Hello, Internet.
So, we’ve been learning about the political spectrum. In doing so, I’ve taken notes on various political ideologies, as well as a test (actually, two tests) to see where on the political spectrum I personally fall.
First of all, notes.
My Notes
Political Ideologies
- Feminism, socialism, communism, fascism, conservatism, liberalism, etc
- Political belief system
- Action oriented
- Ruling class
- Worldview
- Class/social interests
- Propagate false consciousness among exploited/oppressed
- Social context & collective belonging
- Officially sanctioned ideas
- Comes from the French Revolution (idéologie)
- “Science of ideas”
- Politicized by Karl Marx
- “The ideas of the ruling class … are subject to it” (The German Ideology)
- Ideologies: have a common worldview, have a desired future, have a plan for political change
- Modify or overthrow the existing power
- Not just important to politicians
- Influences everyone
- Sometimes unaware
- Goggles (filter how you see)
Liberalism:
- The “industrialized west”
- Individual, freedom, reason, justice, tolerance
- Uniqueness reconciled with equality
- Commitment to individual freedom
- No hurting people
- Have faith in reason and intellect
- Justice as it’s ”due”
- Coexistence of different morals, cultures, politics
- Liberalism is everywhere in western culture
Conservatism:
- Tradition, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy and authority, property
- “Without tradition, society would crumble”
- Cannot reach perfection
- Stability, security via government
- Cannot exist outside of society
- Believe that authority develops naturally
Socialism:
- Common Humanity
- “Brothers and sisters”
- Plasticity of human nature
- No pre-destiny
- Cooperation > competition
- Social class defines society
- Disagree with private property
- “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”
Socialism v Communism:
- Often confused
- Communism is “classless”, no hierarchy
- Socialism is a middle point
Human Nature
- Conservatism: Inherently imperfect and selfish
- Liberalism: Inherently good
- Socialism: Inherently good
Of individual
- Conservatism: Individual is to obey the power structure
- Liberalism: Free to pursue individual goals
- Socialism: Supports the common good
Of society:
- Conservatism: Society > individual
- Liberalism: Made up of individuals, working together
- Socialism: Hierarchal divisions are natural
Fascism:
- Originated between world wars
- Relatively new
- Mussolini came to power in the 1920s, lasts until war, is executed and dragged through town and spat on
- Hitler came to power in 1930s, lasts until war, is defeated and kills himself
- Anti-rationalism
- “Life is struggle”
- Elitism > equality
- Nationalism and superiority
Capitalism:
- Economic system
- Private ownership
- Generate goods and services to create profit
- “The market”
- Procedure of selling and buying goods
- Supply & demand
- Economic growth: all people increase their material wealth
- “If all people are concerned with increasing their wealth, this will maintain order in society”
Totalitarianism:
- Political system
- States belongs to one person or a small party
- All freedom removed
- All subjects under government control
- Ideological manipulation
- Terror & brutality
Anarchism:
- Opposition to state and government
- See government as an offence to freedom and equality
- Believe in natural goodness and cooperation
Religious Fundamentalism:
- “Politics is religion”
- Commits to “fundamental” ideas and values
- Rejects modernity
- Often militaristic and violent
Nationalism:
- “Nation” is principle of politics
- Collective, shared sense of belonging
- Daily life/ideas of a nation
- Celebrations, literature, artwork, multimedia, writing/telling history, politics
Environmentalism:
- Nature is most important
Feminism:
- Regard power relationship between men and women
- Women are denied power
- “Patriarchy”
- Distinction between sex (biological) and gender (cultural)
Globalisation:
- Integration of societies and cultures
- Progression of communication and transportation
- Whether it’s an “ideology” is debatable
Political Spectrum:
- Left wing versus right wing
- Communist – socialist – liberal – conservative – fascist
- Left: equality, progress, common ownership
- Right: authority, order, hierarchy, duty
- Vertical as well as left and right
- Authoritarian v libertarian
- Economics and social
Or, if you don’t want to scroll through my notes, let me put things laconically. The political spectrum is a spectrum of political ideologies (wow!) ranging from the far left (Communism) to the far right (Fascism). Further left ideologies value personal freedom, equality, progress, and common ownership. Further right ideologies value tradition, structure, duty, and authority. Intersecting with these political ideologies are systems of government (such as Totalitarianism), systems of economy (such as capitalism), and social ideologies (such as feminism).
To further explain some of these ideologies, I made an infographic explaining how pizza would be distributed to citizens in a country following each political ideology.
I also, as I mentioned, took some quizzes about where I fall on the political spectrum – or, more accurately, the political compass, which takes into account not just the left-right political ideologies, but also the spectrum of authoritarianism (total government control) to libertarianism (very little government control).
The first quiz I took gave me this result:
This was not surprising to me. I’m aware that I have more left and libertarian leanings, but I’m certainly not an extremist on either count – I think I have pretty typical political views for someone in my demographic (young, female, raised in west coast Canada, etc).
The second quiz I took was more geared to Canadian youth. Instead of an authoritarian-libertarian axis, it had an axis showing progressiveness versus conservatism. It gave me this result:
Again, this result was not particularly surprising to me. I was happy to see that I was far, far away from the PPC. I also thought it was interesting that my results put me at more progressive than the average voter of any given party – while I’m sure this is partially because an average is, you know, average and not usually extreme in one direction or another, I think it also reflects (again) on my youth.
While I knew a little bit about the political spectrum already, I learned a lot even in just the week which we spend studying it.
Toodles.
