Karl Mannheim and Political Ideology

Author(s):  
Peter Breiner

This chapter argues that the famous ‘Mannheim paradox’ regarding the ideological understanding of ideology in Ideology and Utopia merely serves as a preparation for a far more complex and persistent paradox that poses a recurrent problem for any political science seeking to understand the relation of political ideologies to political reality: namely, when we try to understand contending political ideologies at any one historical moment and test them for their ‘congruence’ with historical and sociological ‘reality’, our construction of this context is itself informed by these ideologies or our partisan understanding of them. To deal with this paradox Mannheim suggests a new political science based on Marx and Weber. This political science seeks to construct fields of competing ideologies—such as conservatism, liberalism, and socialism—and play off the insight and blindness of each to create a momentary ‘synthesis’ of the relation between political ideas and a dynamic political reality.

Author(s):  
Alan Finlayson

This chapter shows the importance of performance studies to the theory and analysis of political ideas and ideologies. Reviewing ways in which these have been studied in political science it argues that there is a need to understand more about how ideologies are manifested in and through their public performance. In particular, drawing on Rhetorical Political Analysis (RPA), it argues that rhetorical performances of ethos—of character in various dimensions—are fundamental to the manifestation of ideologies. Using examples from British and American political rhetoric the chapter demonstrates how political leaders perform fidelity to a political tradition, draw rhetorical authority from it, and promote, perform, and embody a particular sort of ideological ethos. The chapter further discusses how performances of ethos may draw on very general archetypes, the playing of parts in larger ideological social dramas, and the ways in which polities governs and sets limits to the range of performances possible.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003232172093463
Author(s):  
Alan Finlayson

Digital (participatory and shareable) media are driving profound changes to contemporary politics. That includes, this article argues, important changes to the production, dissemination and reception of political ideas and ideologies. Such media have increased the number and political range of ‘ideological entrepreneurs’ promoting forms of political thought, while also giving rise to distinct genres of political rhetoric and communication. All of this is affecting how people come to be persuaded by and to identify with political ideas. In developing and justifying these claims, I draw on the Political Theory of Ideologies, Digital Media Studies and Rhetorical Political Analysis. I begin by showing how a populist ‘style’, induced by broadcast media, has been intensified by digital media, affecting ideological form and content. Next I consider, in detail, a particular example – YouTube – showing how it shapes political, ideological, communication. I then present a case-study of the UK-based political YouTuber Paul Joseph Watson. I show how the political ideology he propagates can be understood as a blend of Conservatism and Libertarianism, expressed in a Populist style, centred on the ‘revelation’ of political truths and on a promise of therapeutic benefits for followers. In a closing discussion I argue that this may be understood as a kind of ‘charismatic’ authority, and that such a political performance style is typical of these kinds of media today.


2001 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-804
Author(s):  
Dante Germino

The polder—a strip of land redeemed from the sea—is a symbol in the Dutch collective consciousness for the successful struggle against threatening inundations. Implicit in this struggle is the idea of strong civic communities, because cooperation is mandatory in the building of dikes to keep out the water. It is therefore appropriate to describe the work of Meindert Fennema currently one of the Netherland's leading political theorists, as a view of political reality from the perspective of the polder. This is not meant in a provincial sense, however, for the polder is a form of shelter and as Eric Voegelin wrote in the Introduction to his long unpublished notes on the “History of Political Ideas,” “the function proper of [political] order is the creation of a shelter in which a man may give to his life a semblance of meaning.” “Political Theory in Polder Perspective“ is therefore a fitting title for this review article on the work of the contemporary Dutch political theorist, Meindert Fennema, longtime member of the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam.


Problemos ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 115-128
Author(s):  
Mindaugas Stoškus

