Week #4: Foundational Political Ideologies

Huron 1020E

Ideology

Literally means the logic or speech of ideas

Origin of the term ideology

First used after the French Revolution by the ideologues

Ideology as a contested concept

Can be understood in multiple ways with different political implications

Ideology as a negative concept

A systematic distortion of thinking that makes contingent ideas seem natural

Ideology critique

Analysis that exposes how power distorts beliefs and values

Ideology as a neutral concept

The study of ideas that shape political action without moral judgment

Sociology of ideas

Examines how political ideas emerge, function, and change

Empirical study of ideology

Analyzes ideology using data like media, public opinion, and institutions

Combined definition of ideology

Broad languages, stories, and maps linking past, present, and imagined futures

Liberalism

An ideology centered on rights, liberties, property, and authority

Core liberal question

How to balance individual liberty and state authority

Historical roots of liberalism

Emerged with merchants and the bourgeoisie in early modern Europe

Natural rights

Rights individuals possess prior to political authority

Atlantic revolutions

Moments where liberal theory became political practice

Equal liberty

The liberal principle that individuals should enjoy the same freedoms

Unsocial sociability

Friction arising from individuals exercising equal liberty

Rule of law

Limits state power through neutral and independent rules

Individual dignity

The inherent worth of individuals (Kant)

Harm principle

The idea that liberty may only be limited to prevent harm to others (J.S. Mill)

Right prior to the good

The state cannot impose a single vision of the good life (Rawls)

Zone of non-interference

A private sphere protected from state intrusion

Property in liberalism

A foundation of privacy and individual freedom

Liberal attitude

Critical scrutiny of authority and tradition

Conservatism

An ideology emphasizing tradition, order, and limits to change

Core conservative concern

Preserving conditions for stable and meaningful lives

Historical trigger for conservatism

The French Revolution

Tradition in conservatism

Habits and practices guiding social life

Conservative view of reason

Skeptical of abstract rational redesign of society

Immutable limits

Natural or enduring constraints on human life

Conservative attitude

Cautious realism about social change

Edmund Burke on conservatism

Circumstances matter more than abstract principles

Socialism

An ideology focused on meeting human needs and collective control of production

Socialist view of human nature

Humans transform themselves and nature through labor

Core socialist question

How to realize equal liberty and democratize capitalism

Formal equality vs practical inequality

Capitalism treats people as equal in law but unequal in reality

Labor power

Workers’ capacity to work sold under capitalism

Market compulsion

Freedom constrained by economic necessit