Module 15 (HS11) - INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES: IDEOLOGY
& POLITY
0. OBJECTIVES
In this module you will learn about
-
the trend of increasing religious skepticism (decline
in theistic religions) in most industrial societies (but less so in the
U.S.)
-
the emergence of new secular ideologies, including
democratic republicanism, capitalism, socialism (democratic and revolutionary),
nationalism, and pragmatism
-
the rise of democracy in industrial societies
-
the role of political parties
-
mechanisms underlying the relative political stability
of industrial countries
-
the growth of "big government"
1. IDEOLOGIES
NOTE: the term "ideology" is used in a neutral
sense, without pejorative connotations
Ideologies of industrial societies have been
greatly affected by the growth in human knowledge
1. Theistic Religions
Theistic religions = "traditional" religions
based on belief in God or Gods
One observes a trend of growing religious skepticism,
particularly in Europe & Japan. This trend less pronounced in
the U.S.
Exhibit: Religious
beliefs in 14 industrial societies, 1976 (HS 5th edition, Table
10.3 p. 261)
gif
Exhibit: Importance
of religion in life (IIPO 95-96 p. 612)
Exhibit: Indicators
of religiosity from Eurobarometer 42, 1995
Exhibit: Map of
% attending church at least once a month (Scientific American
July 1999 p. 26)
Q - Why are people in the U.S. more religious
than in other industrial countries?
2. New Secular Ideologies
Secular = not pertaining to religion, as
opposed to sacred
(1) Democratic Republicanism
(Compare with oligarchical Republicanism, system
of representation in which power is concentrated in hands of a few)
EX: early U.S. history characterized by oligarchical
Republicanism (with property restrictions) until election of Andrew Jackson
(1828)
(2) Capitalism
(also called "liberalism" in original sense of
the word)
Exhibit: Picture
of Adam Smith (HS p. 267)
For Adam Smith (1776):
-
free entreprise should be promoted
-
economy is a self-regulating system: the invisible
hand (= mechanisms of supply & demand based on individuals or firms
pursuing their own self-interest) automatically optimizes interest of society
as a whole
-
government intervention should be minimal, restricted
to enforcement of contracts and a few other activities that cannot be achieved
through free enterprise, such as national defense
(3) Socialism - democratic
Socialism (in general) - the idea that
basic resources of society should be public property
Democratic socialism - idea that socialist
society can be achieved by democratic means, by "playing by the rules"
of electoral laws to elect representatives sympathetic to socialist ideals
EX: social democratic parties of western Europe,
pursuing the "welfare state", with free education, health care, public
retirement system, etc.
(4) Socialism - revolutionary
Revolutionary socialism - idea that socialist
society can only be achieved by a violent overthrow of the bourgeoisie
[note spelling!]
Exhibit: Picture
of Karl Marx (HS p. 268)
The theory of Karl Marx constitutes the basis
of a comprehensive ideology that can "work" just like a religion
The following figure summarizes various branches
of the socialist movement:
Exhibit: Pedigree
of socialism (Davies 1996 p. 1308)
(5) Nationalism
Nationalism - identification with the nation-state
The rise of nationalism is often viewed as
the result of the French Revolution (1789), and linked to education, urbanization,
and the emergence of the mass media which opened up the horizons of many
people beyond the local community
Nationalism can be combined with other ideologies.
EX: national-socialism (nazism) in Germany until the end of World War II.
Exhibit: Picture
of Hitler (HS p. 270)
(6) Pragmatism
William James' empiricist approach to social institutions:
keep what works, eliminates what does not
General features of the new secular ideologies:
-
despite profound differences, all secular ideologies
assume human destiny is subject to human control
-
ideology has become an important source of societal
variation (as technology has expanded the limits of the possible), although
variation has decreased since the breakdown of the Eastern block after
1989
-
given a choice, populations of industrial societies
seem to choose a mixture of socialism & capitalism
Q - Abraham Lincoln's phrase "government of the
people, by the people, and for the people" describes what secular ideology?
Q - The view that society should be ruled with
a representative system restricted to a small group of wealthy people corresponds
to what secular ideology?
Q - According to Adam Smith, governments should
stay out of the economy except to ___ ?
Q - What does Adam Smith mean by the expression
"the invisible hand"?
Q - What is the most basic difference
between capitalism and socialism?
Q - How does revolutionary socialism differ
from democratic socialism?
Q - Who was the spiritual father of modern
pragmatism?
