Chapter 7: Political Ideologies

Chapter 7: Political Ideologies

Plan.

1.          Nature of political ideology.

2.          World ideologies: liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and fascism.

Political ideology is an important element of public consciousness. It’s the pivotal construction of the ideological system it plays one of the main roles in the political life of society. Ideology is functional characteristic of public consciousness, which reflects social being from the interests of social group’s positions, classes, and communities and services these interests. Ideology is unilateral, social-interested reflection of the reality, it unites the society, creates wide social basis for the ruling elites’ authority. Political ideology is a specific doctrine, which substantiates claims for the authority of class or social group.

Ideologies are useful to people, both for their own personal ease and satisfaction and for their public political activities. From the personal point of view, an ideology helps us to make sense reasonably easily and quickly of the varied political questions that come to our attention. In any given week, the newspaper will raise questions about the control of deregulation of oil prices, the bushing of schoolchildren to improve racial balance, the level of support for retired people in the social security system, the size of the military budget, federal acquisition of land for parks and wildlife refuges, and so forth. If we had to consider each of these issues anew starting from scratch, we would have an awesome task. But if we approach each from the standpoint of a general ideology that we have developed over time, the job is much simpler. Most issues will turn out to be instances of  more general principles that can quickly be settled by applying the principles.

World ideologies: liberalism, conservatism, socialism and fascism. There are many ideological systems in the world, but the greatest from them are: liberalism, conservatism, socialism and fascism.

Liberalism is one of the most spread ideological trends (from Latin “liberalis” means “free”). The main principles of it are: freedom of the individual, responsibility of the individual toward himself and society, recognition of the right of all people self-realization; individualism; humanism; freedom from the state’s restriction of the citizen’s right; liberalism is based on the identification of freedom and private property, which is the guarantor and measure of human’s freedom. Liberalism was formed at the end of XVIIth-XVIIIth centuries as a bourgeous ideology on the basis of the Enlightenment ideas of Locke, Hobbes, Smith, Mill and other thinkers.

New-liberalism is a result of the evolution of this trend. Ideology of new-liberalism was formed in 30^th of the XXth century. At the beginning it was “the new course” of American President F.D.Rousvelt. He corrected some political and economic guidelines of this ideology. New-liberals admit that the state can regulate economic relations and realize an active social policy. They support a policy of the limitation monopolies’ power for redistribution of material values through tax system and state social programmes in the lowest society stratums’ favour. Under the liberal banner the model of a “positive state”(or “welfare state”) was formed. New-liberalism is an ideological basis of the Democratic Party of the USA.

Conservatism is an opponent of liberalism. English thinker and politician Burke, and French public figures J.de Mestre and L.de Bounald were at the source of this trend. Ideology of conservatism is based on the inviolability of existing natural order. The traditionalism is an idea of maintenance of traditional values, which are connected with family, religious, social estates division. On their mind, the political principles ought to adapt to customs, national traditions and socio-economic and political institutes, which are settled. Conservators always fight against “democratic extremities”.

In 70^th of the XXth century new phase in the development of conservatism started. New-conservatism was formed on the ground of confrontation with new-liberalism and socialism. New-conservators demand the limitation of the state interference in the economy. On their mind “the best government governing the less”. New-conservators fight against excessive taxation of big business with the aim of redistribution of material values in the lowest society stratums’ favour. They consider that the state not “the milk cow”. The individuals ought to consider on their own forces. Modern society ought to create an equal possibilities, not an equal results.

Socialist ideas were born at the ancient time. According to these ideas early-Christian communities built their life. But theoretical and ideological legislation were only in a New Time in books of Utopian socialism classics T.Moor, T.Campanella, R.Ouen, Sen-Simon, and Rousoue. In the middle of XIXth century German thinkers K.Marx and F.Engels attempted to create socialist science. On this basis Marxism was formed. It was proclaimed as a proletarian ideology. At the beginning of XXth century Marxism was split into confronting wings: Leninism (bolshevism) and social democracy. The whole roots connect these trends: an idea of equality and brotherhood of all people; social justice; the priority of social interests over the individual ones; recognition of the necessary state interference in public relations. But there is a deep gulf in the concrete socio-political and economic programmes between Leninism and socio-democratism.

Leninism is a theory of V.I.Lenin and his supporters. It was formed in Russia. Lenin renounced from the basic Marxist principle about simultaneous transition to socialism of developing countries. He submitted an idea about Russia like “the weak link” in the chain of capitalist countries and demanded seizure of power immediately, broke-up of the old state machinery, expropriation of the private property and conversion it to the state one. Leninist ideology became an ideological basis of the Great October socialist revolution and the socialist building in the USSR and other countries of the socialist community. On this ideological basis there was a process of socialization of production, ”collectivization” of agriculture, a powerful totalitarian system was formed. But it broke-up at the early 90^th of XXth century.

