Topic: Contemporary political ideologies. Part II

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

high school / technical school student

Core curriculum:

• old curriculum:

extended level:

16. Politics, ideologies, political doctrines and programmes.

The student:

5) characterizes totalitarian ideologies (communism, nazism), using historical examples;

6) characterizes the most important contemporary political doctrines (christian democracy, conservatism, liberalism, nationalism, social democracy, socialism).

• new curriculum:

extended level:

V. State, political thought and democratization.

The student:

7) compares the assumptions of social democracy and the Catholic social teaching;

8) presents the assumptions of fascism, nazism and communism and criticizes them from the point of view of human rights and democracy.

10) presents the ideological assumptions of selected social movements (e.g. alterglobalism, ecologism, feminism).

The general aim of education:

The student uses information to create his own statement on social phenomena, including political ones, and to evaluate them.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• distinguishes the relationship between an individual and the government in various political ideologies.

• justifies the importance of the historical context in the shaping of political ideologies.

• explains what changes influenced the perception of relations between individuals and the state, and how the scope of individual freedom has changed.

• compares the views of different ideologies regarding the same problems in state policies.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• digital competence,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences,

• sense of initiative and entrepreneurship,

• cultural awareness and expression.

Teaching methods:

• flipped classroom.

Forms of work:

• group work,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. The lesson is carried out using the flipped classroom method. During one of the preceding meetings the teacher divides the class into groups and assigns them with one of the ideologies: communism, nazism, fascism, Catholic social teaching (christian democracy), feminism, anarchism.

2. The task of the students is to prepare short (a maximum of 6 minutes) multimedia presentations on the assigned ideologies – their genesis, representatives, most important views, etc. To this goal the students may use part I and II of the abstract and other sources of information.

3. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will analyze selected political ideologies and the most important social movements in history and nowadays.

Implementation:

1. The groups present the ideologies. The teacher makes sure neither group exceeds the presentation time, corrects and supplements the presentations if necessary.

2. The task of the students who are the audience is to make notes on each of the ideologies in a form of a simplified mind map. They can also ask questions to the students presenting the ideology, if they find something necessary to be explained. After listening to all the presentations the teacher makes sure the students made the notes.

Summary:

1. At the end of the class the teacher asks the students to finish the sentences:

• Today I learned…

• I understand now that…

• I was surprised…

• I found out…

• It was easy for me…

• It was difficult for me...

The last two sentences help evaluate the difficulty of the discussed question; they enable the student to evaluate his own knowledge and skills.

2. Homework proposal:

a. Choose one the simplified mind map notes you did today during the class – one that concerns the ideology, which seems most interesting to you (except the one on which you have prepared the presentation before). Supplement the mind map, using various sources of information. Justify your choice of ideology.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Contemporary political ideologies. Part II

Catholic social teaching

In the nineteenth century, there was a rapid development of new social classes – the more and more internally diversified working class, and in Central Europe – the intelligentsia. The intelligentsia was a social group that was characterized by high education, often a significant cultural capital, but did not have property. The social stratum of intelligentsia came from impoverished gentry, less often from the bourgeoisie, sometimes from the more well off and educated peasantry. Regardless of which social group the intelligentsia came from, they were connected by the fact that their standard of living was dependent on employers, the state or owners of factories, hospitals, schools. Recognizing the social significance and the growing number of employees, Pope Leo XIII published in 1891 his encyclical “Rerum Novarum”. It became the basis of the so‑called Catholic social teaching (Catholic social doctrine). As the title of the papal document indicates, it includes a new view of the Church on the role of work in human life - work is no longer treated as punishment for original sin, but the value of work in shaping the personality of an individual begins to be recognized. That is how the political movement called the Christian Democracy was shaped. The content of the encyclical Rerum Novarum, and especially the Pope’s idea of social solidarity, which not only placed the principle of common good in the center of consideration, but also recognized the right of workers to organize in trade unions resulted in Leo XIII being called the „worker’s pope”.

The Christian Democrats' program assumes that a man is the most important, hence it is based on the principle of personalism, that is respect for man and a holistic view of the individual in the physical, spiritual and cultural dimensions. Christian Democrats expressed the view that work is part of the self‑development of an individual and should be chosen in accordance with the interests and abilities of each individual. The society should help each individual to make the right decision. In contrast to social democrats, Christian Democrats put the individual and the individual’s needs higher than the society, which was left with an auxiliary role. The state and society, according to Christian Democrats, should support the individual, but not impose anything on the individual.

