SOME POLITICAL DEFINITIONS
Communism: Political philosophy associated with Karl Marx's theory of history as relentless class war,
which will ultimately result in the revolutionary victory of the proletariat (working classes) and the
collective ownership of the means of production, with relative social and economic equality for all.
Conservatism: Political philosophy based on strong sense of tradition and social stability, stressing the
importance of established institutions (religion, family, property, class structure) and preferring gradual
development, with preservation of the best elements of the past, to abrupt change.
Dictatorship: Political system in which a single individual or select group has absolute power without
effective constitutional limitations. Associated with militaristic regimes.
Enlightened absolutism (also known as benevolent despotism or enlightened despotism): a form of
absolute monarchy in which rulers were influenced by the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its
emphasis upon rationality and order. Often included educational expansion, religious toleration, freedom
of speech and the press, and the right to hold private property, with the intent of improving the lives of
subjects in order to strengthen or reinforce central authority.
Enlightenment: Philosophic movement characterized by unfettered use of reason, questioning of
authority and traditional doctrines and values. Emphasis on the idea of universal human progress and on
the empirical scientific method; celebration of harmony, balance, order.
Fascism: Political program for setting up a centralized, autocratic, supernationalist regime, in which
industry, commerce, and finance are heavily regimented. Also associated with rigid censorship and
forcible suppression of opposition.
Liberalism: Political philosophy based on belief in progress and the freedom of the individual from
arbitrary authority in all spheres of life, promoted by defense of private property, civil liberties, free
competition, and government by consent of the governed.
Nationalism: Political philosophy characterized by loyalty and devotion to a group perceived as sharing
a common culture, language, and/or history. May be associated with the drive for national independence,
the creation and development of a strong national government, and/or the promotion of one's national
interests before all others. Can be integrative (seeking to unite splintered members of a nation) or
separatist (seeking either to free one's nation from the overlordship of another political power or to
cleanse it of foreign elements).
Republicanism/Democracy: A form of government in which the supreme power is vested not in a
monarch, but in the people, and exercised by them either directly or indirectly through elected officials.
Romanticism. Literary, artistic and philosophical movement characterized by a reaction against
Enlightenment ideals of reason and intellect, and an emphasis on imagination, spirituality, intuition, and
emotion in their individual expression; exaltation of particular and unique over the universal, the common
man over elites, the natural, organic and historical over the artificial.
Socialism: Political philosophy advocating or aiming at collective or governmental ownership and
administration of the means of production and control of the distribution of goods.
Totalitarianism: Political form characterized by centralized control over a nation and its resources by an
autocratic leader or party. Aims at subordination of the individual to the state, and uses coercive
measures such as censorship and terrorism to maintain centralized and exclusive rule.