2 Utopias, Theories, and Ideologies

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2Utopias, Theories, and Ideologies
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Political Theory Utopias

• Utopias are idealized worlds
• Utopias are helpful for studying politics because
  they are ideas taken to extremes
• Political Science deals with ideal types or
  models to explain complex phenomenon

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Classic Political Theory

• Political science originates with the ancient
  Greeks.
• They believed that the purpose of the polis, or
  state, was to promote the happiness of citizens.
• The normative nature of classic political theory
  sharply contrasts with the modern scientific
  ideal of dispassionate and objective study.
• There are still political scientists who write
  normative political theory.
• Grand theories conceive of politics on a grand
  scale.

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The Top Seven Dead White Male Political Theorists

• Plato
• Aristotle
• Machiavelli
• Hobbes
• Locke
• Rousseau
• Marx

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Plato

• 427-347 B
• Socrates Pupil
• Wrote dialogues as starting points for
  discussion Socratic Method
• Questioned nature of Truth
• Theory of ideas or forms
• Most famous work

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The Republic

• One of the most influential works in Western
  Philosophy
• How to Live a Good Life
• Nature of Justice
• Nature of an Ideal Republic
• Allegory of the Cave

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Analogy of the Ideal Republic

• One of the first major, systematic expositions of
  abstract political theory
• Speculating on ideal state utopian thinking
• Divides people by innate intelligence, strength,
  and courage
• Aristocracy rule by the best

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Analogy of the Ideal Republic

• PRODUCERS not overly bright, strong, or
  courageous
• AUXILIARIES Somewhat bright and strong, and
  especially courageous defensive and policing
  positions
• GUARDIANS virtuous, brave, and extraordinarily
  intelligent run the state
• Temperance lower groups obey higher
• Just Dont simply obey, but do so willingly

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Analogy extended to individuals

• Identifies intellect with Guardians
• Spirit or emotions with the Auxiliaries
• and bodily appetites with the Producers
• Courageous if spirit is courageous
• Wise if intellect is wise
• Temperance when emotions ruled by the intellect
  and bodily appetites ruled by emotions and
  especially intellect
• Just when obey willingly

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Questions before reading Allegory of the Cave

• Is what you see always what you get?
• Is what you see always the truth?
• Describe an experience in which something that
  looked true turned out to be false or vice versa.
• How do people accept illusion as reality?
• What can happen if the illusion is shattered and
  reality is revealed?

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Allegory

• What is an allegory?
• A symbolic representation about the human
  existence
• How might we replace the cave metaphor today?
• Perhaps a movie theater
• Central point prisoners are not seeing reality,
  only a shadowy representation of it

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Shadows

• How much do the people in the cave know of
  themselves and others?
• Ignorant and ignorant of their ignorance
• About what are they talking?
• Would mistake appearance for reality

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Enlightenment

• If a prisoner is released from the cave and
  compelled to look at the light, what will he
  experience? Why?
• Pain, cant force to learn
• What does the sun symbolize?
• Truth

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Education

• If the liberated prisoner goes back and tries to
  enlighten his fellow prisoners, what reaction
  will he get? Why?

• Ridicule and attack
• Majority are sure of themselves
• Why would the prisoners have such a bad opinion
  of his experience outside of the cave?
• Threatening and hard to understand

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Political Lesson

• Why must the liberated prisoner return to the
  cave?
• Wont care for honors
• Must share vision (Socrates)
• Reluctant rulers govern best
• Philosophers (intellectuals) make the best
  leaders/kings
• Why do you think the people of Athens were
  antagonistic to Platos ideas?

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Contemporary Society

• To what extent is tendency to confuse shadows
  with reality relevant today?
• Cave is like Platos conception of democracy
• Most people base political decisions on
  superficial and fluctuating pseudo-knowledge
• Describe other contemporary caves in which
  people might feel imprisoned

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Aristotle The Rebellious Student

• Aristotle (384322 B.C.) was more of a realist
• Highly critical of Plato
• He thought one could learn far more by observing
  the way that things actually work and the way
  that people actually behave.
• Not worried about idealized forms
• Much more pragmatic
• Still concerned with human potential and desire
  for happiness

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Aristotle The Rebellious Student

• According to Aristotle, everything worked toward
  a specific end, or telos.
• The telos for human beings is happiness.
• People should create governments with this human
  end in mind.
• Also, he believed, man is a political animal
  people are naturally social.
• The polis is an extension of the natural
  associations people form.