Straipsnyje analizuojamos pagrindinės politikos mokslo atsiradimo prielaidos. Įprasta manyti, jog politikos mokslo gimimą iš esmės lėmė pozityvizmo filosofija. Šiame straipsnyje bandoma parodyti, kad tam tikros politikos mokslo prielaidos buvo suformuotos gerokai anksčiau. Klasikinės politikos sampratos atmetimas ir naujos, modernios politikos sampratos formavimasis, pastebimas jau Renesanso pasaulėjautoje, N. Machiavelli’o ir Th. Hobbeso politinėse teorijose, leido iškelti žmogaus ir politikos „konstruojamumo“ idėjas. Teigiama, jog moderni politikos samprata buvo viena iš būtinų politikos mokslo sąlygų. XVII a. mokslo revoliucija paskatino mąstytojus į filosofiją perkelti gamtos mokslų metodus. Gamtos mokslų metodais pakelti filosofiją į naują mokslinį lygmenį buvo vienas didžiausių daugelio Apšvietos filosofų tikslų. Taigi, kai pozityvistai prakalbo apie būtinybę sukurti naujus pozityvius mokslus apie žmogų ir visuomenę, intelektualiems pokyčiams jau buvo visiškai pasirengta.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: Renesansas, Apšvieta, pozityvizmas, Millis, Comte’as.Philosophical Presuppositions of the Emergence of Political ScienceMindaugas Stoškus SummaryThe paper deals with the main presuppositions of the emergence of political science. The aim is to show that the rupture in the history of political philosophy in the Renaissance, the refusal of the classical political thought about human nature as zoon politikon and about purpose of state, and the birth of modern political ideas about politics as mechanics, was conditio sine qua non for the emergence of the new political science. Main philosophers who initiated this rupture were N. Machiavelli and Th. Hobbes. The 17th century scientific revolution and Enlightenment helped to bring the methods of natural sciences into philosophy. All those ideas were fused together in Positivism which played a pivotal role in the emergence of Political science.Keywords: Renaissance, Enlightenment, positivism, Mill, Comte.


Author(s):  
Halyna Kuzub

The problem of power decentralization is up to date in a modern political science. We can trace its historical genesis first in European and further in the USA political ideas. Decentralization of power was considered along with the study of a perfect state system, civil society and local self-government. It is argued that the major part of successful process of power decentralization in the Western Europe was due to the idea nature for their political culture. The article attempts to retrace the history of the idea of power decentralization. As a background of the investigations of such thinkers as J. Bodin, J. Althusius, J. Locke, J.-J. Rousseau, C.-L. Montesquieu, R. Owen, C. Fourier, J. S.Mill, T. Jefferson, A. de Tocqueville and M. Dragomanov were thoroughly investigated. The paper also considers the modern definitions of power decentralization. Likewise the value of structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism and constructivism are argued in terms of further surveys of power decentralization. To conclude, the author opines that civil servants training, their theoretical teaching and moral education have to become the main objectives in perspective investigations. Furthermore, the success of power decentralization depends not only on devoting authority by central government, but also on capacity of its implementation by deputies on the local level. Keywords: Decentralization of power, deconcentration of power, administrative and political decentralization, classical and non-classical philosophy, structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, construc-tivism


Author(s):  
Mikhail Konstantinov

The aim of the article is to concretize the concept of political ideology in the aspect of its matrix structure and in the context of the cognitive-evolutionary approach. Based on Michael Frieden's morphological approach to the analysis of ideological consciousness, the concept of cognitive-ideological matrices is introduced, which allows us to describe the process of transition from proto-ideological to ideological concepts proper, especially at the level of individual consciousness. The identification of the ideological concept as the main “gene” of conceptual variability and inheritance made it possible to describe the main parameters of the evolution of political ideologies and associate it with changes taking place at the individual consciousness level. The described concept was tested in a series of sociological studies of youth consciousness conducted in 2015-2016 and 2018-2020. As a result of the study, it was possible to first identify the “zero level” of ideology, at which the minds of young respondents are potentially open to the influence of diverse and often mutually exclusive ideological orientations, and second, to pinpoint the changes that have occurred in the cognitive ideological matrices of Rostov-on-Don students over the past five years. This study was conducted by scientists from the southern Federal University.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-437
Author(s):  
Meredith L. Weiss

Much of the work of political science revolves around institutions—the structures through which politics happens. Leaders enter the frame, of course, but often as institutions in human form: presidents, premiers, populists, and mobilizers who serve to channel and direct who does what and what they do, much like an agency or law. We might trace this pseudo-structural, largely mechanical reading of human agency to political scientists of an earlier era: the behavioralists of the 1950s and 1960s. James C. Scott began his career as just such a scholar. For his dissertation-turned-book, Political Ideology in Malaysia: Reality and the Beliefs of an Elite, Scott surveyed a gaggle of Malaysian bureaucrats to examine, effectively, the extent to which their values and assumptions supported or subverted the new democracy they served. Although itself fairly prosaic, that work foreshadows the political grime and games that soon pulled Scott in more promising directions theoretically, whether scrutinizing Southeast Asia or global patterns: disentangling structure from norms, finding agency around the margins of class and state, and rethinking how power looks and functions.


