Political Systems and Ideologies: A Comparison

Political Systems and Ideologies

A political system is an independent body that rules over a population.

  • Polis: The original system that appears in Ancient history, is based on a city and an imprecise area of influence.
  • Modern state: The original system that appears in the Middle Ages, is based on a limited territory.
  • Empire: A group of peoples subdued by force by one member of the group.
  • Confederation: An association of sovereign peoples united by agreements.
  • State: A sovereign coactive power over a population and on a territory.

An ideology is a form of social thinking containing, on the one hand, a theoretical total vision of historical, social, and cultural reality. It also contains a practical attitude and a program of action.

  • Social thinking: An ideology is a collection of ideas that expresses the identity of a group of individuals through their beliefs and attitudes, thus facilitating their mutual recognition and differentiating them from other groups using identity symbols.
  • Theoretical vision: Facilitates the followers of an ideology to have a simple and complete image of their cultural and historical reality; it is rigid thinking.
  • Practical attitude: Provides the moral certainty needed to decide with no hesitation in situations of conflict, good and bad. The ideology imposes a moral code of behavior, with its obligations and prohibitions; a code affecting all ambits of life.
  • Program of action: Ideologies divide between those which, advocating for moderate and reformist measures, accept the rules of democratic fair play and respect the others’ rights; and on the other hand, those which profess a cult for violence and favor the coup d’état, the war or the revolution as the only means to accomplish their ultimate objectives.

Historical Evolution

Ideologies arose closely related to the big historical changes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: the fight against absolutism and the liberal revolutions. Later they inspired the two main mass movements: the working-class movement and nationalism.

Fascism vs. Communism

Fascism

Communism

Tradition, utopia inspired in the past

Progress, future-oriented utopia

Principles: order, authority

Equality, justice, work-class discipline

Social base: family, race, motherland

The working class (proletariat)

Elitism (natural superiority), hierarchy

Egalitarianism

Excluding and uniforming Nationalism

Uniforming and imperial universalism

Economic model: nationalizations, corporativism

Centrally-planned economy

Imperialism, dominion over inferior people

“Internationalism”, yet another imperialism

Methods: coup-d’état, organized violence, social segregation

Coup d’état, armed revolution, “class-against-class” confrontation

Violent repression, concentration and extermination camps

Id.

Charismatic leaders: Mussolini, Hitler

Lenin, Mao, Fidel Castro

Totalitarianism: social uniformity upon the guidelines of the government

Id.

Historical effects: Second World War (40 million casualties, of which, 6 million Jews in the holocaust)

Russian and Chinese revolution, hegemony over half the world (100 million casualties estimated)

Liberalism vs. Interventionism

Liberalism

Interventionism (Social Democracy and Christian Democracy)

Market-economy, capitalism

State-regulated economy, mixed economy

Civil and political rights

Economic and social rights

Free competence, productivity, and economic efficiency criteria

Subventions and protection of non-competitive sectors for social reasons

Minimal state: only security, protection of the market economy and guarantee of individual rights

Welfare state: Welfare, the duty of the state of looking after the citizens

Private-management model for public services and private contracts

Model of public-service management and administrative contracts

Values: freedom and individual responsibility

Value: equality, solidarity, and indulgence