Types of Political Ideology - Term Paper Example

Introduction The term ideology was coined during the French Revolution (1789) by Antoine Destutt de Tracy and the term became widely popular in 1796.An ideology is a set of broad and comprehensive ideas (Hamilton 20). A political ideology is set of political ideas and beliefs that are coherent and natural. Political ideology is largely concerned with struggle for political power and the means to achieve that power. More specifically a political ideology is “more or less coherent set of ideas that provides the basis for organized political action, whether this is intended to preserve, modify or overthrow the existing system of power” (Political Ideologies I 5). Political ideology may also be depicted in the shape of political slogans, political rhetoric, political party manifestos etc. It may also take the form of mass political movement in order to mobilize people. The prominent political ideologies are: Liberalism Socialism/Communism Conservatism Fascism The ideologies of Liberalism, Communism are considered left wing and the ideologies of Conservatism and Fascism are considered right wing. ‘The Right’ wing endorse monarchy and ‘The Left’ emphasizes the removal of aristocracy and monarchy. Liberalism: Liberalism is widely prevalent ideology today. Liberalism originated in the 18th century during the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. John Locke is considered to be the ‘founding father of liberalism. The liberalism endorses individual freedom and equality and opposes the ideas of absolute monarchy, divine rights of kings, hereditary aristocracy and established religion. In a broad sense liberalism is a political ideology that emphasizes individual liberty, equality, civil rights and freedom of thought, speech and religion. The Liberalism has many forms. The classical liberalism states that there should be little or no interference of the government in the economy and the market should be totally free. It believes in abolition of state protection of the individual. The modern liberalism believes that total free market results in accumulation of wealth in the hands of few with vast majority of people living in the poverty. So government should interfere to prevent this scenario. The modern liberalism states that civil rights are more important to individuals as compared to economic rights. American Revolution (1776) gave birth to the first liberal government in America after dismissing monarchy. French Revolution that ended monarchy in the France was also led by liberal ideology. Liberalism spread quickly in the West. But soon the liberal economic policies resulted in accumulation of wealth in the hands of few people. So by the end of 19th century there was a birth of another ideology which was called Communism. Communism/Socialism: Communism is extreme left-wing ideology. The popular version of Communism is largely based on the thoughts of Karl Marx. It aims to achieve a classless and stateless society. Communism aims to end problems that arise with liberalism or capitalism. Marx’s communism/ socialism refer to a state of classless and stateless society where there would be no unemployment, no conflicts or class struggles. Socialism is a highly developed economic state where there is no private ownership of property and all means of production are owned collectively. Every human being is able to fulfill his/her needs. The communism states that in the capitalist society, man is alienated from his own being and is not truly free. According to Marx, in capitalist society there are two classes: owners (bourgeoisie) and non-owning working class (proletariat) (p3). The continued exploitation of working class in the hands of capitalists will result in the proletarian revolution thus ending the capitalist system. Eventually, the proletarian revolution would lead to an ideal socioeconomic state called Socialism. Thus Socialism will evolve out of Capitalism. The Soviet Union adopted communism but communism in Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Many countries such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, and Laos are still supporting this ideology. The Communist Parties of different countries also follow the principles of communism. Conservatism: Conservatism is a political ideology that endorses maintenance of existing institutions and traditional values. It emphasizes on individual freedom and opportunity, free-market and minimal governmental intervention but also supports traditional and religious values. The ideology states that revolutionary changes in the moral order of society are dangerous. Conservatism believes in evolutionary change. British politician Edmund Burke criticized the liberal ideas of French revolution and used the term Conservatism as a substitute for the political ideology of French Revolution. It made the term ‘Conservatism’ widely popular. He advocated that the change should be evolutionary not revolutionary. There are many forms of conservatism such as ‘Liberal Conservatism’ ‘Conservative Liberalism’. Fascism: The term is often used to denote a political movement in Italy under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. Fascism appeared after the First World War. Fascism ideology is against Marxism, liberalism and conservatism. It advocates creation of single party norm. Fascism supports radical nationalism and considers the nation or race above everything else. It believes that national rebirth will occur after a period of destruction and it would solve all future and existing problems. Fascism is against class conflict and instead believes in radical nationalist movement. In economic sphere, fascist ideology opposes the extreme individualism of liberalism and strict state control of communism and seeks to follow a middle path called ‘Third Way’ or ‘Corporate State’ by fascists. Difference between Totalitarianism and Authoritarianism Totalitarianism is a term used to denote a state that believes in government control of all activities of an individual. It is a combination of autocracy and dictatorship. It believes in the rule of single party and seeks to control every aspect of individuals’ private and public life. Totalitarian governments consider the interests of the state more important than interests of individuals. Unlike totalitarianism, authoritarian state controls all aspects of a persons life but it does not curtail the freedom of people if the actions of the individuals do not pose any threat to the state. Authoritarians allow some degree of freedom to their people unless they are perceived to oppose the state. Totalitarianism is more oppressive and intrusive than authoritarianism. Definition of Federalism Federalism is most commonly used to define a political system that emphasizes power sharing between central and regional governments. It is a form of government in which the power is shared between national and state governments. More specifically federalism is defined as: " the system in which some matters are exclusively within the competence of certain local units - cantons, states and provinces - and are constitutionally beyond the scope of the authority of the national government, and where certain other matters are constitutionally outside the scope of the authority of the smaller units" ( Linz 2). Is Federalism an Ideology? The majority of political thinkers does not state federalism as an ideology and often use the term to denote principles of a political system or a form of a government. According to Mulira “federalism is just a form of political organization allowing each political unit as agreed upon in the constitution to maintain its fundamental political, cultural and economic integrity within a wider political system” (p 3). It is a model of governance supporting division of power between central and regional governments. Federalism can be seen an institutional form that purports the idea of decentralization of government responsibilities and functions. But Mario Albertini, a great political scientist, who played an important part in European Federalist Movement (MFE), has defined federalism as a political ideology (JEF, Federalism Definition III). He came up with an innovative theory of federalism and placed federalism in the list of several other ideologies such as liberalism, communism, conservatism etc. According to Albertini, federalism is an “active political thought”. The main aim of this ideology is “freedom, political equality and social justice” (JEF, What Federalism is p 11). . Works Cited Hamilton B.M. 1987, The Elements of Concept of Ideology, Political Studies, XXXV pp 18-38 JEF Federalism Definition III, 2008, Young European Federalists JEF, What Federalism is? Young European Federalists Linz J.J. 2007, Democracy, Multinationalism and Federalism Estudio/Working Paper 1997/103 Livesey, Chris.2006, Different Political Ideologies and their relationship to different Political Parties Marx Karl and Engels Friedrich. “The Communist Manifesto.” E-Book #61, Project Gutenberg 25 Jan. 2005 Mulira, Peter. 1 Oct. 2008, Federalism is Not a Political Ideology, Opinion Paper, allAfrica.com Political Ideologies I. Sept 24, 2007, GVPT 100 Read More