Can the Study of Politics Be Scientific? 2 страница
The important point, however, is that the US Constitution, like all constitutions, is meaningless without support
from political institutions and? indeed? without a general
willingness to play by the rules. Some of the most repressive
regimes on earth have magnificent written constitutions
_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________
that solemnly guarantee all sorts of freedom, while the British have provided a model of democracy without ever having written down most of their constitution.
And Canada has sustained democracy both with and without an extensive written constitution. For a long time, aside from various acts of the British Parliament defining some aspects of Canadian governing principles. Canada primarily relied on the «unwritten» British constitution. In 1981 the Canadian government secured the right to frame and amend its own constitution without the approval of the British Parliament — a process referred to as «patriation». That same year, the Canadian Supreme Court noted a number of documents and acts as parts of the constitution, and then in April 1982 Queen Elizabeth II came to Ottawa to sign the new Constitution Act, which begins with a very detailed list of rights and freedoms guaranteed to all Canadians.
Thus far we have seen how the dispersal of power plays a fundamental role in taming the state through the process wherein one powerful faction is played off against another.
VII. ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:
1. Who was the principal designer of the US Constitu
tion?
2. What two threats does democracy face, according to
Madison?
3. What does a tyranny of the minority mean?
4. What did Madison understand by a tyranny of the
majority!
5. Was Madison concerned with the security in proper
ty rights for everybody independent of their incomes?
6. What system of government did Madison develop?
7. What name does his system of government bear? Do
you think it to be democratic?
8. What is the weak point of the US Constitution?
9. Is there a written constitution in Great Britain? And
what about Canada?
| Part !l |
Political science
10. When was the Constitution Act signed in Canada?
11. 
What does it contain?
VIII. GIVE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM «PATRI
ATION».
IX. SPEAK ON:
1) Madison's speculation of creating a legal constitution.
2) The key points of the US Constitution.
3) The British model of democracy.
4) The Constitution Act of Canada.
WORD STUDY
I. GIVE RUSSIAN EQUIVALENTS FOR:
Taming the state; coercive powers; to practice self-restraint; social arrangements; regardless of; to pursue interests; by trial and error; a dispersal of power; private property; in particular; nobility; to impose taxes on; revenues; essential issues; to face a threat; to give rise; to abuse minorities; the system of checks and balances; to sustain democracy; without the approval.
II. GIVE ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS FOR:
Злоупотребление властью; выполнять функции; соци
альное устройство; воплощать; требование; частная соб
ственность; основная особенность; запрещать; случайно;
одобрение; соперничающие интересы; угроза; существен
ные проблемы; избежать оплаты налогов; массы граж
дан; гарантировать свободу.
III. TRANSLATE INTO RUSSIAN:
1. In all nations with free elections and substantial indi
vidual liberties the state guarantees the property rights of
individuals.
2. Long observation convinced that when property rights
are not secure, the masses, not the rich, suffer most,
_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов
3. Guaranteeing the property rights of everyone offers
greater protectionto those with the least property.
4. Regardless ofhis new approach to the given phenome
non the issue still remains unresolved.
5. The ruling elite has always been pursuingonly their
own interests.
6. It took him a number of years to achieve what he had
wanted but only by trial and error.
7. It is rather problematic to take into consideration all
Competing interests.
8. To embodyhis principles into life he had to apply
substantial efforts.
IV. MAKE UP YOUR OWN SENTENCES WITH THE UNDERLINED WORD-COMBINATIONS OF THE TASK ABOVE.
_______________________ UNIT IX________________
I. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT: WHAT IS IDEOLOGY?
Ideology is a controversial political term that has often carried pejorative implications. In the social-scientific sense, a political ideology is a more or less coherent set of ideas that provides a basis for organized political action. Its central features are an account of existing power relationships, a model of a desired future, and an outline of how political change can and should be brought about.
Ideologies link political theory with political practice. On one level, ideologies resemble political philosophies, in that they constitute a collection of values, theories and doctrines, that is, a distinctive world view. On another level, however, they take the form of broad political movements, and are articulated through the activities of political leaders, parties and groups.
| Part II |
Political science
Every ideology can be associated with a characteristic set of principles and ideas. Although these ideas «hang together» in the sense that they interlock in distinctive ways, they are only systematic or coherent in a relative sense. All ideologies thus embody a range of rival traditions and internal tensions. Conflict within ideologies is thus sometimes more passionate than that between ideologies.
