political values

what are political values?

beliefs about which goals, principles, and policies are important in a political community

materialist values

concerns for immediate needs and threats employment, security, religious, patriotism

post-material values

concerns for quality life satisfaction on the job, beautiful cities, protection of environment

What do we mean by popular values?

values change the importance for politics traditional parties express primarily material values values of individuals in industrialized countries value change causes political change

What is the "level of analysis problem" and how does it relate to the study of political values?

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What is the connection of political values with political goals, principles and policies?

Goals:what does a political community want? political objectives deemed desirable (ex: clean environment) principles: how will goals be achieved? methods deemed appropriate by a political community to reach desirable goals (ex: popular gov or monarch) policies: plans of action, which employ accepted principles to reach accepted political goals. organize particular areas of gov. (foreign policy, environment policy)

In which type of political communities is it meaningful to talk about class values and interest group values? Are these types of values present equally in all societies?

countries with higher class consciousness and societies where interest groups are important

According to Ronald Inglehart, what is the biggest shift in popular values since World War II?

emphasis on material values to post material values

What is an interest group?

group of citizens who organize and attempt to shape public policy on issues of concern to them ex: labor unions, professional associations, environmental groups

What are political elites?

individuals or groups who have political power, at the most general level, political elites claim to represent national interest and public interest.

What is national interest?

interest of a nation to be free, prosperous, independent, and secure vs other nations

What is public interest?

long-term interest of political community vs. the interest of particular individuals or groups

What are the differences and what are the similarities in the way elites interpret and pursue each of these four values in different countries?

peace and security: often starts wars due to clash between different national concepts of security, different definitions for just wars human rights, democracy and liberty: diff. concepts of democracy and human rights in different countries justice and fairness: just and fairness defined differently in different countries, different conception of fairness and acts of gov. welfare and well being: differences in ability and willingness of political elites to gaurentee well being and welfare. less developed countries have more limited resources than affluent countries.

Which are the four main values political elites claim to uphold?

peace and security; human rights, democracy, and liberty; justice and fairness, welfare and well being

Who are the main political actors, the values of whom are studied in Comparative Politics?

political elites, individual citizens, social classes and interest groups, selecting a "level of analysis"

Why has this changed occurred?

post WWII: economic growth, technology innovation, expanse of education and mass media growth. post WWII generations have grown up in relative affluence