Political Philosophies - GED Social Studies

Anarchism is a political theory that favors the complete abolition of government. Anarchists believe that government interferes negatively in the lives and well-being of people, and that society would function best in the complete absence of government.

The political spectrum is usually constructed as follows: On the far left are revolutionaries, on the left are liberals, in the middle are moderates, on the right are conservatives, and on the far right are reactionaries. Reactionary political philosophy is defined by the repeated attempt to resist social change or, even further, to desire a return to a previous, and more rigid, social order.

Pluralism is the name given to a political theory—widely accepted in most modern democracies—that states that a democratic society benefits when there are many competing and varied individual and group opinions working together, or in competition with each other, to direct public policy.

The term imperialism is used to describe any attempt by a stronger nation to dominate or exert influence a weaker nation through the use of its military or via its economic superiority. The period from the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century is often referred to as the Era of European Imperialism, because so many European states were carving out sections of influence around the world. The United States has also engaged in its fair share of imperialism, particularly economic imperialism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The English Bill of Rights was passed in 1689, following the accession of William and Mary after the Glorious Revolution, in which James II was ousted from power. For much of the seventeenth century, the English monarchy and parliament were at constant odds with one another, and after a Civil War resulted in parliamentary victory, the Kings of England would never have the same power again. The English Bill of Rights established limits on the powers of the monarchy and reserved powers for Parliament. It is considered a precursor to the American Bill of Rights and probably the most important document of the uncodified English Constitution.

John Locke believed in a social contract between rulers and ruled that heavily limits the power of the ruler and provides inalienable rights for the ruled. Although Locke, by modern standards was still somewhat conservative about human nature (he still favored monarchy over democracy) in his own time Locke was about as liberal as it was possible to be about human nature and political theory (without being considered dangerously insane). Hobbes, on the other hand, was a renowned pessimist about the human condition and an even more renowned royalist. Hobbes fled England during the Civil War, and upon his return published his most famous work, The Leviathan, which outlines Hobbes’ belief that life is nasty, brutish, and short, and that in a state of nature mankind would rip itself to shreds. A strong, absolute government was needed to enforce law and order. Together, their views helped shape generations of politicians’ viewpoints, but compared to one another they were chalk and cheese.

John Locke was an Enlightenment-Era philosopher. His writings were hugely influential to the Constitutional Framers of the United States. His liberal views on inalienable rights of all people to "life, liberty, and property" might make it seem like Locke would support direct democracy, or at least republicanism, but Locke was a man of his time as well. He believed that the best government was a constitutional monarchy, one where there is a king whose power is heavily limited by constitutional obligations to provide for the fair and just treatment of his citizens. Essentially, Locke believed that the king only held the power to rule if those ruled consented to it.

The Enlightenment philosopher John Locke was deeply influential to the founding fathers of the United States of America. His writings on the social contract and the responsibility of government to its citizens, found in the second of his two treatises, were impactful to the generation of Constitution Framers who established the government of the United States.

The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution states that the Constitution should be considered as the supreme law of the land, and that everyone must respect the rules and laws contained within. This might seem obvious and unnecessary to us now, but it is important to remember that when the Constitution was written there was no guarantee as to how it would be received or whether the people would unquestionably follow it.

Separation of powers refers to the fact that in the United States government there are three branches—the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial—each of which controls certain functions of government. Freedom of religion is enshrined in the United States Constitution. Federalism refers to the sharing of powers between the state and the national government and is a key component of the American political system. Only economic equality is not central to the American political system. What we have in America, in theory, is equal economic opportunity, but in a capitalist system you cannot have economic equality, which is a core component of communism and socialism.

In the United States Constitution there are certain powers reserved for either the State governments or the Federal government; however, there are also concurrent powers. These are powers shared by both the State and Federal governments: one example is the power to levy taxes.

"Pluralism" is the name given to the theory or belief that political power is divided and shared by several disparate groups within a democratic society. In a society where pluralism is in effect, many different social, ethnic, and ideological groups are accepted and tolerated, and power is (in theory) shared equally among them.

Popular sovereignty is a concept that emerged during the Enlightenment period; it is a core concept of the American political system. It states that the only legitimate authority comes from the consent of the people.

For much of human history and even today in many systems of government and societies, the rights and freedoms of the individual have been suppressed in order to further the goals and/or security of the state. The political theory of individualism, an important tenet of the American political system, states that the freedom of the individual is more important than the power of the government.

Civic responsibility is a core ideal in American political participation. It states that American citizens have a duty to engage with the political process, and especially that they have a responsibility to get out and vote. The idea is that our freedoms and liberties are hard-won and still quite rare in the world, and we have a responsibility to maintain them by engaging with them.

Political socialization is a broad term used to refer to the means by which an individual forms his or her ideas about politics and develops his or her affiliations with certain ideas and political parties. Many factors impact political socialization, including parenting, education, the media, and social life.