Ideologies are by no means hermetically sealed and unchanging systems of thought. They overlap with one another at a number of points, and they sometimes have shared concerns and a common vocabulary. They are always subject to political or intellectual renewal, both because they change over time as they are applied to changing historical circumstances.
The significance of particular ideologies rises and falls in relation to the ideology's relevance to political, social and economic circumstances, and its capacity for theoretical innovation. Ideological conflict in the twentieth century has forced major ideologies such as liberalism, conservatism and socialism to reexamine their traditional principles, and it has fostered the growth of new ideologies, such as feminism, ecologism and religious fundamentalism.
Debate about the end of ideology has taken a number of forms. In the early post-Second-World-War period, it was linked to the declining appeal of fascism and communism and the view that economic issues had displaced ideological ones. The «end of history» thesis suggests that liberal democracy has triumphed worldwide. Postmodernism implies that conventional ideologies are irrelevant, as they were intrinsically a product of an earlier period of modernization. Postmodernism(postmodernity) is a controversial and confusing term that was first used to describe experimental movements in western arts, architecture and cultural development in general. As a tool of social and political analysis, postmodernism highlights the shift away from societies structured by industrialization and class solidarity
_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________
to increasingly fragmented and pluralistic information societies in which individuals are transformed from producers to consumers, and individualism replaces class, religious and ethnic loyalties. From this perspective, conventional political ideologies such as Marxism and liberalism tend to be rejected as irrelevant that developed out of the process of modernization. Postmodernists argue that there is no such thing as certainty; the idea of absolute and universal truth must be discarded as an arrogant pretence. Emphasis is thus placed on the importance of discourse, debate and democracy.
II. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
1. What is political ideology?
2. What are its central features?
3. Why is it stated that ideology resembles political
philosophy?
4. What forms does ideology take?
5. What do all ideologies embody?
6. Ideologies are applied to changing historical circum
stances, aren't they?
7. What ideologies are characteristic for the twentieth
century?
8. What does the thesis «end of history» suggest?
9. What for was postmodernism first used?
10. What shift does postmodernism highlight?
11. What are the main principles of postmodernists?
III. THERE ARE SOME FORMS OF IDEOLOGY ENUMERATED IN THE TEXT. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN? PLEASE, TRY TO EXPLAIN THEIR ESSENCE. THEY ARE:
1) Liberalism;
2) Conservatism;
3) Socialism;
4) Feminism;
5) Ecologism;
| Part II |
. Political science
6) 
Religious fundamentalism;
7) Fascism;
8) Communism.
IV. EXPLAIN WHAT IDEOLOGIES ARE CLOSE TO
EACH OTHER; COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND THOSE
WHICH MAY TAKE INTERCHANGEABLE FORMS.
V. DIVIDE THE TEXT INTO LOGICAL PARTS AND
MAKE UP AN OUTLINE OF THE TEXT.
VI. GIVE THE GENERAL IDEA OF THE TEXT.
VII. READ THE TEXT AND GIVE A SUMMARY OF
EACH PART OF THE TEXT:
CLASSICAL LIBERALISM
The central theme of classical liberalism is a commitment to an extreme form of individualism. Human beings are seen as egoistical, self-seeking and largely self-reliant creatures. In what С. В. Macpherson termed 'possessive individualism', they are taken to be the proprietors of their own persons and capacities, owing nothing to society or to other individuals. This view is underpinned by a belief in 'negative' liberty, meaning noninterference, or the absence of external constraints upon the individual. This implies a deeply unsympathetic attitude towards the state and all forms of government intervention.
In Tom Paine's words, the state is a 'necessary evil'. It is 'necessary' in that, at the very least, it establishes order and security and ensures that contracts are enforced. However, it is 'evil' in that it imposes a collective will upon society, thus limiting the freedom and responsibilities of the individual. The classical liberal ideal is therefore the establishment of a minimal or 'nightwatchman' state, with a role that is limited to the protection of citizens from the encroachments of fellow citizens. In the form of economic
12-Английский язык для философов
_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________
liberalism,this position is underpinned by a deep faith in the mechanisms of the free market and the belief that the economy works best when left alone by the government. Laissez-faire capitalism is thus seen as guaranteeing prosperity, upholding individual liberty, and, as this allows individuals to rise and fall according to merit, ensuring social justice.
