Social Studies 30: Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Social Studies 30 covers the formation of ideologies in Unit I Topic A.

Individualism and Collectivism

• Individualism values the individual over the group.
• Individualists believe in autonomy, self-reliance, self-interest, and economic freedom.
• Individualists value rights and freedoms like privacy, property, and speech.
• Individualists support the rule of law, achievement, competition, excellence, wealth, and survival of the fittest.
• Collectivism values the needs of the group/collective over the individual.
• Collectivists believe that the group's importance outweighs the individual's.
• Collectivists value cooperation, economic equality, collective responsibility, sacrifice, and public property.
• Collectivists believe privacy is not a priority, and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Political Spectrum

• The Political Spectrum is a visual tool illustrating how different political ideologies relate.
• The spectrum ranges from left-wing ideologies like anarchism and communism to right-wing ideologies like fascism and nazism.

Democracy

• Democracy means "rule by the people" and involves citizens making decisions about how the country is organized.
• There are two types of democracies: direct and representative.

Direct Democracy

• Direct democracy, as found in Ancient Athens, involves all citizens voting on all issues.
• Direct democracy is suited to small communities/nations.
• In Athens, only about 200 men considered citizens, made this system efficient.

Representative Democracy

• Representative democracy has two basic forms: Parliamentary and Presidential.
• The head of government must be a member of the legislature and is accountable to it.
• Citizens elect representatives to govern for them in representative democracies.
• Representative democracies contain 3 branches of government

Features of Democracies

• Citizens have the right to participate in the political process.
• Democracies have a constitution (rule of law) that limits government power.
• Citizens have a guarantee of rights and freedoms.
• Citizens are expected and encouraged to vote and participate in the political process.
• The majority is required to recognize the opinions and values of the minority.
• Governments are obligated to protect each individual and guarantee political rights and civil liberties.
• Individuals are free to question government actions and policies and suggest alternatives, which the government must consider.
• The government and citizens are limited in their actions by the rule of law, meaning no one is above the law.
• Political parties have the right to exist, promote their activities, and openly compete for power.

Individual Rights and Freedoms

• Political rights include the right to vote, participate in the government, and freedom from persecution and torture.
• Civil liberties include freedoms of expression, life, liberty, property, and equality.

Opposition and Dissent

• Individuals have the right to question government actions and policies and suggest alternatives.
• Individuals that disagree with the government can not resort to violence or force.

Non-Democratic Systems

• Non-democratic systems are often called single-party systems or dictatorships.
• There are two types of non-democratic systems: autocratic and totalitarian.

Autocratic Systems

• Autocratic systems include absolute monarchy, one-person autocratic rule, oligarchy, military dictatorship, and minority tyranny.

Absolute Monarchy

• Absolute monarchies are governments led by a monarch.
• Authority is based on tradition, religion, and unlimited power.
• A divine right to rule is asserted.
• Political parties are not allowed to exist.
• Legislatures, if they exist, are filled with wealthy landowners.

One-Person Autocratic Rule

• One-person autocratic rule is based on the personality of the leader, not a hereditary monarch.
• The regime is maintained by force.
• The leader controls all political institutions.

Oligarchy

• Oligarchies are led by an elite group, which may be a family or an ethnic minority.
• This rules to further its own interests at the expense of the minority.
• Limited civil liberties and political rights are offered to maintain control.

Military Dictatorship

• Military dictatorship is the most common form of authoritarian government.
• It's also known as Junta.
• The military overthrows the previous government.
• Direct military rule implements a "state of emergency".

Minority Tyranny

• Minority tyranny involves a small minority holding all the political rights at the expense of the majority.
• Example: Apartheid in South Africa until 1994.
• Any non-white South Africans were denied political rights and civil liberties.
• Apartheid was abolished with the help of Nelson Mandela.

Totalitarian Regimes

• Totalitarian regimes include communism and fascism.

Communism

• Communism appeared in 1917 Russia under Lenin.
• The Communist Party controls all aspects of citizens' lives.
• Mass loyalty is accomplished through fear and terror.
• There's use of propaganda and the restriction of individual rights and freedoms.
• Examples of countries: former Soviet Union (USSR) under Lenin & Stalin, China, and Cuba.

Fascism

• Fascism was developed by Mussolini out of fear for communism, political instability, and economic collapse.
• Fascism was perfected by Hitler.
• Racism is widespread.
• There's no individualism.
• Fascism believes in the supremacy of the nation.
• The government controls all aspects of individual lives.
• Examples of countries: Italy under Mussolini(1922-1945), and Germany under Hitler (1933-1945).

Features of Totalitarian Nations

• The state controls all aspects of human life.
• There is one political party.
• There is a secret police.
• All forms of mass media are controlled and restricted.
• The military is controlled by the government.
• A centrally planned economy is in place.

Features of Non-Democratic Systems

• Authoritarian rule is where an elite govern since they believe regular citizens are not competent.
• Force and terror are used to maintain power, and government uses a strong military and police force to eliminate opposition.
• Indoctrination brainwashes citizens (especially children) to believe their nation is the greatest and to eliminate opposition.
• Controlled participation means all citizens are required to vote for the political party to create façade elections, for international relations.
• Limits on dissent: elimination of all opposition to maintain power and control.
• Limited accountability as no rule of law is present
• Few provisions for change as there is usually no way to transfer power once the dictator dies.

Types of Economic Systems

• The study of economics involves production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Economic Systems:

• Economic systems are how a society organizes itself in terms of production, consumption, and distribution, and their goal is to eliminate scarcity.
• Scarcity happens when there are are not enough goods and services to support the demand of consumers.
• All societies must make decisions regarding the allocation of resources.
• Societies must make decisions on what to produce, how to produce it, and who to produce it for.
• The economic cycle includes inflation, deflation, recession

Economic Cycle

• Inflation is the period when prices go up.
• Deflation is the period when prices go down.
• Recession is the period of economic decline.
• Governments must make decisions on how to prevent depressions and encourage economic growth.
• Governments will step in before the deflation period turns into a bust or depression.
• Canada has seen this in Canada's Economic Action Plan.

Command Economy

• A command economy is a system where the government answers the basic economic questions.
• Created as a response to classical liberal values seen in the Industrial Revolution.
• The overall goal of a command economy is equality of wealth.
• A command economy can be referred to as centrally planned, planned, or public enterprise.

Free Market Economy

• A free market economy is a system where producers and consumers answer the basic economic questions.
• Based on laws of Supply & Demand.
• Adam Smith believed in limited government involvement and profit motive.
• Synonyms include market economy, private enterprise, and laissez-faire.

Mixed Economy

• A mixed economy is a combination of free market principles and government intervention.
• Takes the best parts of a command and market economy and combining them.
• The government owns businesses when necessary and ensures citizens have their basic needs met.