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 |