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Aristotle The Rebellious Student

• Some types of governments are better at helping
  people achieve happiness than others.
• One could improve a bad form of government.
• Therefore, one need not only be concerned with
  the ideal world, but also with improving the
  flawed world that we know.

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Machiavelli The Reality of Power

• Niccolò Machiavelli (14691527)
• Father of modern realism
• His realist perspective was shaped by the
  politics of his day
• Italy fractured
• chaotic situation in Florence
• he is tortured for participation in government

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Machiavelli The Reality of Power

• Political theory should be based on the way that
  people actually live and the things that they
  actually do.
• What did he think human nature is like?
• He believed people are ungrateful, fickle, and
  deceptive.
• One who wishes to lead has to work with this
  reality.

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Machiavelli The Reality of Power

• Concerned with how to hold and exercise power
  given unflattering nature of humans
• Machiavellis advice was cold, sometimes brutal,
  but it dealt with the realities of the politics
  he observed.
• Many still use Machiavellis advice on power
  politics.

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Machiavelli The Reality of Power

• What was Machiavellis utopia?
• He wanted a government strong enough to secure
  peace and security.

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Hobbes The Purpose of Government

• Thomas Hobbes (15881679) was an empirical
  scientist.
• In his work, The Leviathan, he sought to craft a
  scientific theory of politics and government.
• Begins with a thought experiment, asking what
  life was like in a state of nature before
  government.

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Hobbes The Purpose of Government

• What was life like in Hobbes imaginary State of
  Nature?
• Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
• Why would people form governments in this
  environment?
• People are rational pleasure seekers they want
  peace and personal security.
• So what do they do?

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Hobbes The Purpose of Government

• Government begins when people join together to
  form a Social Contract.
• They trade their liberty for protection from the
  harshness of the state of nature.
• Because the state of nature is so harsh, they
  turn their freedom is over to a sovereign with
  supreme authority.
• The sovereign is responsible for securing and
  maintaining the peace.

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Hobbes The Purpose of Government

• This sovereign has all power in the society.
• Once people consent to join the social contract,
  they hand over all rights including the right to
  disagree.
• They sovereign can do whatever is necessary to
  ensure domestic tranquility.
• There is no freedom of speech or freedom of
  religion.
• Why would rational people consent to this?
• Hobbes gives us the negative utopia of the state
  of nature to contrast with the positive utopia of
  a life of security.
• The negative utopia lurks in the background as a
  justification for the sovereigns rule.

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Locke Civil Society

• John Lockes (16321704) Second Treatise of
  Government also begins with a state of nature.
• How does Lockes state of nature differ from
  Hobbes
• Made up of rational individuals who all have
  natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
• But, encounter certain inconveniences, primarily
  in their efforts to gather property
• So, enter into Social Contract to protect Life,
  Liberty, and Property
• Emphasis on Consent and Limited Government

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Locke Civil Society

• However, the state of nature can suddenly turn
  into a state of war if a few people seek to
  violate natural laws.
• There are inconveniences with meting out justice
  in the state of nature.
• Locke argued that when people come together in a
  state of nature, they first form a civil society.
  

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Locke Civil Society

• Civil society then creates the government.
• Government is limited.
• People only surrender rights that are absolutely
  necessary for the government to carry out its
  primary function the preservation of property.
  
• Lockes utopia is one where the government exists
  as a subcontractor for the civil society.
• The subcontractor continues as long as it
  performs its responsibility to protect.
• All are free to enjoy their rights, property, and
  the fruits of their labor.

