The Political Spectrum
Communism
 Socialism
 Reform Liberalism
 Classical Liberalism
 Conservatism
 Fascism
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What is politics?

What comes to mind when you think
of Political systems?
Hitler
Mussolini

Conservatism

Basic Principles:
• Tradition
• Social Stability
• Society as Functional
• Order
• All individuals work for the collective
good by fulfilling their role in their social
station in the social structure.
Conservatism (cont’d)

Historical Origin:
• 18th Century
• Feudal Society

Role of Government:
• Rules in the interest the social order, the
interest of the wealthy
• Minimal / modest role for government
Conservatism (cont’d)

Individual:
• subservient to the collective good

Human Nature:
• innate and fixed
• must be regulated
Conservatism (cont’d)

Economic Base:
• Agrarian to Capitalist to . . .
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Economic Freedom: High
Economic Equality: Low
Freedom of Thought and Belief:
High
Freedom of Expression: Moderate
Conservatism (cont’d)

Country & Time:
• England and Canada: early to late 19th
Century

Writer / Theorist:
• William Paley
1743-1805
Classical Liberalism

Basic Principles:
• Supremacy of Individual Liberty and
Rights
• The greatest good for all results from
unrestricted freedom of the individual
• Individual freedom: political, economic
• Progress is Good, and results from
individual freedom of action
Classical Liberalism (cont’d)
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Competition and struggle for
existence amongst all is good
Each person achieves according to
their innate ability
Meritocracy
Government impedes individual
liberty, personal, political and
economic, to the detriment of all
Modelled on a view of nature as
competitive, survival of the fittest
Classical Liberalism (cont’d)

Historical Origin:
• England in the 1830’s

Role of Government:
• Absolute minimum
• A negative force
• It detracts from the liberty of the
individual
Classical Liberalism (cont’d)

Individual
• Should have complete and unrestricted
freedom: political and economic

Human Nature:
• Inherently acts on self-interest
and selfishness
Dollarsign Bag 
Classical Liberalism (cont’d)

Economic Base:
• Industrialization to Capitalism to . . .
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Economic Freedom: Very high
Economic Equality: Very Low
Freedom of Thought and Belief:
Very High
Freedom of Expression: Very High
Classical Liberalism (cont’d)

Country & Time:

England and the U.S. in late 19th Century

Writer / Theorist:
• Adam Smith
• Thomas Huxley
• William Spencer
Thomas Huxley 1825-1895
Reform Liberalism

Basic Principles:
• Individual freedom must be tempered
by collective action for the improvement
of individual and collective welfare
• Progress is good, change is good
• Inequalities of opportunity exist in the
social structure, and government should
address this to provide equality of
opportunity for all
Reform Liberalism (cont’d)

Historical Origin:
• England and North America in the late 19th
and early 20th Century

Role of Government:
• has a positive role in society and the economy
• government intervention to regulate and
manage the economy for the wellbeing of all
• government intervenes to protect minority
rights
Reform Liberalism (cont’d)

Individual:
• a primary value
• individual liberty and freedom is important, but
government action is necessary to ensure this
for all

Human Nature:
• basically good
• government creates social conditions that
allow individuals to flourish
Reform Liberalism (cont’d)

Economic Base:
• Industrial to Capitalist to . . .
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Economic Freedom: High
Economic Equality: Moderate
Freedom of Thought and Belief:
Very High
Freedom of Expression: High
Reform Liberalism (cont’d)

Country & Time:
• England and Canada in the early 20th
Century

Writer/Theorist:John Maynard Keynes
1883-1946
Socialism

Basic Principles:
• An economic and class understanding of
society
• Economic classes have conflicting
interests, and society evolves towards
power in the hands of the working class.
• The collective good takes precedence
over self-interest of individuals
• Humans are fundamentally social beings
and their fulfillment is in social groups
Socialism (cont’d)

Historical Origin:
• England in the 19th Century

Role of Government:
• The government intervenes to prevent
economic exploitation of workers by capitalists
• The government manages the economy in the
interest of the citizens to ensure the economic
wellbeing of all.
• Public or collective ownership over the
resources and infrastructure of the society
Socialism (cont’d)

Individual
• The rights and desires of individuals are
subordinate to the wellbeing and
welfare of the majority

Human Nature:
• Humans are fundamentally social beings
and their fulfillment is in social groups
Socialism (cont’d)

Economic Base:
• Industrial
• Collective or public ownership of resources and
industry
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Economic Freedom:
Low
Economic Equality:
High
Freedom of Thought and Belief: High
Freedom of Expression: Moderate
Socialism (cont’d)

Country & Time:
• Northern Europe Early 19th Century

Writer / Theorist:
Robert Owen,
Jean-Jaccques Rousseau, Henri de
Saint-Simon
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712-1778
Communism

Basic Principles:
• An economic class understanding of society
• A determinist understand of an inevitable
historical evolution to a classless society based
on the conflict between the working class and
the capitalist class
• A strong central government is necessary to
impose government control of the resources,
industry and productive base of the society in
the interests of all
• Totalitarian
Communism (cont’d)

Historical Origin:
• U.S.S.R.

Role of Government:
• highly interventionist in the politics and
economy of the country
In Soviet Russia…
NOTES TAKE YOU!
Communism (cont’d)

Individual:
• individuals are subordinate to the
wellbeing and interests of all
Stalin 
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Human Nature:
• Humans are fundamentally social beings
and their fulfillment is in social groups
Communism (cont’d)

Economic Base:
• Industrial, sometimes agrarian
• State capitalist?
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Economic Freedom: Very Low
Economic Equality: Very High
Freedom of Thought and Belief: Low
Freedom of Expression: Low
Communism (cont’d)

Country & Time:
• U.S.S.R, 1917 - 1991
• China, post 1949

Writer / Theorist:
• Lenin 
• Karl Marx (communist manifesto)
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Note: Divergence between Communism
as a philosophy and historical political
system
Hearing Lenin
Russian Civil War Era Speech
Russian Ideologist and Communist leader Vladimir
Lenin speaking during the Russian Civil War
(1918-1922)
Fascism

Basic Principles:
• An ultra-conservative and ultra-nationalist
approach to social structure
• The good social order is achieved by a
totalitarian state that manages society and the
economy towards military and state power
• Complete government and state regulation of
individuals’ rights and the economy in the
interest of the state
• Glorification of a past ideal time and military
power

Adolf Hitler 
http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/Adolf_Hitler_walking_out_of_Brown_House_after_1930_elections.jpg
Fascism (cont’d)

Historical Origin:
• Italy in the 1920’s
• Germany in the 1930’s

Role of Government:
• The government is the supreme power
in society, and directs the political and
economic system in the interest of the
fascist state
http://sharonweinberger.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/mind_control.gif
Fascism (cont’d)

Individual:
• The individual is completely subordinate
to the interests of the state

Human Nature:
• human fulfillment is found in serving the
interests of the fascist state
Fascism (cont’d)

Economic Base:
• Industrial and capitalist
• Capitalist production is directed by the state
for the interests of the state
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Economic Freedom:
Low
Economic Equality:
Low
Freedom of Thought and Belief: Low
Freedom of Expression: Very Low
Fascism (cont’d)

Country & Time:
• Italy in the 1920s and 1930s
• Germany in the 1930s

Writer / Theorist:
Benito Mussolini 
Hitler’s Beerhall Speech
Footage taken from a movie depicting Hitler
speaking to a crowded Munich beerhall,
typical of his early methods of spreading
his ideals.
That’s It !!!
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