Q - The "welfare state" is especially associated
with what secular ideology?
Q - On what secular ideology was the Nazi party
in Germany based?
Q - Despite their profound differences, secular
ideologies of the industrial era have one common feature which is
___ ?
Q - The text Human Societies argues
that -- because of their increased productivity and resulting surplus --
differences among industrial societies should be increasingly attributable
to what factor?
2. POLITY
1. The Democratic Trend
In all industrial societies, there was a trend
from monarchy to democracy
Democracy as a variable (vs. an absolute state
of affairs):
-
impossibility of "pure" democracy based on equal
participation by everyone
-
=> representative democracy as a compromise
-
extension of the franchise & actual electoral
turnout can be used as proxy measures of the degree of democracy of a society
Exhibit: Evolution
of electoral turnout from 1830 to 1975 (Flora <> p. <>;
See also assignment)
gif
Exhibit: Indices
of liberalization, 1791-1948 (Davies 1996 p. 1295)
gif
Causes of the democratic trend:
-
Protestant Reformation & egalitarian aspects
of frontier societies may have played a role in the U.S., but not in France
-
Consequences of industrialization promoting democracy:
-
spread of education & information
-
growth of mass media & political awareness
-
urbanization & breakdown of paternalism
2. Political Parties
Two types of political parties:
-
brokerage-type parties (EX: U.S.) characterized
by:
-
weak ideological commitment
-
exchange of favorable legislation for electoral
support
-
ideological parties (EX: Western Europe) characterized
by stronger ideological commitment based on:
-
class (EX: socialist & communist parties)
-
nationalism
-
ethnicity (EX: Parti Quebecois in Canada)
-
religion (EX: Christian-Democratic parties of
Western Europe)
Daniel Chirot has proposed a typology of political
ideologies of the 20th century based on the 2 dimensions of promotion of
state power and promotion of equality:
Exhibit: Daniel
Chirot's typology of political ideologies (Chirot 1986 p. 145)
gif
3. Political Conflict & Stability
In the U.S., relationship between social class
& party preference (class polarization) is weaker than in many industrial
societies
The following table shows how the degree of
class polarization can be estimated from electoral data.
Party preferences by social class in
Sweden (HS Table 11.2 p. 282, modified)
|
Socialist & Communist |
Other Parties
|
Total
|
| Upper & middle classes |
30
|
70
|
100
|
| Working class |
74
|
26
|
100
|
| Class polarization |
74 - 30 = 44
|
|
|
Exhibit: "Class
polarization" in 11 industrial societies (HS Table 11.3 p. 283)
gif
Why the relative stability of democratic systems
in industrial societies?
-
high standards of living -> incentive to maintain
the system
-
democratic ideology and pervasive socialization
-
structural complexity of industrial society ->
"overlapping cleavages" - many people in intermediate economic,
political, and social positions
Despite the overall stability of democratic systems,
democracy broke down in several countries during the first half of the
20th century:
Exhibit: Dictatorships
of inter-War Europe, 1917-39 (Davies 1996 p. 1320)
gif
4. Growth of Government
As measured by growth of government expenditures,
or size of government bureaucracy
Exhibit: Growth
of federal, state, and local government employment, 1816 to 1995
(HS Figure 11.2 p. 285)
Exhibit: (Repeat)
Government spending as % of GDP, 1870-1996 (HS Table 10.6 p.
257)
gif
Why the growth in government?
-
democratic trend -> government grows to satisfy
public demands for more services
-
trend toward a mixed economy with substantial
government control
Q - "Equal participation by everyone in political
decisions is a common feature of Western democratic societies." (TRUE/FALSE)?
Q - Where are brokerage-type parties found?
Q - In what kind of industrial societies does
social class have the strongest influence on plotical party preferences?
Q - "Compared to voters in most western European
countries, U.S. and Canadian voters are more influenced by economic class
considerations." (TRUE/FALSE)?
Q - Why is the polity generally more stable
in industrial societies than it was in agrarian societies?
Q - Comparing the U.S. with most western European
societies, it appears that
-
"since World War II government in the U.S. has
grown much bigger." (TRUE/FALSE)?
-
"belief in traditional religion has been eroded
further in the U.S." (TRUE/FALSE)?
-
"electoral participation is higher in the U.S."
(TRUE/FALSE)?
-
"political parties in the U.S. have more radical
ideologies." (TRUE/FALSE)?
Last modified 26 July 1999