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Locke Civil Society

• Why does this sound familiar?
• Very influential in creation of U.S. Government
• What happens if the government does not live up
  to its end of the social contract and fails to
  protect its citizenry or abuses its power?
• The U.S. Declaration of Independence declares
  That whenever any form of government becomes
  destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
  People to alter or to abolish it, and to
  institute new Government.

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Rousseau Why Cant We Be Friends?

• Jean Jacques Rousseaus (17121778) political
  theory does not stress individualism to same
  degree as Hobbes or Locke.
• He did not believe that civilized society was an
  improvement on the state of nature.

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Rousseau - (17121778)

• Rousseau also starts with a state of nature
• People were primitive and simple-minded, but had
  liberty.
• Rousseau thought civilization was the problem.
• It made people focus on their individual desires,
  robbed them of their compassion, and promoted
  inequality.
• In his work On the Social Contract, Rousseau
  writes, Man is born free, and everywhere he is
  in chains.

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Rousseau - Why Cant We Be Friends?

• What should people do?
• Enter into a social contractone that is
  different from Hobbes or Lockes
• People need to place the common good of all above
  their own personal interests
• In exchange for surrendering individual rights,
  each person joins in the solidarity of the
  general will.
• The general will is the voice of the majority
  speaking for the common good of all, where each
  person ignores his or her own personal stake.
• All who participate grow through their
  participation.

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Rousseau - Why Cant We Be Friends?

• The general will is the sovereign.
• If people do not follow the general wills rules,
  they will be forced to be free.
• How does Rousseaus vision of human nature differ
  from either Hobbes or Locke?
• He has a higher view of human potential

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Modern Thought The Contractualists

• Hypothetical State of Nature with no government
• Individuals rationally join together in a social
  contract to form a government to protect
  themselves
• Hobbes Need a sovereign leviathan with supreme
  power to maintain order
• Locke Rational and reasonable individuals
  consent to form a limited civil society to secure
  life, liberty, and property
• Rousseau Unanimous agreement to create a popular
  sovereignty under the general will of the
  community in which each have civil and moral
  liberty and a better opportunity to fulfill
  themselves

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Karl Marx You Will Wait!

• Karl Marx is also generally agreed to be one of
  the most influential political theorists.
• Most of his theoretical impact comes in relation
  to government and the economy.
• We will focus heavily on his work when we cover
  government and the economy.

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Non-Western Political Theory

• Sun Tzus Art of War is, perhaps, the oldest
  secular text still in existence, and it is still
  widely read and incredibly influential.
• One key element of Chinese political theory that
  contrasts with Western models is its focus on the
  society first and the individual second.
• Indian political theory is built upon the idea of
  innate human obligations rather than the idea of
  innate rights.
• Islam includes substantial space for what might
  be called tribal identities and other local
  adaptations.
• Islamic political thought is also the only major
  body of political theory that is not focused on
  the state, but on the idea of a nation that
  transcends borders and governments.

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Ideology

• Definition A coherent set of ideas that links
  thought with action
• Features
• Coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that
  explains and evaluates social conditions
• Helps people understand their place in society
• Provides a program for social and political action

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Ideologies and Religion

• Religions perform similar roles
• But tend to be concerned with the supernatural
  and the divine
• Ideologies are more interested with the here and
  now on this earth
• Political ideologies aim to help people live as
  well as possible in this world

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Human Nature

• Implicit in each ideology is some conception of
  human nature
• Are we competitive or cooperative?
• Is human nature constructed differently under
  different ideological systems?

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Freedom

• All ideologies claim to promote freedom
• But define freedom in different ways
• Human nature and freedom are essentially
  contested concepts
• Freedom (and ideologies) includes
• an agent,
• a barrier or obstacle blocking the agent,
• and a goal at which the agent aims

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Ideologies

• The difference between political theory and
  political ideology centers on action.
• Theory is aimed at developing knowledge.
• Ideology is about organizing and directing
  goal-oriented action.
• Marx wrote both theory and ideology, and it is
  clear to see the difference between his
  theoretical writing and his ideological call for
  the workers of the world to unite.

