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Ideology in the United States

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1 Ideology in the United States
Foundations in the Natural Rights Argument

2 Major Themes of the Declaration of Independence
Self evident truths We hold these truths to be self-evident Human equality All men are created equal They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights Among these rights: Life Liberty Pursuit of happiness Natural rights Purpose of gov’t To secure rights Measure of Justice Consent of the governed Whenever any form of gov’t is destructive of the security of natural rights Right of revolution Limits to the right of revolution Prudence: Long-established gov’ts shouldn’t be overthrown for “light and transient causes” Experience: Men are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves

3 Political Culture v. Ideology
A set of general attitudes, ideas and beliefs Broadly informs and shapes a region’s politics Ideology A set of specific attitudes, ideas and beliefs Provides or advocates a coherent plan for social, political, or economic action

4 Examples of ideologies
Economic ideologies capitalism communism globalism protectionism Keynesianism monetarism Market fundamentalism Political ideologies Libertarianism Liberalism Conservatism Anarchism Socialism Fascism Communism Communitarianism Statism Social ideologies Tribalism Ethnocentrism Nationalism Feminism Multiculturalism Supremacism

5 What ideology Is A set of specific ideas, attitudes and beliefs
Provides or advocates a coherent plan for social, political, or economic action Plan is consistent with, and is explained in terms of, the ideas, attitudes and beliefs held

6 What ideology is not: Ideology is not political culture
Traditionalists are not necessarily conservatives Liberals are not necessarily moralists Ideology is not partisanship Democrats are not necessarily liberal Republicans are not necessarily conservative Ideology is not a policy position E.g. Abortion advocates are not necessarily libertarian or liberal opponents are not necessarily conservative or libertarian E.g. Immigration “Open border” advocates are not necessarily libertarian globalists “Closed border” advocates are not necessarily conservative ethnocentrists

7 Comparative Ideology 1: Left and Right Wings
Motto of the French Revolution: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (liberty, equality, brotherhood) Origins in the French National Assembly Advocates of Liberté and Fraternité, sympathetic to the ancien régime, sat on the right side of the room Revolutionary Advocates of Liberté and Egalité, opposing the ancien régime (the Old Order) sat on the left side of the room This distinction grafted onto the American Congress in the early 19th Century

8 Left and Right: The Political Spectrum
The most common comparative model of ideological preference in the US Left Wing Right Wing Communism Socialism Liberalism Centrism Conservatism Statism Fascism

9 Comparative Ideology 2: The Political Compass
? First suggested in Jerry Pournelle’s Doctoral dissertation in 1964 Appeared in Meltzer, Albert and Stuart Christie. The Floodgates of Anarchy. (London: Sphere Books, Ltd., 1970) Seeks to address limitations of the Political Spectrum Describes two independent dimensions: Moral: Individualism to Collectivism Economic: Capitalism to Collectivism Clarified for American audiences in 1971 by David Nolan Economic Freedom v. Economic Control Personal Freedom v. Social Control Favored by those whose ideologies do not fit well with the Political Spectrum, especially libertarians Widely used by online political actors, pundits & campaigners

10 Limits of the Political Compass
Equates policy positions with ideology in their tests (See the Nolan Quiz) Identifies attitudes on “personal” and “economic” issues Does not identify organizing principles or the general purpose of government Ill-equipped to distinguish moderates from extremists communists from welfare liberals anarchists from libertarians fascists from conservatives Does not distinguish one kind of “centrist” or “moderate” from another Fails to identify some known ideological positions Communitarianism Anarcho-communism Anarcho-syndicalism Nazism (with its fascist rhetoric and anarchist means) Unable to account for real linkages within its framework liberal-leaning conservatives conservative-leaning liberals Assumes liberals and conservatives are opposites

11 Comparative Ideology 3: Ideological Space
Suggested by Steven Kautz in 1995: “enduring controversies regarding the nature of popular government give rise to three distinct strains: liberals (who love liberty) democrats (who love equality) republicans (who love virtue)” Problems with Kautz’ formulation Order more fundamental than virtue Political “virtue” depends on the political order it inhabits Kautz’ vision clouded by the American partisan/ideological debate “Liberal” has different meanings inside and outside the US “liberal” is an ideology “democrats” and “republicans” are coalition political parties in the US Alternative principles of ideological preference Liberty Equality Order “Ideologies…map the political and social worlds for us. We simply cannot do without them because we cannot act without making sense of the worlds we inhabit.” Michael Freeden, Ideology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, 2003.

12 Liberty, Equality, Order
Widely held political principles Regardless of expressed ideology Held in different proportion by different ideological adherents Ideologies can be identified by different proportional attachment to or rejection of these three principles Suggests measurability Attachment to: positive ideology Rejection of: negative ideology May be used to describe an ideological map with three axes Liberty Equality Order

13 LEO Space Three axial principles (Dimensions) Six levels Liberty
Equality Order Six levels Describe distance from ideological center Centrist Moderate Ideologue Hard-Liner Radical Extremist

14 Ideological Regions in LEO Space
L+E+O+ (Standard Ideological Preference) L-E+O+ (Anti-libertarian) L+E-O+ (Anti-egalitarian) L-E-O+ (Anti-libertarian and Anti-egalitarian) L+E+O- (Anti-establishmentarian) L+E-O- (Anti-communitarian) L-E+O- (Anti-libertarian and Anti-establishmentarian) L-E-O- (Universal Opposition) Most ideological preferences found in only 1st region

15 LEO Made Simple Principle Centrist Ideology Moderate Ideology
Radical or Extreme Ideology Libertarian Centrist Libertarian Left Libertarian Right Libertarian Anarchist Anarcho-Communist Anarcho-Syndicalist Liberty Liberal Centrist Liberal (US), Labour (UK) Liberal Egalitarian Liberal Communitarian Conservative Liberal Socialist Communist Equality Conservative Centrist Conservative Libertarian Conservative Conservative Communitarian Liberal Conservative Statist Fascist Order

16 Other Ideologies in LEO
Communitarianism Equal parts Equality and Order Liberty subordinate The Reagan Coalition Equal Parts Liberty and Order Equality subordinate Thomas Hill Green’s Welfare Liberalism Equal Parts Liberty and Equality Order subordinate

17 Critique of the LEO Model
Advantages Identifies a wider range of ideologies than either Spectrum or Compass Suggests linkages between ideologies Renders ideological claims testable Distinguishes mere negative opposition from true preference Predicts accusations of extremism by opponents Independent of policy position Independent of partisan assumptions Disadvantages Complexity Abstraction Potentially awkward or unfamiliar ideological nomenclature Posits potentially absurd ideological possibilities Still unable to explain Nazism (fascist rhetoric, anarchist means)

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