PBL 1: Left/Right and Ideologies Flashcards
Differences between left and right
- change and progress
- economics
- equality
Changes and progress (L vs R)
Left: welcomes change based on belief and progress
Right: resists change and seeks to defend the existing system
Economics (L vs R)
Left: supports interventions and collectivism
Right: favours market and individualism
Equality (L vs R)
Left: advocates greater equality
Right: deems equality as impossible/undesirable
difficulties with straight L/R classification system
some ideologies have characteristics of both ends of the spectrum: e.g. anarchism can be seen as ultra-left or ultra-right
different classification spectra
- horseshoe spectrum
- two-dimensional spectrum
shift of focus of ideology
from economic organisation to culture and identity
openness classification
assigns qualities as open or closed
Open attitudes
-outward looking
-diversity
-cosmopolitanism
-social liberalism
-free trade
-pooled sovereignty
Closed attitudes
-inward looking
-homogeneity
-nationalism
-conservatism
-protectionism
-state sovereignty
false polarization
people feel that they are opposed to each other while they actually have a lot in common
polarization
the act of dividing something with different voices into two opposing groups
-politics: divergence of political attitudes away from centre, towards ideological extremes
Ideology
coherent set of ideas that provide the basis for organised political action, whether this be to overthrow/modify/preserve the existing system of power
Features of Ideology
- critique existing order
- vision of a future society
- theory of political change
political ideology vs political theory
- political theory is more specific, dealing with the state, authority and equality
- political ideology is more broad, dealing with normative questions that provide a framework.
