I. Dilemmas of Democracy

  1. Democracy:

    a system of government in which the people are able to influence significantly public policy decisions made by those who hold formal positions of authority.

  2. The Purposes of Government

    1. Thomas Hobbes, The Leviathan(1651)

      1. State of Nature (i.e., life is nasty, brutish, and short)

      2. Social Contract: Order

    2. John Locke, Two Treatises on Civil Government (1690)

      1. State of Nature: life is inconvenient)

      2. Social Contract: Freedom

      3. Natural Rights: universal and inalienable

      4. "Life, Liberty, and Property"

    3. Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence (1776)

      1. Equality

      2. Natural Rights: "Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness" (development of full potential)

      3. "...to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers
        from the Consent of the Governed ...."

  3. Political Ideology: What Conservatives and Liberals Believe

    Conservative

    Liberal

    Human Nature

    		 pessimistic optimistic

    Source of Law

    		 god human reason

    Rights Emphasized

    		 freedom;
    property rights    		 freedom;
    equality;
    individual rights

  4. Four Ideological Groups

    1. The Original Dilemma: Freedom v. Order

    2. The Modern Dilemma: Freedom v. Equality

      3. Liberals

      Favor: Govt. activities that promote social equality, such as programs to employ minorities and public housing

      Oppose: Govt. actions that restrict individual liberties, such as banning sexuality explicit movies or mandatory testing for AIDS

      Populists

      Favor: Govt. activities that promote economic equality such as Social Security and Medicare.

      Favor: Govt. activities that impose social order, such as banning sexually explicit movies or mandatory testing of AIDS

      Libertarians

      Oppose: Govt. activities that interfere with the market, such as affirmative action programs and increased spending on public housing

      Oppose: Govt. actions that restrict individual liberties such as banning sexuality explicit movies or mandatory testing for AIDS

      Conservatives

      Oppose: Govt. activities that interfere with the market, such as Affirmative Action programs and increased spending on public housing

      Favor: Govt. actions that impose social order, such as banning sexually explicit movies or mandatory testing for AIDS

      HOMEWORK: Go to the LINKS PAGE and click on "IDEALOG". Take the short on-line quiz to find out if your political views are consistent with one of the four ideological groups.