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Distinguishing Ideologies from Theories

• A crude way of distinguishing between theories
  and ideologies is to think about the audience.
• Political theories are written for elites.
• Ideologies are written for the masses.

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Distinguishing Ideologies from Theories

• Political theories, generally are
• complex,
• logically robust,
• usually accompanied by an epistemology (a theory
  of the nature of knowledge),
• written for a select audience, and
• in some ways, timeless, because they raise
  questions and provide answers for problems that
  persist throughout the centuries.

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Distinguishing Ideologies from Theories

• Ideologies
• attempt to convince mass numbers of people,
• paint dramatic pictures of the utopia its
  proponents hope to achieve,
• are written in simple enough terms to be
  convincing,
• contain how-to instructions for achieving the
  utopia.
• Because ideologies must appeal to large numbers
  of people in specific countries at specific
  times, they are also usually malleable enough to
  be changed to meet the necessary conditions.

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Classical Liberalism

• Emphasis on Individual Liberty
• As humans are fundamentally rational
• Everyone should have equal opportunities
• Origins can be traced to a reaction against the
  rigid medieval social structure
• Religious Conformity (no separation between
  church and state)
• Ascribed Status (Social Standing fixed or
  ascribed at birth)

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Classic Liberalism The Mother of all Ideologies

• Idea of rational individuals with freedom
  articulated by Hobbes and Locke and culminate in
  the American Revolution.
• Adam Smith (17231790) added economic freedom as
  a key variable.
• Are classic liberals realists or are they
  idealists?
• To the extent that they believe government is
  necessary to control the human beings selfish
  nature, they are realists.
• Some might argue that their faith in unregulated
  economic markets is idealistic.

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Classic Liberalism The Mother of all Ideologies

• The closest ideology to classic liberalism in
  existence today is libertarianism.
• Libertarians believe the government should
  provide military protection, a police force, and
  basic infrastructure, such as roads and bridges,
  but do little more.

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Classic Conservatism

• Associated with 18th c. British parliamentarian
  Edmund Burke.
• Reaction to the excesses of the French Revolution
• Human Rationality is Limited
• The life of an individual is short
• Social institutions have developed over centuries
  of experience, success, and failure
• Hence we should rely on tradition and convention
• People should be very wary of changing things
  until they understand all ramifications.

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Burke

• Need government under a prescriptive constitution
  based on the reality of time-tested experience
• Recognizes the need for prudent change but
  critical of those who throw out all of the
  existing order in favor of abstract ideas like
  liberty, equality, and fraternity
• Society is much more than the sum of its
  individuals and Government is an embodiment of
  the values and traditions of the community and
  not just simply a perishable utilitarian agreement

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Classic Conservatism

• Institutions and traditions are shorthand for
  information that would be impossible for any
  group of human beings to possess.
• Classic conservatives believe that people should
  be very wary of changing things until they
  understand all ramifications.
• The perfect world envisioned by classic
  conservatives tends to be negative.
• They draw a picture of the anarchy that might
  result from the careless elimination of treasured
  institutions.

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Marxism

• History evolves in ways we can understand
• Wanted to isolate the determinate motor forces of
  history (like Darwin)
• Spent years studying and developed a
  sophisticated theory of historical development
• Not a revolutionary, but a scholar
• Historical Evolution is Inevitable

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Karl Marx

• Underlying force of history is economics
  (economic determinism)
• Historically, economic systems have been
  exploitive
• Capitalism exploits the labor of the worker by
  keeping them poor and debased and alienating them
  from the products of their labor
• Because exploitive, will inevitably fail and be
  replaced by a communal society from each
  according to his ability, to each according to
  his needs.

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Economic Determinism

• Economics drives History
• Forms the base STRUCTURE of society
• SUPERSTRUCTURE - politics, religion, social
  customs, intellectual work - is built on the
  economic structure
• Tribal - Feudal - Capitalism - Communism
• History is one of class struggles

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The Dialectic

• Theory of How History Evolves
• Exploitation - Contradictions - Change
• No system is without Contradictions
• Contradictions will point out change
• Only a non-exploitive system can ultimately
  survive
• a.k.a. Historical Materialism
• Wheres the contradiction in capitalism?

