The Various Political Theories, in a Nutshell
Jan 1st, 2009 by Micah Tillman | 2 Comments |
Allow me to explore a li’l hypothesis out loud. Don’t know if it’s right, but I think I’m onto something.
Classical Liberalism:
- (The means of?) violence should be controlled by The People.
- The means of production should be controlled by The Individual.
Neo-Liberalism (i.e., New-School Progressivism):
- The means of production should be controlled by The People.
- The means of violence should be controlled by no one.
Old-School Progressivism (and Socialism?):
- The means of production should be controlled by The People.
- The means of violence should be controlled by The People.
Anarchism:
- The means of production should be controlled by The Individual.
- The means of violence should be controlled by no one.
Communism (in theory):
- The means of production should be controlled by The People.
- The means of violence gets you there, then violence disappears.
Dictatorship/Fascism/Communism (in practice):
- The means of production should be controlled by the He Who Is the Voice of The People.
- The means of violence should be controlled by He Who Is the Voice of The People.
Monarchy:
- The means of production should be controlled by The Leader.
- The means of violence should be controlled by The Leader.
Mild chuckle, then, uh, no.
I was jus’ readin’ somewhere that a Republic stands between a Monarchy and a (Pure) Democracy. In the US, which was wisely created to avoid the evil extremes of monarchs and majorities, we live in a republic. Your schema doesn’t seem to allow for a constitution and balance of powers.
“Violence” overstates the second category you name. Perhaps “maintaining order” would be a more neutral term. Perhaps making your pessimistic assumption that is shared with William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies should be made an explicit part of your model.
The one who controls the definitions controls the debate.