Political Ideologies - Essay Example

Political Ideologies There are different types of ideologies held by people world over, which determine their overall perception and decision making in the political arena. Political ideologies exhibit general characteristics ranging from their logical representation of views on political matters, originating from scholarly sectors of society, changing over time, falling prey to variation and over generalization, to their power of motivating human behavior as influenced by political leaders. Ideologies are therefore patterns of thought that play a crucial role in shaping political landscapes often in unconscious ways1. Of these, include democratic ideology. With its origin traced back to the ancient Greece, democracy refers to a system of leadership in which political governance is by people directly or by electing their representatives into leadership positions. The emphasis of this ideology is the free exercise individual rights in shaping political orientations of their country. Its basic tenet is the rule by many through democratic selection processes. The major flaw with this ideology is that the majority always gets their way and may result to oppression of the minorities. Second is conservative ideology. As the word suggests, this ideology refers to the assertion that the traditional governance institutions function the best way possible and that it necessary to avoid radical changes taking place in the society as much as it is practically possible. The emphasis here is on ensuring continuity of systems, maintaining stability and where possible returning things to their original status. Liberalism is the third. Attaining equity and liberty in the society are the key defining assertion of this political ideology. The emphasis here is on such things as the constitution, exercise of inherent human rights, democracy defined by free and fair elections, free market economy defined by free trade, and secularism in a country. Embracing divergent political views, libertarians advocate for a minimized statehood or its abolition while advancing a maximized individual liberty. This means that an examination of observed liberalism may establish that they have liberty situated in their core; human rights, democracy, and equality are adjacent while nationalism is on the periphery2. Other political ideologies include socialism, which opposes capitalism on the basis that it creates and concentrates wealth and power to a small segment of the society through wanton exploitation of resources including human resources. They advocate for a system that creates equal opportunity for all people to maximize their potential while using technology and resources for the benefit of the public as a whole, while doing away with any form of coercive pecking order. Closely linked to this is the green party ideology that promotes the exercise green politics defined by social justice, local level democracy, environmentalism, and violence free societies to realize world health. The independent ideology promotes none affiliation to political parties although standing by the principals and manifestoes of political parties is acceptable3. Based on evaluation of the various types of political ideologies, the liberal ideology provides the best flat form for freedom and equality among society members. Since attaining equity and liberty are its basic precepts, this ideology advocates for a structure that provides individuals with basic human rights and freedoms entrenched in a constitution. It further captures aspects like the exercise of free and fair elections also advocated for by the democratic ideology as well as for equal opportunity based on free markets and secularism for people to attain their full potentials4. As opposed to the socialism and republican/ conservative ideology, liberalism allows for improvement in the state of affair to attain maximum benefit possible for an individual in a free market setting. In conclusion, the different types of political ideologies as discussed in this paper form a framework under which their proponents operate. These help in making decisions and are subject to alterations although they do not deviate a lot from their basic tenets. Political ideologies are important ingredient in the process of selection and installation of governance structures all over the world. The level to which a government satisfies the expectations of it citizenry largely depends on the ideology held by those in leadership positions. Work Cited Andrew Heywood. Political ideologies: an introduction. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print McCullough, H. B. Political Ideologies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Robert Eccleshall. Political ideologies: an introduction. 3rd ed, London: Routledge, 2003. Print. Vincent, Andrew. Modern Political Ideologies, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print. Feminists view women as oppressed The 1960s to the early 1990s saw the growth and success of the feminist movement in Canada to place women in equal ratings in all aspects of life and market the end of oppression and exploitation of women by men. During these days, feminism was the only preached doctrine for women and any one opposed to this faced adversary, leading to many branding the movement as imperialist. The feminist movement achieved tremendously through dramatic transformation of the cultures, entrenchment into the education systems, government systems, and places of work and even in religious sectors5. The promotion of equal opportunity for both men and women saw the introduction of quota system reserving certain minimum percentage for women in all vacancies for jobs, elective offices, and college and university slots as well as in the public service. As a result, women begun to take up otherwise regarded as male professions like engineering, medicine, aviation, law, technology among others, although their numbers were still relatively low. On the social front, issues like divorce became easy and free for all, elimination of gender roles in the family set up, sexual activity became unrestricted, and extension of freedom to vote to all people who met the basic criteria of age. This also marked the end of generically ascribed gender roles in the family unit as women demanded equal responsibility in discharging household chores and bringing up children. Although this worked towards ending unfair discrimination against women, it also caused a lot of turbulence in the family unit with divorces and separation becoming common occurrences across the nation. The provision for entering into a contract relation in common law that did not bind the women to a marriage as was the case in earlier marriages saw men become increasingly cornered for child support after divorce. Further, men felt discriminated against since they in most cases were denied or restricted the right to see children resulting from their marriages that the common law arrangement compelled them to support. It is however important to note that consideration children is not the major concern for the feminist ideology and only come in to support women claim. From an historical perspective, feminism views human relations involving men and women as antagonistic based on the class struggle Marxist principal whose argument is that males have since time immemorial dominated and asserted power over females6. This kind of reasoning has in the wake of post feminist Canada seen men become victims of this movement. For example, in the case of divorce, men are unnecessary accessories to the women and thereby the decision to grant a divorce is based on the interest of the women. The exercise of justice requiring equal opportunity in job placements, education, and access to credit facilities among others, has served to place men in a disadvantaged state7. This is because they will be competing with women