Political Ideologies

Ideology:
A belief system about the proper role of government; a belief that society can be improved by following certain doctrines.
Classical Liberalism   Adam Smith - The Wealth of Nations (1776)
  • Government intervention hinders economic growth and prosperity
  • The "unseen hand" of market forces regulates and self-corrects the economy
  • Laissez-faire French for "to leave alone"
  • "That government is best which governs least"   Thomas Jefferson

Classical Conservatism   Edmund Burke - Reflexions on the Revolution in France (1792)
  • Reaction to the radical application of liberalism during the French Revolution
  • Have faith in well-established traditions, institutions and standards of morality
  • Man's irrational impulses to get rid of these things leads to chaos and tyranny
  • Change should be gradual, not with sudden revolution

Modern Liberalism   T.H. Green - Lecture on Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract (1881)
  • Critique of Smith's conception of liberaism
  • Highlighted the imperfections of capitalism
    • Inequalities created by imperfect competition and markets took away freedoms
    • Government has an obligation to correct these imperfections
  • Franklin Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms"
    1. Freedom of speech
    2. Freedom of worship
    3. Freedom from want
    4. Freedom from fear
    1 & 2 are classical liberalism, 3 & 4 are modern liberalism

Modern Conservatism   Milton Friedman - Capitalism and Freedom (1962)
  • Reinforces Smith's arguments about free markets (Friedman)
    • Still called liberalism in Europe
  • Breaks from Smith by emphasizing importance of tradition, like Burke (not Friedman)

Libertarianism
Marxist Socialism   Karl Marx - The Communist Manifesto (1848)
  • Sharply critical of capitalism, predicted its collapse
  • Advocated workers' revolution to bring down the capitalist superstructure
  • Socialism - classless society, just and productive
  • Evolves into communism - No private property, money, police or government

Marxism-Leninsim  V.I. Lenin - The Development of Capitalism in Russia (1899)
  • Adapted Marx's notion of proletarian revolution to fit largely agrarian, unindustrialized Russia
    • Imperialism: Indistrialized nations were exploiting newly industrializing nations
      • New markets for overproduced goods temporarily delayed the collapse of capitalism
      • Newly industrializing nations were the "weakest link" where the revolution would occur
    • Organization: the party should be small, secretive and centralized
  • Variations
    • Maoism   Mao Zedong - China: ultraradial communism
    • Titoism   Josip Tito - Yugoslavia: decentralized, more moderate, heavily dependent on Tito's personal leadership

Democratic Socialism   Eduard Bernstein - Evolutionary Socialism (1899)
  • "Watered-down" Marxism
  • Proletarian revolution wasn't necessary
    • Labor unions and leftist parties were successful
  • Welfarism, without state ownership of industry