Political Ideologies

PHILIPPINE POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE

Prepared by: Cherrylyn T. Magano, LPT

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Identify the basic tenets of major political ideologies;
2. Differentiate political ideologies;
3. Identify the relationship between political ideologies and
configurations of political communities;
4. Enumerate ideas that have a direct impact on political
community: and
5. Explain how political ideologies affect the social and political
life of Filipinos.
 A Glimpse Back
Cross out the words that are not related to political science

Justice Power Wi-Fi

Government Vitamins State
Diode Love Influence
Talcum Magnitude Intensity
Governance Bones Decision-making
Policy Conflict Crescendo
 Test your Stock Knowledge

Cite three theories or ideologies that you know. Write a

definition or belief explanation of each theory or ideology.
1.

2.

3.
Ideology
-It is basically defined as political statements that aim to call
upon massive mass or government action to achieve a
relatively better political and economic condition. (Baradat
1997).

It is a goal- oriented; meaning, they are for or against a

certain configuration of a political community.
Political ideologies and their impact on political
communities
 1. CONSERVATISM
• Edmund Burke- Founder of Modern Conservatism. -authored
Reflections on the French Revolution (1790) in which he said
that “society is a complex web of relationships among the past,
present, and future.”

•Conservatism emphasizes that change is not good. Something

that has worked, even if not very well, is better than something
untried and unknown.
• Tradition is important; no human reason can undo it.
• Conservatives do not reject human reason
completely, but they would rather trust tradition
because they believe that tradition contains the
accumulated wisdom of past generations.
• The world changes and so does the conservatives.
They do not want to conserve all the past they want to
conserve what they believe is the best of the past.
• Conservatives believe that human reason can devise a
solution to human problems.
“Freedom is necessary but too much freedom is bad
for the society”.
2. LIBERALISM
• Liberalism was originated from the writings of John Locke
(1632-1704) who developed the arguments for consent,
majority rule, and rights, particularly property rights.

• Most recent liberals trace their roots to John Stuart Mill

(1806-1873) “On Liberty” (1859) that stressed freedom of
thought and speech. ACCORDING TO JOHN F. KENNEDY
(1917-1963)
• Liberalism emphasizes a tendency to favor change.

• People should keep trying to improve human society.

• Change is brought about by the conscious action of men and

women.

• Liberalism believes that people should be willing to use the

government to improve their condition.
• Some people must be helped to live better lives and fulfill
their individual freedom.

• Liberals prefer individual freedom but are ambivalent about

economic freedom.

• Most problems are derived from impersonal, social and

economic forces acting on humanity.

• The role of the government must be limited (that it cannot

invade rights and freedoms of individual).
“Human beings commit mistakes, but committing
mistake is better than suppression of error”.
3. Marxism
• One should be careful in branding communism, socialism, or
any other similar ideologies as Marxist because they not
necessarily reflect the ideas of Karl Marx although these
ideologies might find their roots in the tenets proposed by
Marx.
Some of the ideological and conceptual bases of Marxism are the
following:
 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 (Sargent 2009)
b. Class Struggle
• Karl Marx also noted the struggle between the bourgeoisie
(the capitalist or middle class) and the proletariat (workers.
The bourgeoisie social class oppresses and exploits the
proletariat not only through unfair compensation of the
latter's labor but also by setting up laws and standards, and
controlling the system or the state to maintain its social
status.
c. Materialism
• Marxism and the offshoot of this ideology offer a complex
perspective and usage of materialism. Most social
scientists, however, would agree to the basic definition
that "how people think is greatly affected by how you live"
(Sargent 2009) .
d. Revolution

• Almost all theories and ideologies related to Marxism consider

proclaiming revolution as the way to change the system. By
revolution, Marx did not mean peaceful walkouts but a violent
one in which the proletariat will topple down the elite class
and all the systems they have made.
e. Anarchism

• While most people are familiar with how anarchy is

popularly used to mean chaos due to the nonexistence of
control mechanisms, the idea behind it is actually more on
peaceful coexistence and quality.
f. Libertarianism

• This is another version of anarchism but involves the

government in a minimal role such as ensuring the safety of
everyone and fairness in whatever contracts or
dealings(Sargent 2009)
 Analysis Guide
1. What are the advantages and dis advantages of having or
promoting a certain ideology?
2. What ideology do you prefer? Why? Based your answer on the
different ideologies enumerated in the discussion above and
the observable political situation of the country at present.
3. What do you think is lacking in terms of assertions of ideas in
the ideologies presented in the discussion?
 Activity
Acrostic Poem.
Choose one of the ideologies studied in the lesson and create
an acrostic poem from one of its key concepts. The poem may
either define that concept or the ideology as a whole.