Social Studies 30-1 cheat sheet

An ideology is a system of ideas and ideals that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy; it explains and justifies a preferred social order.

Four components of any ideology: a view of human nature, an interpretation of history, a vision of the ideal future, and a position on the individual versus the collective.

Individualism values personal autonomy, self-interest, and personal responsibility; collectivism values the group (class, nation, community) and accepts limits on personal freedom for shared goals.

The Enlightenment (18th century) promoted reason, science, and natural rights over tradition and religious authority, and provided the intellectual base of classical liberalism.

Core thinkers: Hobbes (order needs strong authority), Locke (natural rights to life, liberty, property), Rousseau (popular sovereignty and the general will), Montesquieu (separation of powers), Adam Smith (invisible hand), Mill (harm principle), Marx (class conflict).

Identity is shaped by culture, religion, language, gender, environment, media, technology, and economic conditions, and these factors also shape which ideology a person adopts.

Liberal revolutions shifted political identity from 'subject' of a monarch to 'citizen' holding rights and consenting to be governed.

Ideological spectrum: radical, liberal, moderate, conservative, reactionary, defined mainly by willingness to change or preserve the existing order.

Classical liberalism favoured minimal government and free markets; modern liberalism accepted state intervention (welfare, public health) to address inequality produced by industrial capitalism.

Ancien Régime France combined absolute monarchy, a society of three estates, and tax exemptions for nobility and clergy; liberal ideas were suppressed until the Revolution of 1789.

Absolutist rulers claimed the divine right of kings, meaning their authority came from God and rebellion was a sin; Louis XIV is the standard example.

The French Revolution itself became illiberal during the Reign of Terror (1793-94), when Robespierre's Committee of Public Safety executed thousands labelled enemies of the revolution.

Conservative resistance to rapid liberal change: Edmund Burke defended gradual reform and inherited institutions, while Metternich and the Congress of Vienna (1815) worked to restore monarchy.

Communism rejects private property and market liberalism; the USSR under Lenin and Stalin used central planning, collectivization, purges, censorship, and single-party rule.

Fascism and Nazism reject liberalism completely: ultranationalism, one-party state, propaganda, secret police, scapegoating of minorities, and militarism (Italy 1922, Germany 1933).

Fascist leaders exploited crisis: defeat in WWI, hyperinflation, and the Great Depression undermined the Weimar Republic and helped Hitler gain power legally in 1933.

Contemporary resistance to liberalism includes religious extremism, terrorism, theocracy, and some nationalist movements that reject secular law and pluralism.

A common feature of illiberal resistance is that the collective (nation, class, race) is valued above the individual, and dissent is treated as disloyalty.

Core liberal principles: individual rights and freedoms, rule of law, private property, economic freedom, equality of opportunity, limited government, and popular sovereignty.

Locke's natural rights are life, liberty, and property; government exists to protect them, and people may resist a government that violates them.

Classical liberalism: laissez-faire economics, free markets, minimal state intervention, and self-interest channelled by competition (Adam Smith's invisible hand).

Modern liberalism: state intervention to reduce inequality, including Keynesian spending, welfare programs, public health care, and progressive taxation.

Mill's harm principle: individuals should be free to act as they choose unless their actions harm others, which is the main justification for limiting freedom.

Rule of law requires that laws be publicly known, applied equally to everyone including rulers, and enforced through fair procedures.

Key constitutional documents: Magna Carta (1215), English Bill of Rights (1689), US Declaration of Independence (1776) and Bill of Rights, French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789).

Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) entrenches rights; section 1 permits reasonable limits, and section 33 (notwithstanding clause) allows a temporary legislative override of certain rights.

Recurring tension: individual freedom versus collective security or the common good, seen in debates over taxation, mandatory vaccination, and surveillance.

Citizenship has three dimensions: legal (status and rights), political (participation and voting), and social (access to services and a decent standard of living).

Rights carry responsibilities: obeying laws, paying taxes, jury duty, voting, and respecting the rights of others.

Liberal-democratic citizenship expects active, pluralistic participation under the rule of law; authoritarian citizenship demands obedience and loyalty to the state.

Forms of participation include voting, party membership, volunteering, joining interest groups, lobbying, petitions, protest, and civil disobedience.

Civil disobedience is nonviolent, public, aimed at an unjust law, and accepts legal consequences; it seeks to change the law rather than escape it.

Ideology shapes policy: governments leaning left expand social programs and regulation, while governments leaning right emphasize markets, lower taxes, and privatization.

Canadian citizenship policy includes official multiculturalism (1971 policy; 1988 Multiculturalism Act), official bilingualism, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Globalization increases economic and cultural interconnection, raising debates about global citizenship, state sovereignty, and obligations beyond national borders.

Low voter turnout, declining party membership, and weak public debate are common indicators of political apathy in established democracies.