1. Evolution of the Major Political Parties
Date
Hamiltonians
(Strong Central Gov’t)
Jeffersonians
(Weaker Central Gov’t –States Rights)
Federalists
Democratic-Republicans
1820
Republicans
(Era of Good Feelings)
1825
National Republicans
(Jacksonian-Democrats)
1834
Whigs
Democrats
1854
To Present
(Less Gov’t)
(More Gov’t)

2. Political Spectrum Friday November 20, 2015

3. Objectives: To develop a better understanding of political parties and ideologies.
Questions: What is an ideology?
How does that apply to politics?

4. What is a political spectrum?
A way to measure compare:
governments,
economies,
other politically influenced differences
Left
Right

5. What does the political spectrum help us measure?
There are various different opinions about what is actually being measured along this axis:
Whether the state should prioritize equality (left) or liberty (right).
Whether the government's involvement with the economy should be interventionist (left) or laissez-faire (right).
Whether the government should be secular and separate itself from religious beliefs (left) or should take a stance of religious morality (right).
Fair outcomes (left) versus fair processes (right)
Whether one embraces change (left) or prefers rigorous justification for change (right)
Whether human nature and society is malleable (left) or fixed (right).
Support for the economic interests of the poor (left) or the rich (right).

6. The Political Spectrum
The 3 Major Characteristics of the Political Spectrum
1. The DEGREE/SCOPE of change
2. The DIRECTION of change
3. The METHOD of change

7. THE DEGREE/SCOPE OF CHANGE
As you move away from the the center of the political spectrum, your want of change becomes greater
Liberals and Conservatives want minimal change
Reactionaries (Far Right) and Radicals (Far Left) want maximum change

8. THE DIRECTION OF CHANGE
As you move to the right on the political spectrum, you become more retrogressive in the type of change desired (have more traditional views and desires from the past)
As you move to the left on the political spectrum, you become more progressive in the type of change desired (have more of a modern view and desires)

9. THE METHOD OF CHANGE
Those closer to the center of the spectrum will use the current political system to institute their changes
Those further away from the center of the spectrum will use revolutionary methods to institute their changes
As you move away from the center, the method of change can become more violent
Conservatives see the individual as the major instrument of change
Liberals see government as the major instrument of change

10. What does it measure? Wednesday Nov. 18, 2015
Left
Right
Beliefs on anything:
Political issues
Foreign policy, size of gov’t, censorship
Economic issues
Taxes, nationalized systems
Social issues
Welfare, Social Security, marriage

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

12. World Political Spectrum
Left
Right
Socialism
Socialism
Government controls everything to force equality
“Classes and greed make people poor”
Evens out wealth among people, give everyone equal/fair standing in society, provide services through taxes
The government is ‘for’ the people
Extreme: militaristic; used to keep ‘equality’
Small scale: May be used for specific systems within democratic countries (health care, education, etc.)

13. World Political Spectrum
Left
Right
Socialism
Communism
Communism
Extreme economic form of Socialism
Government controls entire economy
Don’t allow competition = no greed, inequality
Provide everything (jobs, housing, etc)
Keep everyone middle class
Tends to be a dictatorship

14. World Political Spectrum
Left
Right
Socialism
The U.S.
Communism
Fascism/ Nazism
KKK
Fascism/Nazism
Government controls everything to create the perfect nation/race; heavy nationalism
Business remains private but controlled by national gov’t
People are ‘for’ the government and don’t matter
Nation/State > people (ultra-patriotic)
Military nation; forces compliance

15. So, is the Political Spectrum helpful?
It’s based on a “law of averages”
Many debate placement on the single-axis spectrum because groupings are not always correct

16. You can measure whatever you want on an axis:
Most political scientists have transitioned into a dual-axis “compass” or a three-axis model
You can measure whatever you want on an axis:
Interventionist foreign policy
Isolationist foreign policy
Raise taxes on wealthy
Lower taxes
Pro-Choice
Pro-Life