MODERN LIBERALISM
Modern liberalism is characterized by a more systematic attitude towards state intervention. Indeed, in the USA, the term 'liberal' is invariably taken to imply support for biggovernment rather than 'minimal' government. This shift was born out of the recognition that industrial capitalism had merely generated new forms of justice and left the mass of the population subject to the vagaries of the market. Influenced by the work of J. S. Mill, the so-called New Liberals and A. Hobson championed a broader, 'positive' view of freedom. From this perspective, freedom does not just mean being left alone, which might imply nothing more than the freedom to starve. Rather, it is linked to personal development and the flourishing of the individual, that is, the ability of the individual to gain fulfillment and achieve self-realization.
This view provided the basis for social or welfare liberalism. This is characterized by the recognition that the state intervention, particularly in the form of social welfare, can enlarge liberty by safeguarding individuals from the social evils that blight individual existence. These evils were identified in the UK as the 'five giants': want, ignorance, idleness, squalor and disease.
In the same way, modern liberals abandoned their belief in laissez-faire capitalism, largely as a result of J. M. Keynes' insight that growth and prosperity could only be maintained through a system of managed or regulated capitalism, with key economic responsibilities being placed in the hands of the state.
| Part II |
Political science
Nevertheless, modern liberals' support for collective provision and government intervention has always been conditional. Their concern has been with the plight of the weak and vulnerable, those who are literally not able to help themselves. Their goal is to raise individuals to the point where they are able, once again, to take responsibility for their own circumstances and make their own moral choices. CONSERVATISM
Conservative ideas and doctrines first emerged in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. They arose as a reaction against the growing pace of economic and political change, which was in many ways symbolized by the French Revolution. In this sense, conservatism harked back to the ancient regime. In trying to resist the pressures unleashed by the growth of liberalism, socialism and nationalism, conservatism stood in defence of an increasingly embattled traditional social order. However, from the outset, divisions in conservative thought were apparent.
In continental Europe, a form of conservatism emerged that was characterized by the work of thinkers such as Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821). This conservatism was starkly autocratic and reactionary, rejecting out of hand any idea of reform. A more cautious, more flexible, and ultimately more successful form of conservatism nevertheless developed in the UK and the USA that was characterized by Edmund Burke's belief in 'change in order to conserve'. This stance enabled conservatives in the nineteenth century to embrace the cause of social reform under the paternalistic banner of 'One Nation'.
The high point of this tradition in the UK came in the 1950s as the Conservative Party came to accept the postwar settlement and espouse its own version of Keynesian social democracy. However, such ideas increasingly came under pressure from the 1970s onwards as a result of the emergence of the New Right. The New Right's radically antistatist and antipaternalist brand of conservatism draws heavily on classical liberal themes and values.
12-2
12*
Учебное пособие для философов и политологов
ECOLOGISM
Ecologism is a political doctrine or ideology that is constructed on the basis of ecological assumptions, notably about the essential link between humankind and the natural world: humans are part of nature, not its «masters». Ecologism is sometimes distinguished from environmentalism, in that the former implies the adoption of a biocentric or ecocentric perspective, while the latter is concerned with protecting nature, ultimately for human benefit.
VIII. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
1. What is the central theme of classical liberalism?
2. How are human beings seen?
3. What is understood by 'possessive individualism'?
4. What does 'negative' liberty mean?
5. What is the central idea of Tom Paine's theory?
6. Why is the state so 'necessary'?
7. Why is it 'evil'?
8. What is the essence of economic liberalism?
9. How is laissez-faire capitalism treated?
IX. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:
1. Modern liberalism is characterized by ... .
2. The term 'liberal' implies support for ... .
3. New Liberals championed a view of ... .
4. In their view, freedom is linked to ... .
5. Welfare liberalism recognizes that ... .
6. The basic social evils, the so-called 'five giants', are ....
7. Modern liberals support ... .
X. AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING:
1. Conservative ideas emerged in the late 18th century.
2. Conservatism in its origin dates back to the Middle Ages.
3. It defends traditional social order.
4. J. de Maistre being too reactionary rejected any ideas
of reforms.
| Part |
Political science
5. The New Right is a rather statist and paternal brand of conservatism.
XI. 
SAY WHAT DISTINGUISHES ECOLOGISM FROM
ENVIRONMENTALISM.
