Political ideologies

John Locke (classical liberalism)

John Locke (classical liberalism)

Human nature - rational, guided by pursuit of self-interest but mindful of others

State - must be based on consent of governed

Society - predates state, used to be ‘natural societies’

Economy - state policy should respect the ‘natural right’ to private property

John Stuart Mill (classical liberalism)

Human nature - fundamentally rational, but forever progressing

State - should be mindful of minority rights and progress towards representative democracy

Society - best society is where individuality co-exists with tolerance and self-improvement

Economy - laissez-faire capitalism is vital to progress

Mary Wollstonecraft (classical liberalism)

Human nature - intellectually men and women aren’t very different

State - monarchial state should be replaced by one which enshrines women’s rights

Society - ‘infantilised’ women and thus stifled female individualism

Economy - free-market economy energised by the enterprise of liberated women

John Rawls (modern liberalism)

Human nature - mankind is selfish yet empathetic

State - should enable less fortunate individuals to advance

Society - best society is where the condition of the poorest improved

Economy - free-market capitalism should reflect the obligation to advance the poorest

Betty Friedan (modern liberalism)

Human nature - discourages self-advancement among women

State - should legislate to prevent continued discrimination against women

Society - looks down on women, even though women were complicit in their repression

Economy - free-market capitalism and equal rights legislation could help women

Marx and Engles (fundamentalist socialism)

Human nature - originally fraternal and altruistic but has been contaminated by capitalism

State - existing state is a tool of capitalism, must be destroyed by a revolution and replaced by a socialist state via dictatorship of the proletariat

Society - communist society is perfect ‘end of history’

Economy - replace capitalism with an economy based on common ownership

Rosa Luxemburg (fundamentalist socialism)

Human nature - w/c communities are still fraternal and altruistic

State - existing capitalist state should be destroyed by revolution and replaced with a democracy

Society - capitalist society is class-ridden and alternate societies exist in downtrodden proletariat communities

Economy - capitalism should be totally destroyed and there be a new economy under workers’ control

Beatrice Webb (fundamentalist socialism)

Human nature - human psyche would be ruined by a violent revolution

State - existing state uses universal suffrage and it can transition to socialism

Society - poverty and inequalities of a capitalist society depress human potential

Economy - capitalist economy should be replaced by one based upon common ownership

Anthony Crosland (revisionist socialist)

Human nature - powerful sense of ‘fairness’ and innate objection to inequality

State - democratic socialist governments show existing state can affect change

Society - new social groups have emerged (‘meritocratic managers’ and ‘classless technocrats)

Economy - greater public spending to increase equality using Keynesian capitalism

Anthony Giddens (neo-revisionist socialism)

Human nature - shaped by socioeconomic conditions, still pro-fairness but now more aspiration

State - improved by distributing and decentralising political power and greater political participation

Society - undergone embourgeoisement and egalitarians must harness these forces

Economy - tax the rich to finance greater public spending

Edmund Burke (traditional conservatism)

Human nature - skeptical: gap between aspiration and achievement, can’t achieve perfection

State - should be ruled by hereditary elite

Society - best society is a host of small communities and organisations called ‘little platoons’

Economy - trade should involve organic markets and laissez-faire capitalism

Thomas Hobbes (traditional conservatism)

Human nature - cynical: individuals are driven by a need for order and security, selfish

State - arises ‘contractually’ from individuals who seek order and security

Society - no society until creation of the state brings and order and security

Economy - constructive economic activity is impossible without arder and security

Michael Oakeshott (traditional conservatism)

Human nature - modest: humanity is best when free to focus on everyday life

State - should be guided by tradition and practical concerns

Society - localised communities are essential to humanity’s survival

Economy - free markets are volatile and may require state moderation

Robert Nozick (new right)

Human nature - ‘egotistical’: individuals are driven by a quest of ‘self-ownership’

State - minarchist state should merely give contracts to private companies providing public services

Society - should be geared to individual fulfillment, small communities reflecting members’ tastes

Economy - minarchist state should leave the privatised and deregulated economy

Ayn Rand (new right)

Human nature - ‘objectivist’: we should be guided by rational self-interest

State - should confine itself to law and order and national security, no other intervention

Society - atomistic (sum total of its individuals) and any attempt to restrict individuals shouldn’t be tolerated

Economy - free-market capitalism should not be hindered by the state

Max Stirner (individualist/egoist)

Human nature - fundamentally self-interested egoists

State - complete denial of our egoism and individualism

Society - society restrains, we must be completely self-reliant

Economy - accumulation and retention of property is our main economic motivation

Peter Kropotkin (collectivist)

Human nature - people are sociable and prefer collective activity

State - capitalist state destroyed by revolution, replaced by independent, self-governing communities

Society - commune should be basis of society

Economy - new communist system of self-sufficient small units

Mikhail Bakunin (collectivist)

Human nature - fundamentally social animals and characterised by productive work

State - servant of capitalism, must be destroyed by revolution

Society - proposed a federal system where federations of workers cooperated with each other

Economy - market system abolished, replaced by exchange based on the value of goods

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (individualist)

Human nature - characterised by our productive abilities and creativity as producers

State - oppressive and must be abolished through peaceful, democratic means

Society - mutualism, people are bound together by mutually beneficial social and economic relations

Economy - independent productive units that trade with each other

Emma Goldman (individualist)

Human nature - desire for freedom is fundamental to mankind

State - source of oppression and denial of liberty along with religion and property ownership

Society - best society is one where all people are treated as equal

Economy - fundamentally a communist