Direct action

Theory of politics derived from anarchism. Rather than accept the delays of representative politics, people with objectives or grievances in common should act directly to achieve their aims, either by demonstration or by such means as sit-ins, occupations, or the take-over of industrial premises. Source: April Carter, Direct Action and Liberal Democracy (London, 1973) History

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Direct democracy

Theory of direct self-government. Democracy is rule by all the people, and thus requires direct participation in the making of decisions and the passing of laws. Such a form of government is only possible in small communities such as the city states of classical Greece, though it is aspired to in the arguments of Swiss

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Directed democracy (20TH CENTURY)

In states which are formally democratic, but where an elite or oligarchy governs in practice, democracy is claimed to exist because it is ‘directed’ or ‘guided’ rather than superseded. The term (which was sometimes applied to the Soviet Union) combines euphemism and criticism and is now used only ironically. Source: Roger Scruton, A Dictionary

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Divine right

Doctrine of royal authority reintroduced by AUGUSTUS (63 BC-AD 14) and stemming from the dual role of Roman emperors as both gods and rulers. Kings derive their power from God. Their authority is thus unlimited except by divine law itself, and subjects are obliged to obey as they are obliged to obey God himself.

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Dominant ideology

Marxist account of control through ideas. In any society the dominant ideas are those of the dominant class. In capitalist societies, dominant ideology is thus a powerful means of maintaining the system. Also see: androcentrism Source: Nicholas Abercrombie, Stephen Hill and Bryan S Turner, The Dominant Ideology Thesis (London, 1980) Marxism Social control exercised and

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Domino theory (20TH CENTURY)

American theory, during the Cold War, of defence against Soviet influence. Nations over which the USA and the Soviet Union competed for influence were like a line of dominoes, and if one fell to communism, a process would be started which would ‘lose’ all of them. Source: Graham Evan and Jeffrey Newnham, The Dictionary of

Doomsday theory (20TH CENTURY)

Extension of the theory of mutually assured destruction. If a nation possessed a Doomsday machine, or system of nuclear weapons so formidable that any attack on it would lead to total global destruction, aggressors would be deterred. Source: David Robertson, The Penguin Dictionary of Politics (London, 1986) Doomsday is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics,

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Double consciousness (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of consciousness. In a patriachal society women have two consciousnesses: one as members of a male dominated system, one as women oppressed by it. The theory has many precedents, amongst them the Christian injunction to be ‘in the world but not of it’. Source: Maggie Humm, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory (London, 1989)

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Dual state theory (20TH CENTURY)

Explanation of apparent ambivalence in actions of capitalist states. Those areas of the state’s work which are not important to the interests of capital are relatively open to democratic and public pressures; others which more closely touch the interests of capital are ‘insulated’. Source: Henry Drucker et al., eds, Developments in British Politics 2 (London, 1986) In psychology,

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Economic determinism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of historical and political events and structures. Political or historical developments are determined by the underlying economic system, or by the distribution of power over economic resources. The most familiar theory to which this term is applied is Marxism, though it is applied by critics (rather than claimed by supporters) who deny that the relationship between

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Eduard Bernstein

Eduard Bernstein was born in Berlin, Germany on 6th January, 1850. The son of Jewish parents, his father was a railroad engineer. Bernstein worked as a bank clerk and in 1872 he joined the Social Democrat Party (SDP). In the 1877 General Election in Germany the SDP won 12 seats. This worried Otto von

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Egalitarianism (20TH CENTURY)

Principle for guiding treatment of individuals. A preliminary assumption that all people should, in the absence of good reason to the contrary, be treated equally. Thus the onus is on those who argue that sex should be a disqualification to a career, or that poverty should be a barrier to the provision of education,

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Electoral competition (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of party behavior in democracies. Political parties compete for votes, and their policies and conduct are explained by this more than by any other single factor. In so doing they frequently raise the expectations of voters and the expenses to which governments are then committed. Source: Patrick Dunleavy et al., eds, Developments in

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Elitism

Explanatory and normative theory of politics, originated by Italian social scientists Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1933) and GAETANO MOSCA (1858-1941). Power and initiative have always been and will always be exercised by a cohesive minority who are marked off from the mass of the population by some particular skill, or quality, or insight. One version of the theory does

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Embourgeoisement (20TH CENTURY)

Alternative to theory of immiseration. Members of the working class under capitalism, far from becoming worse off and increasingly discontented, have become ‘seduced’ by bourgeois values. They are second class members of the system it is in their interests to overthrow. Embourgeoisement is the theory that posits the migration of individuals into the bourgeoisie as a result of their own

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Encroaching control (1920)

  Theory of workers’ control, developed by British socialist, historian and political scientist George Douglas Howard Cole (1889-1959). Workers’ control of industry is to be achieved by a slow extension of power from the bottom up, until the overall balance of power within an industry, factory, or firm tips decisively in favor of the workers within it. Source: Theory of workers’

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End of ideology (20TH CENTURY)

Anglo-American liberal conservative theory of the 1950s and 1960s. Ideology as a complete explanation of everything, and a blueprint for a Utopian society, had been a delusion which had none the less justified tyranny in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. But ideology had come to an end, and the future, at least in the Western capitalist

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Equal freedom (19TH CENTURY)

Account of freedom given by the English social theorist HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903). All people have a right to freedom up to the point at which they infringe upon the equal right of others. Source: D Wiltshire, The Social and Political Thought of Herbert Spencer (Oxford, 1978) Arts and entertainment Equals (film), a 2015 American science

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Equality of states doctrine (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of the equality in law of all sovereign states. The principle is clearer than is the descriptive accuracy. But belief in the principle itself can become a factor in international relations if expressed through institutions such as the United Nations. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey Newnham, The Dictionary of World Politics (Hemel Hempstead,

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Equilibrium theory

Optimistic and consensual view of politics. Societies achieve stability through an equilibrium of competing but not conflicting forces, and social structures have a natural tendency to move towards such balance. Source: Roger Scruton, A Dictionary of Political Thought (London, 1982) Overview Broadly speaking, general equilibrium tries to give an understanding of the whole economy

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