XII.COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHAT IDEOLOGIES PRO
DUCE POSITIVE IMPACT ON HUMAN MINDS AND
WHICH ONES EXERT A NEGATIVE EFFECT?
XIII. TRANSLATE THE GIVEN BELOW SENTENCES
INTO ENGLISH. USE THE FOLLOWING WORD-COMBI
NATIONS:
To be closely linked to; respect for; accumulated knowledge; tested by time; for the benefit; to promote stability and security; practical goals; approach to life; human nature; human imperfection.
1. Центральная тема консервативной мысли тесно свя
зана с привычными добродетелями традиции, уважения
обычаев и институтами власти.
2. С этой точки зрения, традиция отражает накоплен
ные знания прошлого и те институты, которые были про
верены временем.
3. Все это следует сохранить ради блага и пользы ны
нешнего поколения и последующих поколений.
4. Соблюдение традиций способствует стабильности и
безопасности, давая людям возможность осознать свою
социальную и историческую значимость.
5. Прагматический взгляд предполагает, что любое
действие должно руководствоваться обстоятельствами и
практическими целями.
6. Консерваторы предпочитают говорить о своих
взглядах, как об особом подходе к жизни, а не как об
идеологии.
7. Консервативный взгляд на человеческую природу
сводится к утверждению о несовершенстве человека.
Учебное пособие для философов и политологов
XIV. MAKE UP YOUR OWN SENTENCES WITH THE
FOLLOWING WORD-COMBINATIONS:
To imply an attitude towards; to impose a will; to be left alone; according to merit; to champion a view of; to gain fulfillment; to achieve self-realization; to provide the basis for; to take responsibility for.
XV. READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER THE QUES
TIONS THAT FOLLOW IT.
OTHER IDEOLOGICAL TRADITIONS
Fascism
Whereas liberalism and conservatism are nineteenth century ideologies, fascism is a child of the twentieth century. Some would say that it is specifically an interwar phenomenon. Although fascist beliefs can be traced back to the late nineteenth century, they were fused together and shaped by the First World War and its aftermath, and in particular by the potent mixture of war and revolution that characterized the period.
The two principal manifestations of fascism were Mussolini's Fascist dictatorship in Italy in 1922-43, and Hitler's Nazi dictatorship in Germany in 1933-45. Forms of neofascism and neo-Nazism have also resurfaced in the final years of the twentieth century that have taken advantage of the combination of economic crisis and political instability.
In many respects, fascism constituted a revolt against the ideas and values that had dominated western political thought since the French Revolution; in the words of the Italian Fascist slogan, «1789 is dead». Values such as rationalism, progress, freedom and equality were thus overturned in the name of struggle, leadership, power, heroism, and war. In this sense, fascism has an «anticharac-ter». It is defined largely by what it opposes: it is a form of antiliberalism, anti-individualism and so on.
A core theme that nevertheless runs throughout fascism is the image of an organically unified national community.
| Part |
Political science
This is reflected in a belief in «strength through unity». The individual, in a literal sense, is nothing; individual identity must be entirely absorbed into that of the community or social group. The fascist ideal is that of the «new man», a hero, motivated by duty, honour and self-sacrifice, prepared to dedicate his life to the glory of his nation or race, and to give unquestioning obedience to a supreme leader.
Not all fascists, however, think alike. Italian Fascism was essentially an extreme form of statism that was based on unquestioning respect and absolute loyalty towards a «totalitarian» state. As the Fascist philosopher Gentile (1875-1944) put it, «everything for the state; nothing against the state; nothing outside the state».
German National Socialism, on the other hand, was constructed largely on the basis of racialism. Its two core theories are Aryanism (the belief that the German people constitute a «master race» and are destined for world domination), and a virulent form of anti-Semitism that portrayed the Jews as inherently evil and aimed at their eradication. This latter belief found expression in the «Final Solution».
XVI. QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED:
1. When was fascism born?
2. What were the two principal manifestations of fas
cism?
3. When did forms of neofascism emerge?
4. What kind of revolt did fascism constitute?
5. Why do we say that fascism has an «anticharacter»?
6. What is the core theme of fascism?
7. Where does it find its reflection?
8. What is the fascist ideal?
9. What was Italian Fascism characterized by?
10. In what way did Gentile formulate the idea of the
Italian Fascism?
