POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
(laissez-faire systems) wherein the government does
“A STATE IS BETTER GOVERNED WHICH HAS BUT
FEW LAWS, AND THOSE LAWS STRICTLY OBSERVED”
– RENE DESCARTES
IDEOLOGY
1. basically defined as political statements or belief
system that aim to call upon massive mass or
government action to achieve a relatively better
political and economic condition.
2. is a reasonably coherent structure of thought
shared by a group of people. It is a means of
explaining how society works and explaining how it
ought to work.
SOME POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACT
ON POLITICAL COMMUNITIES:
1. CONSERVATISM – focused on conserving
something.
- it is characterized by a resistant to change,
adherent to limited human freedom as it chooses to
maintain traditional values, it distrust human
reasoning.
Key ideas
• Importance of tradition
• Gradual social change
• Human beings are imperfect and flawed
• State’s role is to maintain order
Example: Edmund Burke in his work Reflections on
the French Revolution argued that institutions
evolved over time to fit the need of society, thus
“tampering with tradition is likely to bring grief
rather than improvement.
2. LIBERALISM – is the opposite of conservatism for
it favors change, prefers more freedom, and has a
more optimistic approach to human reasoning and
nature.
- Liberalism has influenced a variety of movements
concerned with equal rights for all citizens.
Key ideas
• Individual freedom
• Equality of opportunity
• Government by consent
• State’s role is to safeguard freedom of the
individual
Types of liberalism
• Classical liberalism
• Progressive liberalism
• Neo-liberalism
Example: Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations
not interfere with the market.
3. MARXISM - is a method of socioeconomic analysis
that analyzes class relations and social conflict using
a materialist interpretation of historical development
and a dialectical view of social transformation.
Some of the Ideological and Conceptual
Bases of Marxism:
a. Alienation – this is the relationship between two
or more people or parts of oneself in which one is
cut off from, a stranger or alien, the others.
b. Class Struggle – it the struggle between two
classes: the bourgeoisie (the capitalist/rich/middle
class) and the proletariat (workers/poor class).
- the bourgeoisie oppresses and
exploits the proletariat not only through unfair
compensation labor but also setting up laws and
standards, and controlling the system or the state to
maintain its social status.
c. Materialism – people think is greatly affected by
how you live.
d. Revolution – in which the proletariat will topple
down the elite class and all the systems they have
made. It is good and inevitable process that will
eventually lead to classless ideal society in the form
of communism.
4. ANARCHISM - based on voluntary cooperation
and not on power relation and it is living a peaceful
life without coercion from anyone.
Example: Alexander Berkman argued that a life
without compulsion naturally means liberty, it
means freedom from being forced or coerced, a
chance to lead the life that suits you best.
5. LIBERTARIANISM – it involved the government in
a minimal role such as ensuring the safety of
everyone and fairness in whatever contracts or
dealings.
6. SOCIALISM - a political and economic theory of
social organization which advocates that the means
of production, distribution, and exchange should be
owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
Key ideas
• Collectivism
• Equality
• Opposed to capitalism
• Human beings are capable of self-fulfillment if
given the opportunity by society
OTHER POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES: FEMINISM,
ENVIRONMENTALISM, FASCISM.