A Glossary of Ideologies Since Americans Seem To Have Trouble With Such Definitions (controversial, Brown)
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United States: Republican Party/GOP
Canada: Conservative Party of Canada
United Kingdom: Conservative Party
Australia: Liberal Party of Australia
Liberalism
Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, "of freedom") is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, free trade, secular society, and the market economy. These ideas are often accepted even among political groups that do not openly profess a liberal ideological orientation. Liberalism encompasses several intellectual trends and traditions, but the dominant variants are classical liberalism, which became popular in the 18th century, and social liberalism, which became popular in the 20th century.
United States: Democratic Party
Canada: Liberal Party of Canada
United Kingdom: Liberal Democrats
Australia: Australian Democrats
Socialism
Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. This control may be either direct—exercised through popular collectives such as workers' councils—or indirect—exercised on behalf of the people by the state. As an economic system, socialism is often characterized by state, worker, or community ownership of the means of production, goals which have been attributed to, and claimed by, a number of political parties and governments throughout history. For Karl Marx, who helped establish and define the modern socialist movement, socialism would be the socioeconomic system that arises after the proletarian revolution, in which the means of production are partly owned by the state, and partly owned privately. This is called a mixed economy.
United States: None. Several Minor Parties
Canada: New Democratic Party
United Kingdom: Labour Party
Australia: Australian Labor Party
Anarchism
Anarchism (from Greek ἀν (without) + ἄρχειν (to rule) + ισμός (from stem -ιζειν), "without archons," "without rulers") is a political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support anarchy or the elimination of state, abolition of private property, and prefigurative politics (i.e. modes of organization that consciously resemble the world you want to create. Or, as an anarchist historian of the Spanish Revolution formulated, "an effort to think of not only the ideas but the facts of the future itself".) Though the terms "anarchist" and "anarchy" have been used to describe purported anti-statists and their positions since ancient times, political anarchism originates with the first self-declared anarchist, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's publication of What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government in 1840. Proudhon's famous declaration that "Property is Theft!," along with his less famous declaration that "Property is Liberty", inspired different anarchist economic models throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
While political anarchism has its roots in the same 19th century social foment that produced Marxism, the two philosophies diverged sharply, beginning with a personal split between Karl Marx and anarchist Mikhail Bakunin. Anarchists were active in the abolition of slavery, and have continually been active in the labor movement, civil rights, women's liberation, anti-capitalism, the anti-war movement, LGBT rights, anti-globalization and alter-globalization, tax resistance, and other forms of anarchist activism.
United States: None. Fundamentally opposed.
Canada: None. Fundamentally opposed.
United Kingdom: None. Fundamentally opposed.
Australia: None. Fundamentally opposed.
Major Derivative Ideologies:
Greens
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism and grassroots democracy.[1] It began taking shape in the western world in the 1970s; since then Green parties have developed and established themselves in many countries across the globe, and have achieved some electoral success.
United States: None. Minor Green Party of the United States closest.
Canada: Green Party of Canada
United Kingdom: Green Party of England and Wales; Scottish Green Party; Green Party in Northern Ireland
Australia: The Australian Greens
Libertarianism
Libertarianism is a term used by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which prioritize individual liberty and seek to minimize or even abolish the state. The definition of libertarian in a political sense is a contentious issue and there is no single principle or set of principles on which all libertarians would agree. The proper role of government is described from a number of different metaphysical, epistemological, and moral viewpoints.
United States: None. Minor Libertarian Party exists.
Canada: None. Minor Libertarian Party of Canada exists.
United Kingdom: None. Minor Libertarian Party exists.
Australia: None. Liberal Democratic Party closest.
Fascism
Fascism is a political ideology based primarily on nationalism. Definitions of fascism beyond that are controversial, and the term is often abused as an epithet. Also, fascism’s position in the political spectrum is disputed. Fascism originated in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in the form of Italian Fascism. Similar movements, most notably Nazism, started in other countries, taking fascism worldwide. Several of these fascist movements came to power over their respective countries, many of which joined Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to form the Axis powers. The Allies defeated the Axis in World War II. After that defeat, fascism went underground to later resurface as neofascism.
United States: None. Several minor parties/movements.
Canada: None. A few minor movements.
United Kingdom: National Front, British National Party
Australia: None.
Communism
Communism is a political ideology that seeks to establish a future without social class or formalized state structure, and with social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production. It can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. Communism also refers to a variety of political movements which claim the establishment of such a social organization as their ultimate goal.
Early forms of human social organization have been described as "primitive communism." However, communism as a political goal generally is a conjectured form of future social organization which has never been implemented. There is a considerable variety of views among self-identified communists, including Maoism, Trotskyism, council communism, Luxemburgism, and various currents of left communism, which are in addition to more widespread varieties. However, various offshoots of the Soviet and Maoist forms of Marxism-Leninism comprise a particular branch of communism that had been the primary driving force for communism in world politics during most of the 20th Century.
United States: None. Minor Communist Party USA exists.
Canada: None. Minor Communist Party of Canada exists.
United Kingdom: None. Minor Communist Party of Great Britain exists.
Australia: None. Minor Communist Party of Australia exists.
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching.[1] It continues to be influential in Europe and Latin America, though in a number of countries its Christian ethos has been diluted by secularisation.
In practice, Christian democracy is often considered conservative on cultural, social and moral issues (social conservatism) and advocates a social market economy in the economic field (crossing over with social democratic economics but based on the family). In Europe, where their opponents have traditionally been secularist socialists, Christian democratic parties are moderately conservative overall, whereas in the very different cultural and political environment of Latin America they tend to lean to the left.
United States: None.
Canada: None. Minor Christian Heritage Party exists.
United Kingdom: None. A few minor parties exist.
Australia: Democratic Labor Party and a few other minor parties.
Last edited by psulions2007; 06-22-2011 at 06:23 PM..
Too complicated!
Americans have simpler definitions:
Left bad; Right good.
Well I think we all need to be better educated about this... it's sad to look at this and see how limited of a "choice" Americans really have compared to other countries in the spectrum of ideologies.
I can't read the Liberalism bit because it's all in bright yellow.
Also the ALP in Australia really isn't a socialist party these days...
1. Highlight over it. The color of liberalism is yellow.
2. They are a member of Socialist International and commonly espouse Social democracy and/or Democratic Socialism. So, in other words, yes they are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quick Enough
You do realize Wikipedia is NOT a credible source.
Would you point out what in the above you actually have a problem with? All of these definitions are sound, and the pages are generally edited by supporters of said ideologies. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with them.
Besides that, you are completely missing the point of this thread.
1. Highlight over it. The color of liberalism is yellow.
2. They are a member of Socialist International and commonly espouse Social democracy and/or Democratic Socialism. So, in other words, yes they are.
I'm just used to dealing with the NSW ALP and their fire sale of anything that makes money.
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