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Here is a study-guide for a Political Science exam I took once:

  1. Nature of Political Ideology

• Types of political thought
• Political theory (empirical)
• Political philosophy (normative)
• Political ideology (sets of beliefs and values that explain and evaluate the social, political and economic worlds and prov9ide a basis for orientation and action – usually simplified version of political theory and philosophy)
• Dimensions of ideology

2. Liberalism

• Begins as reaction of new middle class society to existing systems (feudalism and mercantilism)
• Central value is individual freedom
• Philosophical foundations and historical development
• Hobbes (not liberal but emphasizes consent and contract)
• Locke (Father of Liberalism; individualism; natural rights; consent; negative freedom; limited government)
• Smith (defender of capitalism; self-interest; market; limited government)
• Bentham (father of utilitarianism; rejects natural rights; utility and the greatest happiness principle; utilitarian calculus)
• J.S. Mill (revises utilitarianism; defense of liberty)
• Green (father of welfare liberalism; positive freedom)
• Spencer (father of libertarianism; very limited gov’t; Social Darwinism)
• Keynes (government intervention for economy if needed)
• Rawls (veil of ignorance; liberal justice=equal rights and inequality justified only if most disadvantaged is helped.
• Nozick (defender of minimal state and libertarianism.

3. Democracy (political system – not an ideology)

• Types of Democracy
• Classic democracy (ancient Athens) city-state, small, direct participation
• Classic republicanism (Rome) Small, separation of powers, representative
• Majoritarian democracy – Representation, indirect democracy, majority rule, Rule of Majority – 49/51 = all agree with 51
• Liberal democracy – Majority rule, individual rights, popular control.
• Peoples’ democracy
• Social democracy
• Elements of liberal democracy
• Popular control
• Majority rule
• Individual rights
• Tensions in liberal democracy

4. Conservativism

• Begins as negative reaction of established classes to rapid change and liberalism
• Conceptions of conservativism
• Historical
• Substantive
• Positional
•    Burke (father of conservativism) –
• rejects natural rights;
• the limits of human reason are limited and the state is organic
• Tradition, prejudice and prescription
• Limited, gradual change
• Representative but aristocratic government
• Reaction to American and French Revolutions
• Types of European conservativism
• Authoritarian-reactionary conservativism
• Cultural conservativism
• Paternalistic conservatism (Tory Democracy)
• Types of U. S. conservativism
• Traditional conservative (Old Right)
• Individualistic Conservatism
• 20^th century corporate conservatism
• neoconservatism
• social conservatism – religious right (New Right)

Ok, my current political joke is about our President’s name. Barack Osama Bin Al Obama Bigbuilding. Cheap shot? Surely. Clever? You tell me.

So, these days Cheney is bitching because he wants people to know that the ends justify the means, even if it means that the rest of the world distrusts and dislikes us. He doesn’t want truth and reconcilliation hearings unless he gets to say that J’O Bl’o named names and got a bunch of “bad guys” taken out.

OLD SCHOOL POLITICS ---

I still hate W. He is surely one of the worst, if not the worst, president the U.S. has ever had unless you are really, really rich. He did visit a family up the street at a dinner, and he does have lots of Cheney roots in Grand Rapids.

In a bid to belittle politics, I sent a form in to the Republican Party. I received all sorts of mail from G.W. Bush but never opened it. My sister-in-law was getting the same mail and she thought it was “special” until she learned that I was getting the same cards, letters, etc. Then it was not so “special” I guess. Less special because our entire home made jokes abut the mailings.

For 2008, early in the Dem primary season I sent a letter to Obama suggesting a commercial he could use. The jist of it is this: Hilary gets a call at 2:00. She looks into the camera and announces “I was ready on day 1 for this” and answers the phone. She then says “No, Monica, Bill isn’t here.”

I thought it was a hoot but no one used it. If Hilary doesn’t get nominated no one will get to use it this season. Such a shame.

Gore deserves every award and prize he gets for his movie. I was horrified to go to one of Maureen’s relative’s weddings in 2007 to learn that there actually are many people who do not believe in global warming. I wonder if Ted Kuzinski got to see the movie.

Everyone knocks W. I have to say that he must have something going for him, since he has been elected at least once. But  with his appointment of a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, his long-standing fans ditched him. Now apparently he is willing to try to go down in memory and history as the one who ended Roe.

Maybe now the Iraq fiasco will be addressed around the midterm elections. Whoever decided to invade Iraq was giving really bad news. I can’t think of any who disagreed with the decision to invade Afganistan. But Iraq? Come on. Get serious. What a waste of resources, and what a bad deal for the citizens of Iraq. And the U.S..

To prepare for the next hurricane season, Vice President Cheney has come out in favor of “Preperation H” which includes terms for evacuation of gulf-based cities throughout the south. Cheyney gave credit for the name to #43, our Commander-in-Chief.

O.K. Our President, 43, has announced that he has figured out the way to meet the Bird Flu Epidemic head on. White House Insiders have told yours truly that the current operation has been given the “handle” of “Operation Bird Brain”. According to our sources, 43 has insisted that the only way to beat a bird is to think like a bird, hence the name.

As part of the broad attack on Avian Flu, we have learned that all birds have been removed from the endangered species and placed on the Terrorist HotList, with the sole exception being the American Eagle, which has been removed from the protected list. “If we give in to any of them, we have already lost this war” The President was overheard saying to Scooter Libby just before Rove was passed over for indictment.

On Monday, Haloween, our President announced the explicit details of how the Federal government will protect our citizenry from the savages of A5N1, or the Avian Flu. Because it is easier for the populace at large to remember cutsey phrases, the next phase of global death and destruction will be “Every Man for Himself”. By this, our nation is recognizing that given the recent handling of national emergencies perhaps the U.S.A. is not up to investing the vast sums of money, anticipated to be over 500,000,000.00 which would be required to save the nation. This would cut into the Iraq defense budget of 100 billion or thereabouts per year, and clearly our populace is not as deserving as the Iraqian citizenry. And who is better equipped to handle a national emergency than the local authorities. Besides, that money is tied up in building our next Las Vegas of the South, New Orleans. We must have priorities here, people.

You will note that since our President has announced Operation Bird Brain that every mention of Iraq refers to it as a fledgling nation. www.answers.com/topic/fledgling will let you know why it has that name, since we don’t want you to not know just what a fledgling is, just in case you don’t.