Socio-democratic doctrine has the other political principles. Founders of social-democratic trend were German thinkers and public figures K.Kautsky and E.Bernestein. Socio-democratic ideology was formed on the ground of revision Marxist theory in the revolution – violent point and established human and democratic values. In the foundation of social-democratism there is a doctrine of “the democratic socialism” or “the socialism with a human face”. From the socio-democratic point of view, socialism is not concrete social system but the process of the social justice’s introduction to the public life.

Social democrats approve the peaceful, evolutionary means of achievement equality and social justice. They consider that slowly reformation of bourgeous society is closely connected with non-violent forms of class fighting and social partnership’s propaganda. On this basis various “models of socialism” were formed. Sweden and German models are the most well known ones. During socio-democratic governing in West Germany and Sweden socio-democratic political and economic guidelines realized. But in 80-90^th negative tendencies, which were connected with the state monopolism and bureaucratism, declining stimulus for private enterprise was revealed. These tendencies had led to slowdown of development in countries. Social democrats have lost the mass support of electorate and were compel to pass the authority to representatives of conservative ideology.

Fascism.  In the 1920s and 1930s there arose a political movement, fascism, which did not hang together well as ideology (the twentieth century, unlike the nineteenth century, did not emphasize the intellectual completeness of theories) but rather more a style of politics and a popular movement. Adolf Hitler in Germany, Benito Mussolini in Italy, and Francisco Franco in Spain all established fascist regimes at this time. Fascists did not generally write elaborations of their theory, since among other things they despised intellectualism and ideology. Accordingly most analysts of fascism as an ideology have looked mainly at what fascists did. The essence of fascism seems to have been a rejection of most institutions of modern life, combined with a national rebirth focused on a charismatic, dictatorial leader. Fascists were all antisocialist, generally anticapitalist, and (at least in Hitler’s and Mussolini’s cases) hostile to the church. They tended to glorify instead a mythical war-based society of the past – for Mussolini the ancient Roman Empire, for Hitler the Teutonic knights of the Middle Ages and Wagner’s dreamy stories about the old Germanic gods.

Their political style was opportunist. All used violence and terror to advance their movements. Somewhat paradoxically, since they despised modern institutions, they were also “up to date” and presented themselves as forward-looking. Hitler was the first German politician to campaign from an airplane, for instance, and the design of fascist propaganda and rallies was often done in the current, modern-looking “art deco” style.

Fascism appealed particularly to those who felt left out in the modern age. In Spain and Italy, these were mostly the traditional elites, who felt threatened both by modern industrial managers and by socialist workers. In Germany, the “left out” arrear to have been mainly the middle class, small farmers, and shopkeepers. The uprooting of European civilization in the First World War helped prepare the grounds as well, adding to the sense of loss among the disinherited of modern life.

The details of fascism actually varied a good deal from one place to another. The Nazi party of Germany attacked the existing social system, including the churches, more actively than most. It had a strong element of anti-Semitic racism that was not present in Italian or Spanish fascism and that ultimately led to the murder of millions of Jews. Spanish fascism identified with conservative church leadership and supported the church. Italian fascism was marked by an attempt to reorganize the economy into “corporations” – guilds of employers and workers in each industry. Such variations in fascist policy again underscore the fact that fascism was, and is, rather more a political style than a system of ideas. The defeat of the fascist powers in World War II ended most organized fascism; but since then, when established sets of people have felt their positions threatened by modern change – especially by new racial or ethnic claims, or by immigration of new groups into the country – echoes of fascism have often been heard.

Ideologies in the late twentieth century. With the long period of general peace in Europe and among other industrialized states since World War II, some of the edge has worn off the conflict among the great modern ideologies. As modern society has become more firmly established, the old grievances do not seem to move people as strongly as they once did. With the decline of religion (outside of Islamic regions) and with the poor economic performance of socialist states, there has been a resurgence of liberalism – but a liberalism modified by considerable governmental support for the weak.

Many leaders of parties, especially those which hold responsibility for the government of a state, have begun to modify their ideologies in light of practical experience. The most dramatic example of this is provided by the collapse of the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe and Russia. Many states of this region have become liberal democracies, and all have abandoned their old, ideologically based Communist systems.

History, and the development of ideologies, does not stop. The great modern ideologies were a product of the tension between Europe’s industrialization and the static institutions Europe had inherited from its feudal past. As that tension now recedes, other sources of ideological development have come to the fore, in a sometimes confusing mix of forces and tensions: the practical economic experiences of the Soviet Union and the United States; the increasing problem of  degradation of the environment; the resurgence of militant Islam; the discovery of youth and women as classes, even though Marxist socialism saw classes as based solely on economic position; and the increasingly clear division of interests between rich states and poor states – the “North” and the “South”.