who have certain percentage reserved in the same placement. Women have increasingly evaluated their success on such issues as pursuing careers and being capable of bringing up their families irrespective of the presence of men. Despite all the changes that have taken place, some feminists still claim that women are an oppressed lot. They point to the disparities in the number of women in certain professions as being lesser compared to the males. For instance, women normally choose to take art-based courses like education, sociology, psychology, and performing arts in the universities while leaving science based courses to the domain of men. Therefore, men still dominate fields like medicine and engineering even though equal opportunities and affirmative actions were taken in to consideration8. On the other hand, many critics to the ideology see it as having created a flat form for discrimination against men as women become over assertive in the quest to correct the historical injustice of male domination. In conclusion, the Canadian society has seen the rise of women to the top levels of both federal and provincial governance as well as other important offices like judges and magistrates courtesy of feminism. Critics of the ideology have pointed out that feminism has achieved great success and is on the verge of entrenching discrimination against men in the mainstream society if left unchecked. Therefore, the assertion by some feminists that men oppress women does not hold any grounds in the contemporary Canada, as we know it today. Work Cited Eric, H. Boehm. America, history, and life, Volume 39, Michigan: Clio Press., 2002. Print. John, C. Courtney, David E. Smith. The Oxford handbook of Canadian politics. Oxford: Oxford Handbooks Online, 2010. Print. Louise, Chappell. Gendering Government: Feminist Engagement with the State in Australia and Canada, New York: UBC Press, 2003. Print. Nancy, Peckford. Women and feminist organizing during Second Wave feminism in Canada: reflections and considerations, West Mall: UBC Press 2004. Print. Attaining Environmentally Sustainable Society From scholarly perspective, the term environment is the surrounding of an organism with the inclusion of everything that has an affects on it. On the other hand, environmentally sustainable society refers to a society that meets its expectations in terms of needs and aspiration without affecting the future societies’ ability to meet theirs. The defining character of an environmentally sustainable society is the practice of minimizing on waste production, reducing resource utilization and preservation and rehabilitation of its sustaining base. The guiding principal is to ensure that waste generation does not exceed the capacity of the earth to assimilate it back as well as ensuring that resource exploitation does not surpass the natural capability of the resource to regenerate9. There are several ways of achieving environmentally sustainable societies. First is adoption of green building techniques. This involves construction of houses that maximize on renewable energy. For instance, solar and wind power could e used for such functions as heating, lighting, and drying of farm produce. This is possible using locally available materials, as well as recycled ones harvested in sustainable methods, and the avoidance of toxic materials and pollution through efficient transport. A typical environmentally sustainable building will have installed solar panels for lighting as well as heating the building and water and will have enough windows to facilitate natural sunlight illumination during the day. Such measures will no doubt reduce the environmental pollution caused in the process of proving that extra kilowatt of power. Second is application of the 3R strategy. A sustainable society should be able to reduce its use of resources like water and energy. It should also embrace the art of reusing their wastes for other functions that use the wastes as their raw materials such as using domestic wastewater on the lawns as well as recycling wastes like plastics for other beneficial uses10. This in essence leads to reduction in the ecological footprints of the processes that produce the primary products. Third is landscaping in sustainable ways, which involves the retention of natural topography, indigenous tree species, open spaces, and provision of backyard farms for vegetables. Growing of foodstuffs in the home compound eliminates carbon emissions that would occur in transporting the foods alongside requiring less energy, factors that reduce the magnitude of environmental degradation. Fourth, is the use of sustainable energy. For societies to be environmentally sustainable, they need to embark in energy sources that pollute less. These include wind and solar power, biodiesels and less polluting fuels in order to cut on carbon emissions while conserving natural resources. Further, it is necessary to ensure that communities care and respect people and other life forms through ensuring that development does not take place at the detriment of other sectors of the society and the environment. Ethical living is the core principal on which such communities operate. In acknowledging that the aspiration of development is to make human life more enjoyable, it is important that societies protect the pride of the earth in order for humans to enjoy it now and in the future. Promoting biological diversity conservation on the face of the earth is another way of ensuring that societies are sustainable. This is achievable through encouraging conservation-based projects within the community, supporting life support systems, and conserving biodiversity11. Encouraging communities to minimize their use of non-renewable resources like fossil fuels, which also, have the leading global warming effect through emission of green house gases in to the atmosphere, is another way of achieving sustainable societies. This also calls for keeping within the carrying capacity of the earth by embracing technologies that encourage use of limited space to full potential without causing significant damages. For societies to become environmentally sustainable there is need to root for change in individual attitudes towards the environment. This calls for extensive awareness creation among society members on the intricate nature of environmental matters and the need for individual responsibility in safeguarding the local environment. Provision of clear frameworks at policy level for integrating conservation measures into mainstream development is a very crucial measure in ensuring that communities become environmentally sustainable12. In conclusion, the duty of achieving environmentally sustainable societies is entrusted to all stakeholders in a community including the individual members, leaders at the local levels, decision makers, planners, policy makers, and environmental specialists as well. Building lifestyles through inculcating environmental values at formative years of life presents the most efficient way of ensuring sustainability. Continuous creation of awareness on the importance of ensuring environmental sustainability in the grass root levels is a sure way to ensure that societies transform themselves to be environmentally sustainable. National governments should also formulate and enact policies that discourage degradation of the environment while promoting its conservation. Work cited Anthony, Kola-Olusanya. Environmental Sustainability. London: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010. Print. Carlo, Vezzoli and Ezio Manzini. Design for environmental sustainability. New York: Springer, 2008. Print. Susan, Buckingham. Local environmental sustainability. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing, 2003. Print. World Bank. Environmental sustainability: an evaluation of World Bank Group support. London: World Bank Publications, 2008. Print. Read More