Unit 3 AP Comp Gov

Civil Society

• Democratic regimes allow for a vibrant and healthy civil society- groups that form outside of the government’s control.

  • Groups outside of government have complete control and freedom over what they do

  • Interest groups, sports leagues, civic associations

  • Operate in the public sphere-out in the open

• Joining groups allow citizens greater influence on the government

  • These groups impact the government

• Concern about the decline of civil society in the 20th and 21st centuries

Political Culture, Ideology, and Beliefs

• Political culture is a set of collectively held attitudes, values, and beliefs about government and politics

  • Deeply rooted in a country’s culture, geography, and history

  • Ex: France – French Revolution, they start a new civil society and a new government. The French now protest everything.

  • Ex: In America, politics are talked about a lot

  • How the whole country thinks

• Political socialization is the process by which an individual learns about politics and is taught about society’s common political values and beliefs

  • Agents of socialization include family, schools, peers, religion, and the government

  • Ex: Parents influence their children, schools teach children, private vs. public schools, friends influence how you understand society, religion

  • How people learn about their country’s beliefs

• Some argue political culture influences regime type

• Political cultures can change slowly over time

• Postmaterialism, emerged in democraties after WWII

  • Now economic needs are met, citizens then move onto worrying about human rights, civils rights, environmentalism, and moral values

• Political ideology is an individual’s set of beliefs and values about government, politics, and policy

  • Ideology may be political, economic, or both

  • Individualism, neoliberalism, communism, socialism, fascism, etc.

  • Personal belief about the country’s beliefs

• Individualism is the belief that people should be free to make their own decisions and that the government should not unnecessarily regulate individual behavior or restrict civil liberties

Economic Ideologies

• Neoliberalism is a philosophy favoring economic policies that support the free market and reduce trade barriers

  • Neo=free, so neoliberalism is allowing the market do what it wants

  • Free market, no government regulation

  • Cut government regulations on the economy, oppose government control of economic policies

• Communism is an ideology that advocated state ownerships of all property, with the government exercising complete control over the economy

  • Both economic and political ideology

  • Communists believed that government ownership and control of the economy would help create an egalitarian society

  • It never happened

• Socialism is a political ideology in which economic equality is a core value, with the belief that government ownership of the major means of production is a way to reduce income inequality within the state

  • Extensive welfare systems

  • Democratic socialism establishes a democratic regime with socialist economic ideology

Political Ideologies

• Fascism is a nationalist political ideology in which nationalism and the primacy of the state are the core beliefs. It emphasizes the rights of the majority, oppresses the minority, and supports strong authoritarian rule.

  • Severe restrictions on civil liberties and rights

  • Fascism can often be totalitarian

    • In totalitarian systems, the government has complete control over citizens’ lives

• Populism is a political ideology based on the idea that the government should put the rights and interests of the common people above the elites.

  • Race, ethnicity, gender, and class can be used to support populist movements