11. What was German National Socialism constructed on?
12. What two core theories lay at its basis?
_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________
XVII. EXSPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY:
1) neofascism;
2) Aryanism;
3) anti-Semitism.
XVIII. SPEAK ON THE TEXT AND TRY TO EXPRESS
YOUR PERSONAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS THIS REAC
TIONARY IDEOLOGY.
XIX. READ THE TEXT AND CHARACTERIZE THE
BASIC FEATURES OF THIS IDEOLOGY:
Anarchism
Anarchism is unusual amongst political ideologies in that no anarchist party has ever succeeded in winning power, at least at national level. Nevertheless, anarchist movements were powerful in, for example, Spain, France, Russia and Mexico through to the early twentieth century, and anarchist ideas continue to fertilize political debate by challenging the conventional belief that law, government and the state are either wholesome or indispensable.
The central theme within anarchism is the belief that political authority in all its forms, and especially in the form of the state, is both evil and unnecessary (anarchy literally means «without rule»). Nevertheless, the anarchist preference for a stateless society in which free individuals manage their own affairs through voluntary agreement and cooperation has been developed on the basis of two rival traditions: liberal individualism, and socialist communitarianism. Anarchism can thus be thought of as a point of intersection between liberalism and socialism: a form of both «ultraliberalism» and «ultrasocialism».
The liberal case against the state is based on individualism and the desire to maximize liberty and choice. Unlike liberals, individual anarchists such as William Godwin (1756-1836) believed that free and rational human beings would be able to manage their affairs peacefully
| Part II |
Political science
and spontaneously, government being merely a form of unwanted coercion.
Modern individualists have usually looked to the market to explain how society would be regulated in the absence of state authority, developing a form of anarchocapitalism, an extreme form of free-market economics. The more widely recognized anarchist tradition, however, draws upon socialist ideas such as community, cooperation, equality and common ownership.
Collectivist anarchists therefore stress the human capacity for social solidarity that arises from our sociable, gregarious and essentially cooperative natures. On this basis, the French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, for instance, developed what he called mutualism, the belief that small communities of independent peasants, craftsmen and artisans could manage their lives using a system of fair and equitable exchange, avoiding the injustices and exploitation of capitalism. Other anarchists, such as the Russian Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), advanced a form of anarchocommunism, the central principles of which were common ownership, decentralization and self-management.
XX. COMPLETE THE SENTENCES:
1. Anarchist movements were powerful in ... .
2. The central theme of anarchism is ... .
3. Anarchism literally means ....
4. Anarchism can be thought of as intersection between
liberalism and socialism because ....
5. The liberal case is based on ... .
6. William Godwin as an anarchist believed that ....
7. The widely recognized tradition draws on ... .
8. Collectivist anarchists stress the human capacity
for ... .
9. The French anarchist P.J.Proudhon developed ....
10. The Russian P.Kropotkin advanced a form of ... .
Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________
XXI. WOULD YOU SAY THAT THERE IS SOME RA
TIONAL IDEA IN ANARCHISM? GIVE YOUR ARGU
MENTS.
XXII. READ THE TEXT AND SAY WHAT POINTS OF
THE INFORMATION ARE OF CERTAIN INTEREST FOR
YOU.
Feminism
Although feminist aspirations have been expressed in societies dating back to Ancient China, they were not underpinned by a developed political theory until the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). Indeed, it was not until the emergence of the women's suffrage movement in the 1840s and 1850s that feminist ideas reached a wider audience, in the form of so-called «first-wave feminism». The achievement of female suffrage in most western countries in the early twentieth century deprived the women's movement of its central goal and organizing principle.
«Second-wave feminism», however, emerged in the 1960s. This expressed the more radical, and sometimes revolutionary, demands of the growing Women's Liberation Movement. Feminist theories and doctrines are diverse, but their unifying feature is a common desire to enhance, through whatever means, the social role of women. The underlying themes of feminism are therefore, first, that society is characterized by sexual or gender inequality and, second, that this structure of male power can and should be overturned.
At least three contrasting feminist traditions can be identified. Liberal feminists, such as Wollstonecraft and Betty Friedan, have tended to understand female subordination in terms of the unequal distribution of rights and opportunities in society. This «equal-rights feminism» is essentially reformist. It is more concerned with the reform of the «public» sphere, that is, with enhancing the legal and political status of women and improving their educa-