Chapter 2: The Idea of the Public Good: Ideologies and Isms

Conservative

A political philosophy that emphasizes prosperity, security, and tradition above other values.

Surplus value

Excessive profits created through workers' labor.

The Labor Theory of Value

Workers should be paid a fair day's wage for a fair day's work.

Commercial Republic

a concept that forms the core of modern conservatism.

Socialism

is an ideology that favors collective and government ownership over individual or private ownership.

Capitalist Theory

-Holds that governments should not impose any unnecessary restrictions on economic activity. -The laws of supply and demand can best regulate the economy.

Liberal

A political philosophy that emphasizes individualism, equality, and civil rights above other values

Welfare State

A state whose government is concerned with providing for the social welfare of its citizens and does so usually with specific public policies, such as health insurance, minimum wages, and housing subsidies.

Libertarianism

A system based on the belief that government is a necessary evil that should interfere with individual freedom and privacy as little as possible; also known as minimalism.

Fascism

A totalitarian political system that is headed by a popular charismatic leader and in which a single political party and carefully controlled violence form the bases of complete social and political control.

Natural Harmony of Interests

According to Adam Smith, what is good for the happiness of the individual is also good for society, and vice versa, because people will unintentionally serve society's needs as they pursue their own self-interests without government intervention.

Law of Capitalist Accumulation

According to Karl Marx, the invariable rule that stronger capitalists, motivated solely by greed, will gradually eliminate weaker competitors and gain increasing control of the market.

laissez faire capitalism

An ideology that views the marketplace, unfettered by state interference, as the best regulator of the economic life of a society.

Law of Pauperization

In Karl Marx's view, the rule that capitalism has a built-in tendency toward recession and unemployment, and thus workers inevitably become surplus labor.

Bourgeoisie

In Marxist ideology, the capitalist class.

Proletariat

In Marxist theory, a member of the working class.

Marxism-Leninism

In the history of the Russian Revolution, Lenin's anti-capitalist rationale for the overthrow of the czar (absolute monarch) and the establishment of a new political order based on communist principles set forth in the writings of Karl Marx.

Dialectical Materialism

Karl Marx's theory of historical progression, according to which economic classes struggle with one another, producing an evolving series of economic systems that will lead, ultimately, to a classless society.

Nazism

Officially called National Socialism, Nazism is a form of fascism based on extreme nationalism, militarism, and racism; the ideology associated with Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust.

Gradualism

The belief that major changes in society should take place slowly through reform, rather than suddenly through revolution.

Monopoly Capitalism

The last stage before the downfall of the whole capitalist system.

The Religious Right

This movement contained a core of fundamentalist or evangelical Christians, called the New Right, who saw politics as an outgrowth of their core religious values.

Public Policy

is a belief in the idea of the public good, that it is the government's role to identify and pursue aims that benefit society as a whole, rather than to favored individuals.

Democratic Socialism

is a form of government based on popular elections, public ownership and control of the main sectors of the economy, and broad welfare programs in health and education to benefit citizens.

Communism

is a political system based on radical equality; the antithesis of capitalism. It differs in that it will be brought about by class struggle and ensuing revolution.

Monarchism

is a system based on the belief that political power should be concentrated in one person (for example, a King or Queen) who rules by decree.

Anarchism

is a system that opposes in principle the existence of any form of government, often through violence and lawlessness.

Capitalism

is an economic system rather than a pure political system, but is still the central set of ideas and beliefs in many governments today.

Nihilism

is an ideology that holds that the total destruction of all existing social and political institutions is a desirable end in itself.

Ideology

is any set of fixed, predictable ideas held by politicians and citizens on how to serve the public good.

Public Good

is associated with core values such as security, prosperity, equality, liberty, and justice.