POLITICS SUMMARY
Andrew Heywood
Abstract
Dit is een samenvatting en vertaling van hoofdstuk 5, 6, 7 en 8 van het boek Politics van Andrew
Heywood. Deze is het beste te gebruiken als voorbereiding op tentamens in combinatie met de
hoorcolleges. Niet alle terminologie in de samenvatting komt exact overeen met die van het
hoorcollege.
© Copyright 2023, Jim Roest. Alle rechten voorbehouden.
, Table of contents
Politi cs – Andrew Heywood
Chapter 5................................................................................................................................................3
Traditional systems of regime classification.......................................................................................3
Why classify political regimes?.......................................................................................................3
Classical typologies.........................................................................................................................3
The typology of the 'three worlds'..................................................................................................4
Modern systems of political governance............................................................................................5
Western liberal democracies..........................................................................................................6
Illiberal democracies.......................................................................................................................7
East Asian regimes..........................................................................................................................7
Islamic regimes...............................................................................................................................8
Military regimes..............................................................................................................................8
Chapter 6..............................................................................................................................................10
What is a nation?..............................................................................................................................11
Nations and cultural communities................................................................................................11
Nations and political communities...............................................................................................11
Variations of nationalism..................................................................................................................12
Liberal nationalism.......................................................................................................................12
Conservative nationalism.............................................................................................................13
Expansionist nationalism..............................................................................................................13
Anticolonial and postcolonial nationalism....................................................................................14
The future of nationalism.................................................................................................................14
A world of nation states................................................................................................................14
Beyond nationalism......................................................................................................................15
Chapter 7..............................................................................................................................................15
Political economy.............................................................................................................................16
Approaches to Political Economy.................................................................................................16
Types of Capitalism...........................................................................................................................17
Corporate capitalism....................................................................................................................18
Social capitalism...........................................................................................................................18
State capitalism............................................................................................................................19
Managed or unmanaged capitalism?............................................................................................19
Globalization.....................................................................................................................................20
1
, Understanding globalization.........................................................................................................20
The 2007-09 crisis and its legacy..................................................................................................23
Impact against globalisation.........................................................................................................23
Chapter 8..............................................................................................................................................25
Politics and society...........................................................................................................................25
From industrialization to post-industrialization............................................................................25
Decline in class politics.................................................................................................................26
New technology and the 'information society'.............................................................................27
Is there such a thing as a society?.................................................................................................27
Identity politics.................................................................................................................................28
Rise of identity politics..................................................................................................................28
Race and Ethnicity........................................................................................................................29
Cultural diversity...........................................................................................................................29
Gender and identity......................................................................................................................31
Religion and politics......................................................................................................................33
2
, Chapter 5.
Regimes of the modern world
Traditional systems of regime classification
A 'government' refers to the institutional processes where collective and binding choices are made. A
regime or "political system," on the other hand, is a broader term that encompasses not only the
mechanisms of government and institutions, but also the structures and processes through which it
interacts with the larger society.
Political system: a network of relationships through which the government generates 'outputs'
(policies) in response to 'inputs' (demand or support) from the general public.
Political regimes can also be characterized by the organization of economic life and by the
government processes by which they operate. A regime is therefore a 'system of rule' that continues
where governments come and go. Regimes can only be changed by military intervention from the
outside, or by a revolutionary upheaval from within.
Regime: a set of rules and procedures for government that set out the place of authority and the
nature of policy.
Why classify political regimes?
First, classification is an important tool in understanding politics and government. By highlighting
similarities and differences between what might otherwise be baffling collections of facts,
comparison helps us distinguish between what is significant, what is important, what makes sense,
and what is not.
The second purpose of classification is to facilitate evaluation, rather than analysis. In other words,
descriptive understanding is closely linked to normative judgments: questions about what is are
linked to questions about what should be. In its extreme form, this process may involve a search for
an "ideal" system of dominion.
However, all classification systems have their drawbacks. Firstly, as with all analytical devices, there is
a danger of simplification. The classification of regimes under the same heading draws attention to
the similarities they share, but there is a risk that the differences that divide them will be ignored or
disguised. Comparative analysis is therefore hampered by the continuing danger of ethnocentrism.
Second, values, biases tend to invade the classification process. This can be seen in the tendency to
classify communist and fascist regimes as "totalitarian," implying that Western liberal democracies
fought the same enemy in the Cold War as they did in World War II. Finally, all classification systems
have the disadvantage of necessarily being state-bound: they treat individual countries as coherent or
independent entities in their own right.
Ethnocentrism: the application of values and theories from one's own culture to other groups and
peoples; ethnocentrism implies bias or distortion.
Classical typologies
Who rules?