17. Social/Political Scale
Authoritarian
The Political Compass
Economic Scale
Right (Capitalism)
Left (Communism)
Social/Political Scale
Anarchism

18. Authoritarian Right (Capitalism) Anarchism
Josef Stalin
Adolf Hitler
Saddam Hussein
United Nations
Ronald Reagan
Tony Blair
JFK
Right (Capitalism)
Left (Communism)
FDR
Anarchism

19. Statist (Bigger Gov’t)
“American Political Compass”
Libertarian
(Very Small Gov’t)
Left (Liberal)
Right (Conservative)
Centrist
Personal Issues
Statist (Bigger Gov’t)
Economic Issues

20. With a Cowsmic view of things…
The Political Compass: Political Control vs. Economic Freedom Thursday November 19, 2015
With a Cowsmic view of things…

21. Authoritarian
Left/Communism
Right/Capitalism
Anarchism

22. Authoritarian
One political leader with absolute power (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition, etc.)
Dictatorship
Oligarchy
Collective ownership of property and the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
Government by the people, exercised through representatives selected in a popular vote
Rule by a collective or group who make all decisions without outside inputs
Republican Democracy
Left/Communism
Right/Capitalism
Communism
Capitalism
Means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned, and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
Government by the people, who are directly involved on all decisions
Pure Democracy
The absence of any form of political state or leadership
Anarchy
Anarchism

23. Pure Communism
You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.
Actual Communism
You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. There’s not a lot, it is expensive and smells really funky. .

24. Capitalism
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
Creative Capitalism
You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows' milk back to the listed company. The annual report says that the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
Meanwhile, you kill the two cows because the Feng Shui of their barn is bad.

25. Anarchy
You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price, or your neighbors kill you and take the cows.
Dictatorship
You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

26. Pure Democracy
You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.
Representative Democracy
You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.
Bureaucracy
You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. After that, it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

27. Authoritarian
Centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of opposition through terror and censorship; typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and/or racism.
Dictatorship
Fascism
Oligarchy
Socialism
Republican Democracy
Left/Communism
Right/Capitalism
Communism
Capitalism
The means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively (or by a centralized government) that often plans and controls the economy to maintain social and economic equality.
Pure Democracy
Anarchy
Anarchism

28. Fascism
You have two cows. The government lets you keep them but tells you what price to sell the milk for the good of the nation.
Pure Socialism
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.
Bureaucratic Socialism
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the birds the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and as many eggs as the regulations say you should need.

29. Totalitarianism
Fascism
Authoritarian
Dictatorship
Oligarchy
Reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during the Middle Ages, revolving around three key groups: lords, vassals and fiefs
Militarism
Feudalism
Socialism
Predominance of the armed forces and collective military responsibility in the administration or policy of the state.
Republican Democracy
Left/Communism
Right/Capitalism
Communism
Capitalism
Government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed.
Pure Democracy
Anarchy
Anarchism

30. Totalitarianism Feudalism
You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk and agrees to protect you from the mad British cows.
Militarism
You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.
Totalitarianism
You have two cows. The government takes both and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.
…McDonaldism
You have 2 cows, you mix them with soy and create hamburgers to sell to the world population $$$$$$ “I’m lovin it?”

31. Modern day Europe Fascism Authoritarian Dictatorship China 2050?
Stalin’s USSR
Castro’s Cuba
Where China thinks they are…
Where China actually is today-economic capitalism
Socialism
Venezuela
Modern day Europe
Republican Democracy
Left/Communism
Right/Capitalism
Communism
Capitalism
Collapse of central government in mid-1990s led to country run by economic opportunists, terrorists, and militaristic gangs. Currently trying to reestablish central government, but it controls only part of the capitol and none of the body of the country.
Pure Democracy
Anarchy
Somalia
Anarchism

32. Economic
Social
Political

33. Statist / Authoritarian
Economic
Social
Political
Traditional political spectrum.
Right
Left
Conservative
Libertarian
Liberal
Statist / Authoritarian
Monarchy
Oligarchy
Republic
Democracy
Anarchy