Contemporary Christian Democrats support free market economy and protection of private property. At the same time, they see the necessity of introducing a progressive tax, state intervention in the economy and fair pay for decent work. An important element of the Christian Democratic views is the separation of church and state. After the Second Vatican Council, the Church forbade the members of the clergy to hold state offices. At the same time, responsibility for the state and society as well as active participation in public life was added to the responsibilities of the believer. Christian Democrats are also advocates of solidarity between people and are opposed to the exploitation of workers in poorer countries. The term „social teaching of the Church” (Catholic social teaching) is connected with the fact that the views characteristic of Christian Democrats can be found in the papal encyclicals. This does not mean, however, that the followers of this doctrine or members of Christian Democratic parties are exclusively Catholics.

Fascism

In the twentieth century, political thought has developed in many different directions, resulting in the emergence of new political ideologies, often characterized by extreme concepts.

One of such ideologies is certainly fascism. Fascism was born in Italy during the rule of Benito Mussolini. Fascism can be treated as a rebellion against ideas and values that have dominated political thought since the French Revolution. In place of rationalism, progress of freedom and equality, the fascists proposed ideas of leadership, power, heroism and war. Fascism is anti‑capitalist, anti‑democratic, anti‑liberal and anti‑individualistic. The most important value of fascism is belief in the slogan „in unity, there is strength.” The individual's needs are nothing. The individual’s identity must be completely absorbed by the identity of a community or a social group. The fascist ideal is a „new man” guided by duty and honor, who desires and is able to devote his life and personal needs for the good of the state, nation, race or a leader representing this nation.

There were no racist elements in Italian fascism. The activity of the state was based on the charisma of the leader. Society functioned in corporations, thanks to which the interests of social groups were subordinated to the interests and the good of the state. Civic activities were to show support for the authority that pursued national interests.

In Germany, apart from the cult of the leader and the introduction of the principles of a totalitarian state, there has been a radicalization of ideology. Racist theories introduced by Adolf Hitler transformed fascist ideology into Nazism.

Feminism

Feminism is a political ideology and a social movement, whose supporters believe that women's equal rights are one of the basic elements of functioning of societies. It was born in the nineteenth century in Anglo‑Saxon countries. The American and English suffragettes were the first to fight for women's rights. The main objective of their actions was the equality of women's and men's rights, improvement of the economic situation of women, especially the single ones, access to education and the opportunity to study. They also demanded changes in family law, which was unfavorable to women, subordinating them to the decisions of the male „head of the family.” They also sought to obtain electoral rights, seeing in the access to parliament the path to changes in other areas of life.

The granting of electoral rights to women in most democratic countries after the first world war weakened the feminist movements for some time. However, since the end of the 1980s, we can speak about the revival of feminism. Currently the movement has a couple of different faces. Liberal feminists notice the complexity of women's problems in various countries around the world. They are fighting, in particular, for the right of access to education for women in third world countries and equal wages for women and men in highly developed countries. Radical feminists strive to drastically reduce men's participation in political life. They advocate profound social change towards increasing individual freedom. Certainly, the value of the feminist movement was to bring equality in access to electoral law and help women emancipate themselves in the social sphere.

Anarchism

For supporters of the anarchist ideology, the most important thing is freedom of an individual, not limited by a state, power of capital or religion. Anarchists believe that people are inherently good, and that is why state structures are not necessary, because citizens will create a community of stateless, exploitation‑free form of cooperation, based on moral principles, understanding and harmonious interpersonal relations.

The supporters of anarchism are individuals with extremely anti‑state views, assuming that an individual operating in a social group only has positive instincts and state institutions are not needed to perform integration and regulatory functions. The individuals will manage themselves. For the supporters of this ideology, the state was above all a form of oppression and guaranteed the advantage of privileged classes. The creation of a classless society was to justify the worthlessness of state institutions.

Political ideologies have been and are an important element of the life of democratic societies. They allow political parties to shape recognizable programs, in which sometimes slogans define a political programme. Ideologies determine the place of political parties in the electoral market. Due to including the name of an ideology into the name of the party, it is easier for a citizen to accept or reject its ideas. Thanks to ideology, we can establish the attitude of its supporters to individual freedom, the state‑church relationship, or the level of state intervention in the economy. Knowing the theoretical foundations of ideology, it is easier for the citizen to find representatives with similar view of the world to his own.