Political Terminology

Ideology:
An Ideology is a widely held set of beliefs and values about the nature of society. Example of ideologies are Marxism, Liberalism, etc.

Right Wing:
The political right-wing (or "right") stands for the forces of privilege and traditional authority. In many Western nations, right-wingers include many business people, farmers, senior bureaucrats, and those on high incomes or with significant wealth. The right is divided between the Old Right and the New Right.

Old Right: The Old Right sees the family (usually the nuclear family) as the most important unit in society.
It supports policies such as the provision of social welfare, family allowances, and the maintenance of minimum wage levels.

New Right: The New Right sees the individual as the most important unit in society. It supports policies such as cuts in government spending, reductions in taxation (particularly for the wealthy), de-regulation of the economy, removal of minimum wage levels, introduction of "user pays" in areas such as education and health, and the privatisation of government enterprises.

Left Wing:
The political Left Wing (or "Left") stands for equality and less tradition. Left-wingers tend to be socialists, social democrats or environmentalists. In many Western nations, left-wingers include many trade unionists, public servants, pensioners, academics, and those with low incomes and little wealth.
The left is divided between the Old Left and the New Left.

Old Left: The Old Left see the state as the most important unit in society. It seeks to implement socialism via the nationalisation of industry.

New Left: The New Left is difficult to define, since it does not represent a unified movement. New Left socialists seek to improve society through the establishment of worker-owned enterprises and worker-controlled investment funds. New Left environmentalists see the natural environment as the most important priority in the society.

For a contrast between the beliefs and values of the Left and Right, Click Here.

Economy:
An economy consists of a group of individuals cooperationg together to undertake production. The simplest tyep of economy consists of a family which produces everything it consumes. A modern economy consists of a set of institutions within which goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed.
Economics is the study of how societies allocate their limited resources to maximise the satisfaction of the populations. In essence, it concerns itself with four key questions: What is produced; how much is produced; how is it produced; and who gets it.

Economic System:
An economic system is the set of institutions which characterise a particular economy. The two most common economic systems in the world today are capitalism and socialism.

Capitalism:
Capitalism is an economic system in which capital (the means of production) is privately owned, and production is undertaken for profit. Society is divided into classes, according to the method by which income is acquired. The capitalist class derives its income from the ownership of capital; the landlord class from the ownership of land; and the working class from the performance of work.

Socialism:
Socialism is a system which seeks to establish social, political and economic equality within a nation. Because the government is the only institution which represents the interests of all citizens, socialists insist that it own or control a considerable proportion of the nation's productive assets. In this way the strong can be prevented from exploiting the weak, and the talented can be forced to share some of their wealth with those less fortunate.
There are 2 main forms of socialism.

1. Command Socialism: Under a Command Socialist system, the government owns and control virtually the entire economy. Command Socialist systems tend to be dictatorships rather than democracies. Example include the former U.S.S.R. and North Korea.

2. Market Socialism: Under a Market Socialism system, government-owned companies are forced to operate on a profit-making basis, to encourage competition and efficiency in the economy. Market Socialist systems tend to be democracies. Example include France, Sweeden, Holland, and Israel.

Mixed Economy: A system in which there are elements of both capitalism and socialism. Most of the wealthy nations of the world today have mixed economies.

Neoclassical Economics:
The neoclassical theory of economics asserts that a free market economy can operate perfectly well without interference form the government. Of its own accord, such a system will minimise inflation and unemployment, and maximise producer profits and economic strenght. All a government need concern itself with is law and order, defence, and the enforcement of contracts.

Keynesian Theory of Economics:
The Keynesian theory of economics asserts that some government control of the economy is essential in order to reduce unemployment, inflation, inequality, and increase economic growth. Such intervention takes the form of monetary policy (control of interest rates), fiscal policy (changing government spending and taxation), prices and incomes policy (controling price and wage level), and industry policy (regulating business activity).