POLS 315 – Democracy, Capitalism, Socialism - 1 June 2004

Rousseau – Last of rationalists – transitional to early romantic

Moves liberalism to new beginning

(Some say totalitarianism)

More suspicious of private property than Locke was

Views of world

Premodern – Aristotle

Equality vs. Status

A society’s attitudes toward equality & status show up in government & politics.

Equality – position on ‘political spectrum’ is a function of your view of equality.

Status – position in society based on something other than equality (birth, money, etc.)

Reason vs. Tradition

Western breakthrough – Reason pushes aside religious authority as basis for political life.

Politics following the lead of science (geocentricity à heliocentricity)

Enlightenment à French Revolution

Freedom vs. Order

Based on relative comfort (Freedom) and relative fear (Order)

All societies have some of each, but may clearly emphasize one

Nazi Germany – Order predominated

US – Freedom predominates

Individual vs. Community

US society firmly oriented to individualism

Traditional societies and modern European societies are more communal.

Aristotle: polis – Man as a political animal. Humans develop through community.

Private market vs. Social market

Should economy be organized to benefit individuals, or society?

Adam Smith – freedom through private market

Marx – Labor theory of value: work creates value

Some political traditions in modern world

Classical liberalism

Traditional conservatism

Neo-conservatives

Modern liberals (social democrats)

Christian democrats

Marxism

Right-wing authoritarianism (fascism)

	Equality/Status	Rational/Traditional	Freedom/Order	Individual/Community	Free/Social Market
classical liberal	equality	rational	freedom	individual	free market
traditional conservative	status	traditional	order	community	free OR social
modern liberal	equality	rational	freedom	community	social
neo-conservative	status	traditional	order	individual	free
christian democrat	status	traditional	order	community	social
marxist	equality	rational	order	community	social
fascist	equality	traditional	order	community	social

Some yardsticks for ideas

Coherence – how well do the ideas of a system fit together?

Duration – how long has the system been around?

Extent – how widespread?

Intensity – do people get excited?

	coherence	duration	extent	intensity
classical liberal	strong	long	wide	medium
traditional conservative	weak	long	wide	weak
modern liberal	weak	long	wide	medium
neo-conservative	weak	"new"	limited	medium to high
christian democrat	weak	long	wide	weak to medium
marxist	strong	long	wide	extreme
fascist	weak	sporadic	uncertain	high

The political spectrum

From French Revolution: the Estates-General

Aristocracy (First Estate)

Clergy (Second Estate)

Constituent Assembly of the People of France (Third Estate)

Radical ------ Liberal -------- Moderate ------ Conservative ----- Reactionary

Left Center Right

Using measure of ‘importance of equality’ :

Communist ----------------------------------U. S. --------------- Saudi Arabia etc.

Using measure of ‘government role in economics’:

Large ---------------------------------------------------------------- laissez-faire

Using measure of ‘government role in private behavior’:

Laissez-faire -------------------------------------------------------- large

Note: all claim importance of “freedom” but disagree on meaning and means to attain.

Ex: concentration camp sign “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work makes you free”)

Radicals identify freedom with equality. The system has inequality built in, must go outside the system in order to change things for the better.

Marx: All people everywhere, are prisoners to capitalism.

Liberals are pro-system. Equality of opportunity, not absolute equality. The present political system creates barriers to equality. Need to tweak the system to get better results, government must play a role in this. The market can help, but not always.

Centrist/Moderates are Liberals, with differences in degree not in basic beliefs. Moderates have less confidence in government’s ability to help matters, and more confidence in the free market.

Conservatives are pro-system. Equality of opportunity is a good ideal, but not sure it’s achievable. Disparity of talent ensures inequality, and that’s not so bad. Tweaking the system can cause problems à “law of unintended consequences”. Government interference is often bad, but sometimes is a necessary evil. Things are basically fine, we’re making progress, and things are slowly getting better. Noblesse oblige = “From those who have much, much is required.” Honor the status quo.

Reactionary – things used to be fine, now the liberals are ruining things. Need to get back to a better time. Status quo is not acceptable.

Pro-system reactionary – Reagan, Goldwater: To fix America, need to shrink government.

Anti-system reactionary: sometimes bigoted, antidemocratic, conspiracy theorists

Two democratic tendencies in U.S.: classical liberalism and traditional conservatism

Ideas evolve politically, not sudden.

These 2 trends in are intertwined in the development of modern Western political thought.

Classical liberalism was a significant break with the ideas of the traditional world in Europe.

Hobbes, Smith –-> Locke –-> Jefferson, Madison

Political core

Individual consent

Representation

Constitutionalism

Popular sovereignty

Moral core

Personal liberty – but don’t harm others

Civil liberty through participation in civic life

Social liberty: free to associate, travel

Economic core

Adam Smith capitalism

Freedom

Labor theory of value

Profit as a side-effect of the pursuit of freedom

Compare with mercantilism

Utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham & James Mill (father of John Stuart Mill)

Rational economic behavior

Maximize good for the greatest number

Enlightened self-interest

J.S. Mill: Essay on liberty

Classical liberalism is dynamic

Jefferson: “That government governs best, which governs least.”

Traditional conservatism – a response to classical liberalism

Individual is more important than equality.

Fear of unregulated power – especially in the hands of the masses

French revolution – trouble from sans-coulottes (poor didn’t wear pants)

Michael Oakeshott – purpose of government is to restrain passion

Society is organic, not rational – it evolves naturally

Rejection of the social contract, reject constitutionalism

John of Salisbury, 14^th century British

“body politic” – King as head, Church as heart, etc.

Community outweighs individual

Community outweighs equality

Respect for inheritance of money & position

Status matters, and pre-dates equality

Religion is important – promotes obedience to authority

Distrust reason – especially in problem-solving

Stick to the tried and true for solving problems

Elitism – there are more and less qualified, better to have more qualified in charge

Left: elites are the rich

Right: elites are the cultural and academic leaders

Oakeshott: conservatism may not be a philosophy, but a tendency

Social Darwinism (this is also identified with classical liberalism)