LESSON 2: CLASSICAL

TO MODERN
POLITICS IDEOLOGIES
IDEOLOGY
A systematic body of
concepts especially about
human life or culture.
A manner or the content of
thinking characteristics of an
individual, group or culture
WHAT IS POLITICAL IDEOLOGY?
 Set of ideas that provides a basis for organized political
action
 Provide lenses for positive and normative analysis of socio-
political conditions
 Often dictates how society should be structured
 Use to legitimize a political system or regime
 The political ideology of state inevitably shapes the
configuration of the political community because the form
of government reflects the ideals advocated by the political
ideology.
SOME OF THE PHILOSOPHERS WERE SOCIAL
CONTRACT THEORISTS:
JOHN LOCKE
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
THOMAS HOBBES
KARL MARX
FRIEDRICH ENGLES
FREDERICK WATKINS
DAVID INGERSOLL
L.T. SARGENT
TERENCE BALL
FREDERICK WATKINS(1969)
- He suggested that ideologies
come from different political
extremes such as the
conservatives or the pro-status
quo on one side, and the radicals
or the anti-status quo on the
extreme side.
 HERE ARE SOME
POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
AND THEIR IMPACT ON
POLITICAL
COMMUNITIES:
CONSERVATISM
- as the name implies, one is focused
on conserving something. It is
characterized by a resistant to change,
adherent to limited human freedom as
it chooses to maintain traditional
values, and at some extreme versions,
distrust to human reasoning and
nature or anti- egalitarianism (Sargent
2009).
LIBERALISM
- it can be said that liberalism
is the opposite of conservatism
for it favor change, prefers
more freedom, and has a more
optimistic approach to human
reasoning and nature( Sargent
2009).
TYPES OF LIBERALISM
CLASSICAL LIBERALISM
- a commitment to a extreme form of
individualism; belief in negative liberty.
MODERN LIBERALISM
-characterized by a more sympathetic
attitude towards state intervention; a
broader ‘positive liberty’ which is linked
to the personal development and
flourishing of the individual.
MARXISM
-one should be careful in
branding communism, socialism,
or any other similar ideologies as
Marxists because they may not
necessarily reflect the ideas of
Karl Marx although these
ideologies might find their roots
in the tenets by Marx.
SOME OF THE IDEOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL BASES OF MARXISM:

a. ALIENATION. This is the relationship

between two or more people or parts of
oneself in which one is cut off from, a
stranger or alien, the others(Sargent
2009). For Marx, alienation in its basic
form is the alienation from one’s labor
(or product of one’s labor), and
capitalism is a great factor in this
phenomenon.
b. Class Struggle. Karl Marx also noted
the struggle between the bourgeoisie (the
capitalist or middle class) and the
proletariat (workers).
c. Materialism. Marxism and the
offshoots of this ideology offer a complex
perspective and usage of materialism.
Most social scientists, however, would
agree to the basic definition that “how
people think is greatly affected by how
you live”(Sargent 2009).
d. Revolution. Almost all theories
and ideologies related to Marxism
consider proclaiming revolution
as the way to change the system.
ANARCHISM
- is a political philosophy and
movement that is skeptical of all
justifications for authority and seeks
to abolish the institutions they claim
maintain unnecessary coercion and
hierarchy, typically including, though
not necessarily limited to, the state
and capitalism.
LIBERTARIANISM
- this is another version of
anarchism but involves the
government in a minimal role
such as ensuring the safety of
everyone and fairness in
whatever contracts or dealings(
Sargent 2009).