Ideology and Political Culture
An ideology is a more or less consistent set of beliefs
concerning the purposes and scope of government.
•Ideologies (“isms”) are premised on some particular set of
assumptions about human nature.
•Those assumptions then lead to a second set of assumptions
about social life and social relationships.
•These assumptions, in turn, are the basis for assumptions
about the purposes and scope of government.
Political culture is the set of political values, beliefs,
and norms, found in a political community which flow
from the basic ideological assumptions about human
nature, society, and government.
Two Levels of Ideological Thought
FUNDAMENTAL
ASSUMPTIONS
SUPERFICIALS
Assumptions concerning
human nature, social life
and social relationships,
and the purposes and
scope of government
Particular values which
flow from and are
consistent with the
fundamental assumptions
and which focus on
whether the “real world”
converges or diverges
with core assumptions;
policy debate centers here
Which of the following is the typically American
assumption about human nature?
•People are naturally good, intelligent reasonable, and mutually
concerned about each other’s well being. These qualities of
human nature are evident when people are not encumbered by
arbitrary rules [that is, people do not have to be coerced into
behaving in an orderly fashion].
•People are rational, self-interested, and acquisitive. Human
beings are naturally competitive and are most productive in a
society that value personal achievement to produce incentive.
Human beings are imbued by nature with certain rights.
•People are more emotional than rational. They are selfindulgent and incapable of making important decisions about
how they will be governed. By their nature, people are driven by
their desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Intelligence and
talents are not evenly distributed.
Which of the following is the typically American
assumption about social life and social
relationships?
•Society is composed of a community of equals. In such a
society, all persons share the “good life” because there is no
privilege.
•Ways must be found to harness the rational, selfinterestedness, and competitiveness of individuals so that the
“general good” may be produced. This “general good” consists
of a balance of private and public ends.
•The irrational, hedonistic masses must be guided by the few
with wisdom and talent so that the needs of society as a whole
can be served. People are encouraged to be happy with their
“station” in life. There is necessarily social stratification.
Which of the following is the typically American
assumption about the purposes of scope of
government?
•There is no need for coercive government; government, if it
exists at all, is limited to a minimal role. People do not need
government to provide order in their lives. By their nature,
people respect the rights of their fellow members of society.
•Government’s purpose is to provide a healthy environment to
maximize individual opportunities and protect rights.
Government must be prevented from interfering with the rights
of individuals and their pursuit of individual happiness.
•Government’s responsibility is to impose order on society. The
masses are actually happiest in such an arrangement because
their survival and well-being are guaranteed by a government
vested with such authority.
Ideologies pose two questions about
government:
• What is (are) the purpose(s) of
government?
• How much authority does government
have to fulfill its purpose(s)?
3 Possible Purposes of Government
• To maintain order (civil order, political
order, economic order, social order)
Original
purpose
• To serve rights and liberties of
individuals
• To promote equality
Modern
Once the ideology decides on the purpose(s) of government, it
then asks “How much authority does government have to fulfill
its purpose?”
Based on the answer to this second question, we can place any
ideology on a continuum indicating the scope of governmental
authority - the so-called left-right continuum.
Another problem with the
continuum is that, in reality,
leftist and rightist ideologies
are not substantively that
distinct. Thus, the ends of the
continuum are closer to each
other than they are to the
middle.
Autocratic
Democratic
Tendencies of the Left
Tendencies of the Right
Egalitarianism
Class/race
Bureaucratic
Militarism
Public property
Private Property
Socialism
Capitalism
Pluralism/Diversity
Monism/Statism
Although the left-right continuum has been used for many
years by political scientists to describe competing ideological
systems of thought, there are some problems with it. For one
thing, the continuum does not make mathematical sense. As
we move to the right on the number line the magnitude gets
larger and as we move to the left the magnitude bets smaller.
Therefore, we may re-orient [as indicated below] the
continuum to reflect this mathematical fact.
LIBERALISM AS THE MAINSTREAM OF
AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT
The dominant system of political thought in American life has
been one that::
(1) sees the individual as a rational, but self-interested person
entitled by nature to certain inalienable rights such as life,
liberty, and property;
(2) suggests governments are created by contracts among
such individuals to serve or protect these rights, but are
otherwise limited in their authority;
(3) argues that rights, contracts, and limits to governmental
authority necessitate a major role for law [constitutionalism]
in organizing society;
(4) sees private striving as the best means for distributing
economic and other rewards of social life [capitalism].
These four points are all fundamental assumptions of classical
liberalism. They are assumptions that are widely held as
fundamental truths in the American political mentality. From
these assumptions flow particular values which are shared by
most Americans even though they are not well-analyzed.
Debate occurs over how to define, prioritize, and pursue (as a
matter of public policy) these values.
FREEDOM
ECONOMIC
FREEDOM
PERSONAL CHOICE ISSUES
ORDER
EQUALITY
ISSUES