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Worker Alienation

• How are workers alienated in capitalism?
• Work is dehumanizing and repetitive
• Producing value for someone else
• alienated from means of production
• religion teaches them to be obedient
• Cannot develop their own humanity
• Will develop Class Consciousness
• The workers of the world will then revolt and
  cast off the rule of the capitalists
• They will institute a classless society where
  justice and fairness prevailed.

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Communism

• Karl Marx argued that the key to understanding
  capitalism was its division of classes.
• Under capitalism there are two classes, the
  proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
• The bourgeoisie are the capitalists who control
  the machinery of the state and who benefit from
  the inequities of the capitalistic system.
• The proletariat is the working class, which gets
  paid only a fraction of the worth of the goods it
  produces and the services it provides.
• Because the proletariat do not make enough to
  purchase the goods they supply, there is constant
  overproduction and, consequently, economic
  depressions.

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Communism

• Marx believed there would be a day when workers
  from advanced industrial nations would realize
  that they shared more in common with the other
  workers around the world than they did with the
  capitalists in their own countries.
• The workers of the world would revolt and cast
  off the rule of the capitalists
• They would institute a classless society where
  justice and fairness prevailed.
• In Marxs utopia, there would be no need for
  government as we know it.

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Marxist-Leninism

• Marxs ideology has been adopted and changed to
  meet various circumstances.
• Vladimir Lenin applied communist principles to
  the feudal conditions of Tsarist Russia in the
  early twentieth century.
• Marxist-Leninism shifts the focus from
  exploitation of the proletariat within capitalist
  societies to the exploitation and colonization of
  countries, imperialism, by advanced capitalist
  countries.
• Lenin also changed Marxs revolutionary vision
  there could be a central communist party that can
  organize the revolution

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Democratic Socialism

• Early twentieth century
• Believed that people are inherently social
  beings.
• Argued that classic liberalism placed too great a
  stress on individualism.
• Envision a society characterized by social,
  political, and economic equality.
• Believe that a socialist state can be achieved
  through democratic means

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Democratic Socialism

• Social democrats believe in operating a political
  party in democratic countries in order to achieve
  the socialist policies.
• There is a difference between democratic
  socialists and social democrats.
• Democratic socialists believe that a socialist
  state can be achieved through democratic means.
• Social democrats, on the other hand, aim to
  modify the harshness of capitalism with the
  infusion of some elements of socialism.

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Reform liberalism

• Late nineteenth / early twentieth centuries
• Government should regulate the economy and remove
  major inequities caused by the capitalist system.
  
• Government should also remove the obstacles that
  hinder people from competing equally and pursuing
  their individual goals
• What kind of opportunities can government
  provide?
• It should provide education, job training, a
  safety net, etc..
• What is positive liberty?
• By removing barriers that prevent the achievement
  of peoples full potential, there is more freedom
  to do more stuff
• What is negative liberty?
• The removal of government prohibitions limiting
  various conduct
• Which is the goal of reform liberals? Which is
  the goal of classic Liberals?

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Fascism

• Fascism is a twentieth century ideology.
• Fascists argue for the supremacy and purity of
  one group of people.
• They believe in a strong military rule headed by
  a charismatic dictator of a ruling party.
• In what type of environment does fascism often
  arise?
• Fascists often emerge during a severe economic
  depressions. Why?
• People want security and prosperity
• The leader promises to take control of the
  economy and works with businesses to plan
  recovery.

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Fascism

• Public spectacles are used to reinforce
  traditions and to motivate people to support the
  ruling party.
• What is the fascist opinion of democracy?
• Fascists dislike democracy because it dilutes
  customs and traditions and because it undermines
  the dictators authority.
• What is the role of nationalism in fascist
  ideology?
• Nationalism plays a strong role in fascism as
  does a belief in constant vigilance against
  enemies at home and abroad.