State capitalism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of state under communism. In Russia after the revolution of 1917, what developed was not communism but the assumption of the powers and functions of capitalism by the state. In an amended version (as ‘state monopoly capitalism’ or ‘stamocap’), it is argued that in western capitalist society state and capitalism have joined in alliance to create a

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State of nature

Theory frequently employed in conjunction with that of a social contract. Before the formation of society or of states, people lived in a state of nature which has been variously characterized as utopian or brutal. Government is then a damaging limitation of primal innocence, or a necessary check on original depravity. Source: David Miller et

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Subsidiarity (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of allocation of public or governmental functions associated with the European Union. Tasks should never be allocated to a body higher up in a political hierarchy if they can be effectively carried out by a body lower down. Political theory Alexis de Tocqueville’s classic study, Democracy in America, may be viewed as an examination

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Systems theory (20TH CENTURY)

Also termed ‘systems analysis’. Theory of politics and government as a system associated with American political scientist David Easton (1917- ). Government and politics constitute a system of inputs and outputs, with ‘gatekeepers’ who filter demands upon the system in order to avoid overload. Systems analysis like structural functionalism is contrasted with conflict theory. Source: Geoffrey Roberts and Alistair

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Three worlds theory (20TH CENTURY)

With the end of conventional European imperialism, there were three groups of states, or three worlds; the industrial, developed, capitalist world; the socialist world of Eastern Europe and China; and the third world of newly liberated and underdeveloped states. The theory, which with the abdication of communist despotisms in Eastern Europe became out of

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Toryism

Theory of paternalist conservatism. Societies are characterized both by traditional values and institutions; and by division into a skilled and perceptive minority, and a less capable and less wise majority. It is the responsibility of the minority to further the interests of both tradition and the masses. Source: S H Beer, Modern British Politics (London, 1965) History Royalist supporters,

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Totalitarianism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of despotic government. Totalitarian regimes are characterized by an ambition for permanence; attempted total control over all aspects of the lives of their subjects; concentration of power in a single leader; and use of mass propaganda and public ritual. The theory of totalitarianism attempts to generalize from the characteristics of the German Nazi and Soviet

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Total war (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of modern war. Total mobilization of economies and populations for war is a unique feature of the modern world and of the 19th and 20th centuries. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey Newnham, The Dictionary of World Politics (Hemel Hempstead, 1990) Shogun: Total War Main article: Shogun: Total War Released in June 2000, Shogun: Total War is

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Tradition

A central element in the political theory of conservatism. Societies and constitutions are ordered by slowly established and time-tested values and institutions, rather than by rational schemes or plans. The task of government is to cultivate and work with these traditions, amending them where necessary, rather than to devise Utopian blueprints. Source: David Miller et

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Tragedy of the commons (20TH CENTURY)

An illustration of game theory. The tragedy of the commons is an illustration of how the rational pursuit of individual advantage appears to lead to solutions which are in the best interests of neither individuals nor the community as a whole. A group of peasants is assumed to have grazing rights, but if each peasant puts

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Trahison des clercs (1927- )

Term originally used by the French philosopher and novelist JULIEN BENDA (1867-1956) to describe the betrayal of intellectual values by the right wing. More generally, intellectuals by allying themselves too closely with government, states, or political parties betray the independence which is essential if they are to contribute to public discussion. Source: Roger Scruton,

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Trotskyism (20TH CENTURY)

Views originally developed by Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879-1940). Revolution, once begun, must continue until workers’ power is established worldwide, permanent revolution is thus preferred to socialism in one country. Source: David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Poltical Thought (Oxford, 1987) Definition The leaders of the Trotskyist Left Opposition in Moscow, 1927 (sitting: Leonid Serebryakov, Karl Radek, Leon Trotsky, Mikhail Boguslavsky and Yevgeni Preobrazhensky;

Tyranny of the majority (19TH CENTURY)

Reservation about democracy expressed by French historian Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59). An avoidable danger of democracy was a tyranny of majority opinion which would suppress the drive to individual judgment inherent in democratic theories. The term has also been used (as it was not by de Tocqueville) to suggest that democratic states would use coercive and

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Unilateralism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of (nuclear) disarmament. The competition between nuclear states can be broken by one side reducing or disposing of its nuclear weapons, thus removing the threat which had induced the other side to arm in the first place. Also see: multilateralism Source: David Robertson, The Penguin Dictionary of Politics (London, 1986) Unilateralism is any doctrine or

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Utopianism

Label usually applied in a hostile sense to those who advocate – or are wildly optimistic in thinking they can achieve – a state of affairs perfect in some or all respects. One charge is that the excessive and unrealistic pursuit of some good can lead to gross neglect of other goods and even

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Vanguard party (20TH CENTURY)

Originally a theory justifying Communist Party leadership in tsarist Russia. Because the working class (allegedly) suffer from false consciousness, it was argued by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924) that the Communist Party should take the lead in mobilizing industrial workers and organizing them into a revolutionary body, rather than waiting for workers to arrive themselves at revolutionary opinions.

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Veil of ignorance (1971)

Element in the theory of justice of American political theorist John Rawls (1921-2002). Conditions for just social life can be sketched if people are imagined in an ‘original position’ where they decide upon social rules whilst behind a ‘veil of ignorance’ which prevents their knowing anything about their own situation in the hypothesized society. Source: David

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Virtual representation (18TH CENTURY)

Justification of pre-democratic politics. People are represented, even though they do not choose their representatives, if those representatives have concern themselves with their interests. Thus voting is unnecessary since those who wield power (or choose those who do) ‘virtually represent’ the disenfranchized be they the poor, or women, or non-whites. Source: A H Birch, Representative

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Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Born on May 4, 1870 this son of a Russian nobleman was to have a profound effect on the future of Russia and, indeed, the world. His father had been the son of a serf who had risen to post of inspector of schools in Simbirsk. While his mother was the daughter of land

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Welfarism (20TH CENTURY)

A pejorative term indicating preference for collective social services. The social provision of goods and services is to be preferred to their purchase or procurement by individual effort and choice. The ‘theory’ is a construct of those who use the term critically, and does not occur in the arguments of those to whom it

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