Chapter 3

what is an ideology?

it’s a set of values and beliefs that structures how people think their broader societies and political institutions should be organized

it’s about distribution: who should call the shots and for whom & mechanisms for authority: what is the ideal process for decision-making

what are different ways of thinking about ideologies?

• they function as background criteria for societies and institutions - the values and beliefs that compose an ideology are the nexus of political attitudes, behaviour, and institutions

• they provide people with a belief system that informs their preferences, choices, and actions

what is an ideology not?

it’s a belief not a fact, it’s a set of principles that are substantively interconnected by some form of meaning but not science or logic

what is an example of a social democracy?

the nordic countries, they have an egalitarian ideology where people view each other as equals → belief corresponds to treating people as equals → behaviour corresponds with people supporting egalitarian policies

what is partisanship an example of?

partisanship is a person’s affiliation with a political party, though it can overlap with political ideology, parties can have multiple ideologies and the same ideology can appear across different parties

example: the liberal party and ndp may support certain welfare policies even tho they’re different political parties

what is patriarchy?

an enduring set of values about gender and power that prioritizes the experiences and rights of men over women

walby describes it as a system of social structures and practices where men dominate, oppress, and exploit women

what does patriarchy have to do with power?

since politics is about who gets what, when, and why, allocating resources by gender intersects with all other social structures (race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status...)

• all other factors being equal, a wealthy woman has less authority than a man who is also wealthy

• social categories like race and ethnicity are more important than gender or socioeconomic status in some situations

how are social democracies also patriarchal?

in sweden for example, islamophobia is also widespread and the society holds negative ideas towards immigrants

when it comes to the study of democracy, cars, medicine, and bias, what are examples of patriarchy?

• study of democracy: we use men’s POV to study how the world was, rarely including women’s opinion

• cars: testing has been done on male dummies and rarely on women bodies, thus increasing women’s risk of getting seriously or fatally injured in a car crash

• medicine: there is much more study on men’s bodies than women’s and tests are mostly done on men, universalizing their experiences to women as well

• race/gender medical bias: women’s medical concerns are often ignored and they’re called hormonal… while men’s concerns are taken seriously

what does patriarchy say about the distribution of authority and mechanisms for authority?

• distribution of authority: men should call the shots for their communities

• mechanisms for authority: men should be included in the decision-making process and women’s exclusion is acceptable

what is neoliberalism?

a set of values and beliefs about a state’s role in the economy and society, it’s the 20th and 21st century’s version of liberalism with a specific preference for a free market

• example: a government sells a publicly owned company to a private business and reduces government involvement in the economy

  • the canadian government seeking private investment to operate major airports instead of only relying on public management

what is a free market?

when there are few or no rules governing economic activity - people use their entrepreneurial freedoms and skills when they make economic transactions without rules or restrictions: they create, sell, and buy goods and services minimally restricted or unrestricted by laws or monitoring

• example: competing coffee shops selling coffee at prices they choose

why is neoliberalism sometimes synonymous with capitalism or globalization?

they all use the same classic liberal concept that benefits of free individual economic activities are much greater than the dangers associated with the state’s intervention and social life

• capitalism: it promotes private ownership, competition and free market

• globalization: encourages international trade, investment, and fewer barriers to the movement of goods & services between countries

example: NAFTA reduced trade barriers between canada, us, and mexico allowing businesses to trade goods easily across borders

how does neoliberalism overlap with universal ideologies like patriarchy and racism?

when racism produces job discrimination, an entire group of people are closed off from income on the basis of their race and a neoliberal state won’t intervene to address the discrimination and inequality it creates

• patriarchy: cuts to public services such as childcare can affect women who take on more caregiving responsibilities

• racism: privatization and reduced social support can worsen existing racial inequalities when marginalized groups have fewer resources

what does neoliberalism think about distribution of authority and mechanisms for authority?

• distribution of authority: profit is self-justifying and its own authority, people should retain profit from the economic transactions they engage in, and individuals who don’t profit have no alternative claim to authority

• mechanisms for authority: because the state’s activities should be limited, decision-making is minimal, and the decision-making process doesn’t need a representative sample of the governed population since the state’s intervention is limited

how is democracy an ideology?

it’s a system of governance in which rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens, acting indirectly through the competition and cooperation of their elected representatives

how is democracy different than other ideologies?

a modern democracy doesn’t just arrive, people demand some say in the rules that govern them but to demand opportunities, people need to believe that they deserve to be included in this process and participate

• in pre-modern societies, the divine rights of monarchs were seen as legit but as societies developed, people realized that they have a right to hold rulers accountable

what are the procedural criteria for democracies?

1. effective participation: all members of the community must have ‘equal and effective opportunities for making their views known’

2. voting equality: all members have an equal and effective opportunity to vote and all votes must be counted equally

3. enlightened understanding: all members must have equal and effective opportunities for learning about the relevant alternative policies and their likely consequences

4. control of the agenda: all members must have control over what matters should be on the agenda

5. inclusion of all adults: all adult permanent members should have full rights of citizens

what does democracy think of the distribution of authority and mechanisms for authority?

• distribution of authority: authority is held by people who are elected into representative office and political leaders’ legitimacy comes from the support

• mechanisms for authority: the decision-making process should include people who are governed

what is populism?

a cluster of beliefs that prioritize the experiences and rights of non-elites over the experiences and rights of elites and

according to canovan, ‘populism in modern societies is best seen as an appeal to ‘the people’ against both the established structure of power and the dominant ideas and values of society’

• elites = people who are perceived to have more material resources and formal education is sometimes considered elite

why is populism a ‘thin ideology’?

stanley argues that populism on its own doesn’t consist of any values or beliefs, it interacts with the established ideational traditions of full ideologies, it’s more moralistic than pragmatic

• right-wing populism = elites are usually intellectuals & politicians

• left-wing populism = elites are usually the wealthy or colonizers

what does populism think about the distribution of authority and the mechanisms for authority?

• the distribution of authority: authority should be held by non-elites

• mechanisms for authority: decision-making should be done by non-elites

what is an example of populism?

hugo chavez in venezuela

• he accused traditional political leaders of corruption and bad governance, presenting himself as someone who represented ordinary people by promising to replace those leaders with better governance

• chavez combined populism with socialism