Genealogy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Anna Miglietta ◽  
Barbara Loera

We analyzed the relationship between modern forms of populism and citizen support for exclusive welfare policies and proposals, and we focused on support for left-wing- and right-wing-oriented welfare policies enacted or proposed during the Lega Nord (LN)–Five Star Movement (FSM) government in Italy (2018–2019). In light of the theoretical perspective of political ideology as motivated by social cognition, we examined citizens’ support for the two policies considering adherence to populist attitudes, agreement on the criteria useful to define ingroup membership, and personal values. We also took into account the role of cognitive sophistication in populism avoidance. A total of 785 Italian adults (F = 56.6; mean age = 35.8) completed an online survey in the summer of 2019 based on the following: support for populist policies and proposals, political ideologies and positioning, personal values, and ingroup boundaries. We used correlation and regression analyses. The results highlight the relationships between populism and political conservatism. Populism was related to the vertical and horizontal borders defining the “people”; cognitive sophistication was not a relevant driver. We identified some facilitating factors that could promote adherence to and support for public policies inspired by the values of the right or of the left, without a true ideological connotation.


2020 ◽  
pp. 52-57
Author(s):  
Эдиль Канатбеков

В статье рассматривается политическая культура Кыргызстана как одна из важных основ политической жизни общества. Уделяется внимание на необходимость развития политической культуры общества, как фундаментальной основы цивилизации, основ существования общества и общественных отношений. В работе анализируется сущность политической культуры. Описывается проблема формирования политической культуры Кыргызстана как одной из актуальных тем, на протяжении многих лет. Рассматривается формирование и становление политической культуры Кыргызстана, как очень трудоёмкий и долговременный процесс, обусловленный определенными аспектами политико-культурологического характера. Политическая культура конкретной общности состоит из представлений индивидов, их взглядов, политических ценностей, политической идеологии и символики, политических норм, стандартов, стереотипов. Каждый субъект страны являясь гражданином так или иначе становиться свидетелем и даже участником политической реальности, тем самым на основе этих элементов и опыта человек формирует собственный взгляд и определяет для себя систему ценностей и линию поведения. Макалада Кыргызстандын саясий маданияты коомдун саясий турмушунун маанилүү негиздеринин бири катары каралат. Цивилизациянын фундаменталдык негизи, коомдун жана коомдук мамилелердин негиздеринин маңызы катары коомдун саясий маданиятын өнүктүрүү зарылдыгына көңүл бурулган. Изилдөө ишинде саясий маданияттын маани-маңызына анализ жүргүзүлгөн. Кыргызстанда саясий маданияттын калыптануу көйгөйү көп жылдардан бери актуалдуу темалардын бири катары эсептелинет. Кыргызстандын саясий маданиятынын калыптанышы жана калыптануусу саясий жана маданий мүнөздүн айрым аспектилерине байланыштуу өтө эмгекчил жана узак мөөнөттүү процесс катары каралат. Белгилүү бир коомдун саясий маданияты жеке адамдардын идеяларынан, алардын көз караштарынан, саясий баалуулуктарынан, саясий идеологиясынан жана символдорунан, саясий нормаларынан, стандарттарынан, стереотиптеринен турат. Өлкөнүн ар бир субъектиси, ошол өлкөнүн жараны болуп туруп, кандайдыр бир жол менен саясий чындыктын интригасынын күбөсү, ал тургай, катышуучусу болуп калат, ошентип, адам ушул элементтердин жана тажрыйбанын негизинде өзүнүн көз карашын калыптандырат жана өзү үчүн баалуулуктар системасын жана жүрүм-турум линиясын аныктайт. Тhe article considers the political culture of Kyrgyzstan as one of the important foundations of the political life of society. Attention paid to the need to develop the political culture of society as the fundamental basis of civilization, the foundations of the existence of society and social relations. The paper analyzes the essence of political culture. The article describes the problem of forming the political culture of Kyrgyzstan as one of the topical issues for many years. The article considers the formation and formation of the political culture of Kyrgyzstan as a very labor-intensive and long-term process, due to certain aspects of political and cultural character. Тhe Political culture of a particular community consists of individual representations, their views, political values, political ideology and symbols, political norms, standards, and stereotypes. Each subject of the country, being a citizen, in one way or another becomes a witness and even a participant in the intrigue of political reality, thereby the basis of these elements and experience, a person forms his own view and defines for himself a system of values and a line of behavior.


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