3
, One person The few The many
Rulers Tyranny Oligarchy Democracy
Who
benefits?
Everyone Monarchy Aristocracy Policy
A RISTOTLE SIX FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
Aristotle's goal was to evaluate forms of government on normative grounds, hoping to identify the
"ideal" government. According to him, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy are all perverse forms of
rule in which, respectively, a single person, a small group or the masses ruled in their own interest
and therefore at the expense of others. In contrast, monarchy, aristocracy, and polis were preferred
because in these forms of government, the individual, the small group, and the masses, respectively,
ruled in the interest of all.
Nevertheless, Aristotle, in a tradition that continued into the twentieth century, criticized the rule of
the people on the grounds that the masses would offend the wealth of the few and too easily fall
under the rule of a demagogue. He therefore advocated a "mixed" constitution that combined
elements of both democracy and aristocracy, and left the government to the "middle classes," those
who were neither rich nor poor.
Demagogue: a political leader whose control over the masses is based on the ability to arouse
hysterical enthusiasm.
Later, Thomas Hobbes and Jean Bodin cited the principle of sovereignty, which was seen as the basis
for all stable political regimes. Hobbes concluded that absolutism was the most defensible regime
because it established a sovereign who makes laws but is not bound by those laws. Sovereignty
would be expressed by a single voice that could lay claim to ultimate authority. Bodin nevertheless
argued that absolute princes were limited by the existence of a higher law in the form of the will of
God or natural law. On the other hand, Hobbes portrayed sovereignty as a monopoly of coercive
power, implying that the sovereign was completely unlimited.
The early liberal Locke argued that sovereignty rested with the people, not the monarch. He
advocated a system of limited government to protect natural rights; especially the rights to life,
liberty and property. Montesquieu, a critic of absolutism and an admirer of the English parliamentary
tradition, proposed a system of checks and balances in the form of a "separation of powers" between
the executive, legislative and judicial institutions. Montesquieu's idea eventually formed the basis of
the constitutional republicanism that was established in the United States as a result of The
American War of Independence.
Republicanism: the principle that political authority ultimately comes from the consent of the people;
the rejection of monarchical and dynastic principles.
The typology of the 'three worlds'
The classification of the three worlds had economic, ideological, political and strategic dimensions.
The industrialized Western regimes were "the first" in economic terms, in the sense that their
populations enjoyed the highest level of mass prosperity. The communist regimes came "second", in
4
Andrew Heywood
Abstract
Dit is een samenvatting en vertaling van hoofdstuk 5, 6, 7 en 8 van het boek Politics van Andrew
Heywood. Deze is het beste te gebruiken als voorbereiding op tentamens in combinatie met de
hoorcolleges. Niet alle terminologie in de samenvatting komt exact overeen met die van het
hoorcollege.
© Copyright 2023, Jim Roest. Alle rechten voorbehouden.
, Table of contents
Politi cs – Andrew Heywood
Chapter 5................................................................................................................................................3
Traditional systems of regime classification.......................................................................................3
Why classify political regimes?.......................................................................................................3
Classical typologies.........................................................................................................................3
The typology of the 'three worlds'..................................................................................................4
Modern systems of political governance............................................................................................5
Western liberal democracies..........................................................................................................6
Illiberal democracies.......................................................................................................................7
East Asian regimes..........................................................................................................................7
Islamic regimes...............................................................................................................................8
Military regimes..............................................................................................................................8
Chapter 6..............................................................................................................................................10
What is a nation?..............................................................................................................................11
Nations and cultural communities................................................................................................11
Nations and political communities...............................................................................................11
Variations of nationalism..................................................................................................................12
Liberal nationalism.......................................................................................................................12
Conservative nationalism.............................................................................................................13
Expansionist nationalism..............................................................................................................13
Anticolonial and postcolonial nationalism....................................................................................14
The future of nationalism.................................................................................................................14
A world of nation states................................................................................................................14
Beyond nationalism......................................................................................................................15
Chapter 7..............................................................................................................................................15
Political economy.............................................................................................................................16
Approaches to Political Economy.................................................................................................16
Types of Capitalism...........................................................................................................................17
Corporate capitalism....................................................................................................................18
Social capitalism...........................................................................................................................18
State capitalism............................................................................................................................19
Managed or unmanaged capitalism?............................................................................................19
Globalization.....................................................................................................................................20
1
, Understanding globalization.........................................................................................................20
The 2007-09 crisis and its legacy..................................................................................................23
Impact against globalisation.........................................................................................................23
Chapter 8..............................................................................................................................................25
Politics and society...........................................................................................................................25
From industrialization to post-industrialization............................................................................25
Decline in class politics.................................................................................................................26
New technology and the 'information society'.............................................................................27
Is there such a thing as a society?.................................................................................................27
Identity politics.................................................................................................................................28
Rise of identity politics..................................................................................................................28
Race and Ethnicity........................................................................................................................29
Cultural diversity...........................................................................................................................29
Gender and identity......................................................................................................................31
Religion and politics......................................................................................................................33
2
, Chapter 5.
