“the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter” -Churchill
meaning: acknowledgment that democracies are flawed
Why did the people not revolt against the monarchy during the dark ages?
had the belief of “divine right of rule” meaning that the king and god were connected and to go against the king was to go against god. bad because all they had back then was religion
classical conservative
philosopher that is in favor of a monarchal government, during French Rev would be the people that want to go back to the way things were (King Louis XIV)
reaction to classic liberalism
Plato
greek philosopher
believed that everyone is born with special skills and they should only do things that are catered towards their set of skills
thought that people who are not born to lead a country should not tell those who are how to do it
against democracy
Machiavelli
italian philosopher
wrote “The Prince” in which had two principles “do the ends justify the means” and “is it better to be feared then loved” (chose feared)
antidemocratic
Thomas Hobbes
wrote “The Leviathan” which is about structure and order
did not think yu can have both freedom and safety--thought that the role of government was to protect oue safety
you should surrender your freedom to a monarch for safety
negative view of humans: nasty, brutish, constant state of war. believed that sovereign would provide structure and order
Edmund Burke
english classical conservative who saw the events of the french rev that proved Hobbes to be correct (reign of terror)
sovereign provide chaos
Age of Reason
shift in how society thought
scientific revolution
not every questions answer is going to be “because god…”
classical liberal
writers, philosophers, and thinkers who wrote about enlightenment
John Locke
thought humans inherently good and born with natural rights (life, liberty, and private property)
purpose of government was not to keep us safe but to preserve these natural rights
popular consent
voting
John-Jacques Rousseau
enlightened philosopher
“man is born free and everywhere he is in chains”
best type of learning is through action
challenge authority
people are the government
came up with the social contract
advocater for the “general will”
Voltaire
“i may not garee with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”
thinks we should have the freedom to criticize the government without the fear of persecusion
Montesquieu
thought of branches in government (legislative, executive, and judicial)
system of checks and balances
JS MIlls
harm principal
first to think of restrictions to our freedom
Maslow
hierarcy of needs
“how can we reach our full potential”
to what extent should the government play a part in how we reach our full potential
Left (left and right spectrum)
collectivist
lots of government involvement
public service eg. healthcare
high taxes
Right (left and right spectrum)
individualist
no government involvement
the more money you make the more preveleges and rewards you should get--people denied public servies like healthcare due to a lack of income
want lower taxes
spectrum
way of classifying an ideology
ideology
set of beliefs
left side (rate of change)
complete and immediate change
willing to use violence
no more monarch
right side (rate of change)
no change
willing to use violence
want to keep monarch
liberals (rate of change)
slightly to the left
in favor of change but slow and gradual
non violent
workiing within the system
conservatives (rate of change)
keep things the way they are
maintain the status quo
left (economic spectrum)
classical conservatism
lits of government involvement in the economy
goal is economic equality
no private property
no economic freedom
communism
right (economic spectrum)
no government involvement
laissez fair--everyone for themselves
fascism
classical liberalism (more to the middle)
neo conservatism
capitalism
left (political spectrum)
anarchism
libertairian (harm principal)
lots of freedom
mordern liberal (more towards the middle but still left)
right (political spectrum)
strict government control
authoritarian
communism and fascism
hobbes, machiavelli
classical conservatism
quadrant 1 on combined spectrum
in favor of government involvement in the economy
in favor of very strict laws
communism
stalin
quadrant 2 on the combined spectrum
little government in the economy--private businesses
very strict laws
fascism
Hitler, Mussolini
quadrant 3 on the combined spectrum
little government involvement in the economy
lots of freedom
Rand Paul, anarchism
very few laws both economically and politically
quadrant 4 on the combined spectrum
lots of government involvement in the economy
lots of political freedom
Gandhi
key to combined spectrum
the further away someone is from the middle, the more extreme their views ae