1. Thinking
Politically
Dr. Christopher S. Rice
Image (cc) 2005 Flickr user tsmyther

2. “Individuals engage in political
thinking when they seek to
determine which political ideas
offer more promise, which political
regimes best respond to particular
challenges, and which regimes
best meet the needs of people.”
~ Steven DeLue

5. (cc) 2007 Flickr user Gaetan Lee
The Common Good
(cc) 2006 Flickr user JoseJose
(cc) 2007 Flickr user rjzil (cc) 2006 Flickr user wallyg

6. (cc) 2007 Flickr user law_keven (cc) 2006 Flickr user RobW_

7. RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS

8. Political Thinking means
TESTING
Political Ideas
(cc) 2007 Flickr user *maya*

10. 3
Types of Political Theory

11. Empirical Theory
Describes, explains and
evaluates human life as it is
lived in community with
others, and predicts future
patterns of community life.

12. Normative Theory
Advocates (and criticizes)
certain ideals and values
about how humans ought to
live in community with others
and prescribes methods for
attaining (or avoiding) these
ideas and values

13. IS
vs.
OUGHT TO BE

14. Evaluative Theory
Theories which connect and
provide feedback between
empirical and normative
theories.

15. what IS
ideology?

16. “Ideology” is the
most elusive concept
in the whole of social
science.
~ David McLellan

17. “Study of” Ideas

18. (cc) 2008 Flickr user Paul Denton Cocker
Ideology tends to be used
pejoratively

19. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)

20. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system

21. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas

22. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class

23. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class
• world-view of a particular social class or social group

24. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class
• world-view of a particular social class or social group
• political ideas that embody or articulate class or social interests

25. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class
• world-view of a particular social class or social group
• political ideas that embody or articulate class or social interests
• ideas that propagate false consciousness amongst the exploited or
oppressed

26. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class
• world-view of a particular social class or social group
• political ideas that embody or articulate class or social interests
• ideas that propagate false consciousness amongst the exploited or
oppressed
• ideas that situate the individual within a social context and generate
a sense of collective belonging

27. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class
• world-view of a particular social class or social group
• political ideas that embody or articulate class or social interests
• ideas that propagate false consciousness amongst the exploited or
oppressed
• ideas that situate the individual within a social context and generate
a sense of collective belonging
• an officially sanctioned set of ideas used to legitimize a political
system or regime

28. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class
• world-view of a particular social class or social group
• political ideas that embody or articulate class or social interests
• ideas that propagate false consciousness amongst the exploited or
oppressed
• ideas that situate the individual within a social context and generate
a sense of collective belonging
• an officially sanctioned set of ideas used to legitimize a political
system or regime
• an all-embracing political doctrine that claims a monopoly on truth

29. Common meanings of ideology
(Andrew Haywood)
• a political belief system
• action-oriented set of political ideas
• ideas of the ruling-class
• world-view of a particular social class or social group
• political ideas that embody or articulate class or social interests
• ideas that propagate false consciousness amongst the exploited or
oppressed
• ideas that situate the individual within a social context and generate
a sense of collective belonging
• an officially sanctioned set of ideas used to legitimize a political
system or regime
• an all-embracing political doctrine that claims a monopoly on truth
• an abstract and highly systematic set of political ideas

30. Ideology is a contested term
(cc) 2007 Flickr user JPhiipson

31. Systems of interrelated beliefs
about social, economic and
political life.

34. 4

35. Ideology is all about
delusion and “Mystification”

36. Ideology is linked to
the class system

37. Ideology is a
manifestation of power

38. Ideology is a temporary
phenomenon

40. “False Consciousness”

47. Ideology
A relatively coherent set of empirical
and normative beliefs and thought,
focusing on the problems of human
nature, the process of history, and
socio-political arrangements

49. Human Nature

50. Freedom

51. Positive +
Negative
Freedom
(cc) 2005 Flickr user PakyuZ

52. Analyzing
Ideologies

54. AUTHORITY
Communism Fascism
Welfare-state Neo-conservatism
Liberalism
LEFT RIGHT
Democratic Socialism Free-market
Liberalism
Social
Libertarianism
Anarchism
LIBERTY

55. Liberalism
Socialism Conservatism
Fascism
Communism
The Horseshoe Configuration

56. Liberalism
Welfare-State Free-market
Socialism Conservatism
Communism Fascism
The Pie-Shaped Spectrum

57. “The left/right continuum…is itself
ideological. It serves the purpose of
bestowing a moderate or, respectively,
radical or even dangerous aura on an
ideology. It suggests that to move
among ideologies can be a gradual
process, and it indicates that
ideologies are mutually exclusive and
hence offer clear-cut alternatives.”
~ Michael Freeden

58. 4

59. Proximity
Priority
Permeability
Proportionality