Regimes of the modern world
Traditional systems of regime classification
A 'government' refers to the institutional processes where collective and binding choices are made. A
regime or "political system," on the other hand, is a broader term that encompasses not only the
mechanisms of government and institutions, but also the structures and processes through which it
interacts with the larger society.
Political system: a network of relationships through which the government generates 'outputs'
(policies) in response to 'inputs' (demand or support) from the general public.
Political regimes can also be characterized by the organization of economic life and by the
government processes by which they operate. A regime is therefore a 'system of rule' that continues
where governments come and go. Regimes can only be changed by military intervention from the
outside, or by a revolutionary upheaval from within.
Regime: a set of rules and procedures for government that set out the place of authority and the
nature of policy.
Why classify political regimes?
First, classification is an important tool in understanding politics and government. By highlighting
similarities and differences between what might otherwise be baffling collections of facts,
comparison helps us distinguish between what is significant, what is important, what makes sense,
and what is not.
The second purpose of classification is to facilitate evaluation, rather than analysis. In other words,
descriptive understanding is closely linked to normative judgments: questions about what is are
linked to questions about what should be. In its extreme form, this process may involve a search for
an "ideal" system of dominion.
However, all classification systems have their drawbacks. Firstly, as with all analytical devices, there is
a danger of simplification. The classification of regimes under the same heading draws attention to
the similarities they share, but there is a risk that the differences that divide them will be ignored or
disguised. Comparative analysis is therefore hampered by the continuing danger of ethnocentrism.
Second, values, biases tend to invade the classification process. This can be seen in the tendency to
classify communist and fascist regimes as "totalitarian," implying that Western liberal democracies
fought the same enemy in the Cold War as they did in World War II. Finally, all classification systems
have the disadvantage of necessarily being state-bound: they treat individual countries as coherent or
independent entities in their own right.
Ethnocentrism: the application of values and theories from one's own culture to other groups and
peoples; ethnocentrism implies bias or distortion.
Classical typologies
Who rules?
3
, One person The few The many
Rulers Tyranny Oligarchy Democracy
Who
benefits?
Everyone Monarchy Aristocracy Policy
A RISTOTLE SIX FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
Aristotle's goal was to evaluate forms of government on normative grounds, hoping to identify the
"ideal" government. According to him, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy are all perverse forms of
rule in which, respectively, a single person, a small group or the masses ruled in their own interest
and therefore at the expense of others. In contrast, monarchy, aristocracy, and polis were preferred
because in these forms of government, the individual, the small group, and the masses, respectively,
ruled in the interest of all.
Nevertheless, Aristotle, in a tradition that continued into the twentieth century, criticized the rule of
the people on the grounds that the masses would offend the wealth of the few and too easily fall
under the rule of a demagogue. He therefore advocated a "mixed" constitution that combined
elements of both democracy and aristocracy, and left the government to the "middle classes," those
who were neither rich nor poor.
Demagogue: a political leader whose control over the masses is based on the ability to arouse
hysterical enthusiasm.
Later, Thomas Hobbes and Jean Bodin cited the principle of sovereignty, which was seen as the basis
for all stable political regimes. Hobbes concluded that absolutism was the most defensible regime
because it established a sovereign who makes laws but is not bound by those laws. Sovereignty
would be expressed by a single voice that could lay claim to ultimate authority. Bodin nevertheless
argued that absolute princes were limited by the existence of a higher law in the form of the will of
God or natural law. On the other hand, Hobbes portrayed sovereignty as a monopoly of coercive
power, implying that the sovereign was completely unlimited.
The early liberal Locke argued that sovereignty rested with the people, not the monarch. He
advocated a system of limited government to protect natural rights; especially the rights to life,
liberty and property. Montesquieu, a critic of absolutism and an admirer of the English parliamentary
tradition, proposed a system of checks and balances in the form of a "separation of powers" between
the executive, legislative and judicial institutions. Montesquieu's idea eventually formed the basis of
the constitutional republicanism that was established in the United States as a result of The
American War of Independence.
Republicanism: the principle that political authority ultimately comes from the consent of the people;
the rejection of monarchical and dynastic principles.
The typology of the 'three worlds'
The classification of the three worlds had economic, ideological, political and strategic dimensions.
The industrialized Western regimes were "the first" in economic terms, in the sense that their
populations enjoyed the highest level of mass prosperity. The communist regimes came "second", in
4
