the belief that society is made up of a collection of largely self-sufficient
individuals who owe little or another to one another
- The state is the necessary evil – limiting the freedom of the citizens
o The goal is a minimal state
- Economic liberalism → a belief in the market as a self-serving mechanism tending
naturally to deliver general prosperity and opportunities for all
o Mechanism for free market
Modern liberalism
- More sympathetic attitude towards state intervention
o USA – support for big government rather than minimal
- Classical liberalism has generated new forms of injustice
- Mill and New Liberals (Green, Hobhouse, Hobson) – freedom does not just mean man
being left alone, which might imply nothing more than a freedom to starve
- Big government → interventionist government, understood to imply economic
management and social regulation
- Social or welfare liberalism, abandoning the laissez-faire capitalism
- Support for collective provision and government intervention has always been
conditional
o Helping individuals to be once again responsible for themselves
- John Rawls – redistribution
- Redistribution → a narrowing of material inequalities brought about through a
combination of progressive taxation and welfare provision
Conservatism
