INTB 1203 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Totalitarianism, Representative Democracy, Individualism
1 Sep 2016
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Political economy - the political, economic, and legal systems of a country. Political system - the system of government in action. Degree to which they emphasize collectivism as opposed to individualism. Degree to which they are democratic or totalitarian. Systems that emphasize collectivism tend to lean toward totalitarian, whereas those that place a high value on individualism tend to be democratic. Collectivism - political system that stresses primacy of collective goals over individual goals. When it"s emphasized, the needs of a society as a whole are generally viewed as being more important than individual freedoms. Socialists - trace their intellectual roots to karl marx, who argues that the few benefit at the expense of the many in a capitalist society where individual freedoms are not restricted. Marx postulated that wages earned by the majority of workers in a capitalist society would be forced down to subsistence (maintenance at a minimal level) levels.
