Canadian Political Parties
According to the Liberal Political Party of Canada, it believes in the fact that “the dignity of each individual person is the cardinal principle of democratic society and the primary purpose of all political organization and activity in such a society.” It also believes that “LPP subscribes to the fundamental rights and freedoms of persons under the rule of law and commits itself to the protection of these essential values and their constant adaptation to the changing needs of modern Canadian society.” From the following statements, the claims to be analyzed will be the role of an individual and society and the role of government. In line with to the New Democratic Party of Canada, it believes in the fact that “they must work together for peace, international co-operation, and the common good of all the…. ” Additionally, NDP believes that the ” role of the government…is to have the power to address all the limitations the market and in addressing the common good by having the power to act in the public interest for social and economic justice, and for the integrity of the environment.” From the following statement, the emerging themes are the society and individuals and the role of the government.
The Liberal Political Party of Canada believes in the fact that for a democratic society to exist, it must be founded on every individual person’s dignity. Additionally, this dignity is also the foundational element of all political organizations and activities within a particular society. The NDP party believes that it must ensure that the nature of all its undertakings aims at fostering a common good for all people. Basing on these statements, the liberalism ideology would be that “Nature realizes itself within each individual and each individual has a direct access to reason. Individuals are therefore naturally self-sufficient. This entails that society comes second after the individual, even if its existence is also natural. Society is natural but it comes second in terms of importance. The rational individual always comes first. ” From this ideology, it is an indication that the individual is greater than any society. Without the individuals, the society would not exist. Margaret Thatcher is also quoted as stating that the Society in itself does not exist for it is the sum total of all individuals. The socialism ideological perspectives on this claim by Liberals states that they do not believe an individual is a self-sufficient entity and thus they do not believe that an individual is greater than the society. The socialism ideology states that “No man is an island” for they need each other to survive in a society. Therefore, they agree that all human beings are individuals but they add that individuals are inherently social beings. This means that it is impossible to separate the individual from society since individuals naturally live amongst.
Conferring to LPP, the role of the government is to support the fundamental rights and freedoms of persons while NDP believes that the role of the government is to act in the public interest for social and economic justice, and for the integrity of the environment. In relation to the liberalism ideology “The main function of the State in liberal thought is to protect private property which is a right that conditions all other rights.” This right will see the state having humanitarian functions that call for it to ensure it monitors moral, health and educational standards bringing about a public order that supports commerce and trade to flourish leading to the development of a modern state. This ideology is more supportive to the NDP principle than the LPP. The conservatism ideology believes in the fact that “In addition to being skeptical of reason, conservatives are also skeptical of freedom. Freedom itself is suspicious and necessarily limited by the demands and the needs of the established order. Freedom is legitimate only if it entails the submission of the individual to the pre-existing order. In other words, in conservative thought, freedom is reduced to the act of submitting oneself to tradition and to existing institutions. This ideology does not in any way reflect LPP nor NDP principles.
As claimed by the Liberal Political party of Canada, it believes in the fact no society can exist without individuals. This idea is supported by the liberalism ideology which states that society will always come second after an individual and thus, without the people, the society is non-existent. Nonetheless, the socialism ideology does not support the LPP principle about an individual and society, for it believes that the society and individual are inseparable and none is more important than the other. The NDP statement indicates that it works at fostering a common good for all indicating that it is more reliant on the socialist ideology which states that the society and individual are inseparable. This is through its statement that states it aims at fostering a common good for all” which translates to equal opportunities in society. This is achieved through working together to foster peace and international cooperation.
In relation to the claims by the LPP and NDP, they believe in the fact that there is the existence of an individual and society. The affiliation between the society and an individual is very close in accordance with the two ideological views using the party’s claims. In accordance to the definition of what a society entails, it must have various ground rules, customs and regularities that will govern any type of anti-human behavior and these governing platforms form a foundation upon which human interactions exist (Hossain and Ali, 2014). Basing on the liberal perspective, an individual is what forms the society and the socialism believes that an individual and society are inseparable. Despite there being a thin blue line on the relationship between the two entities basing on the liberalism ideology, it is still evident that without the individuals, the society cannot exist. Additionally, according to socialism, despite the two being inseparable, the emerging factor is that none will exist without the other. The individual acts and lives within a society. Nonetheless, despite a mixture of all the people’s efforts, the society is nothing. All people have psychologically and biologically equipped to live in groupings which form the society thus making it a vital element towards the overall survival of human being (Hossain and Ali, 2014). An individual is a social being by necessity and nature. Out of all the needs whether physical, mental or social, man must live in a society and cooperate with his fellow beings. Without an existence of the society, it is an indication that man will not be able to fly meet the self-actualization, love, social recognition and psychological safety needs (McGuire,2010). From this analysis, it is an indication that the two principal statements all agree on the fact that there is the existence of an individual and society as seen from the liberalism and socialism ideological claims.
Nonetheless, according to the LPP and NDP principals, they differ in the relationship that exists between an individual and society. LPP believes in the fact that it is the individual is what forms a society. NDP believes that it is a common good for all that is important indicating that the individual and society are one. For common good to be achieved, the society and individuals must have equality existing between the two entities. Conferring with these two claims using the socialism ideology, an individual does not come before the society as claimed by the liberalism ideology which supports the LPP principle statement. The socialists which are what supports the NDP principle believes that it is not easy for one to separate the individual from society for they live together with others. The main reason for this is that an individual is regarded as being a social animal indicating that sociability is his natural instinct (Hossain and Ali, 2014). Therefore, an individual can only live in society and the society, in turn, offers a foundation for the development of individual qualities such as an ability to work, play, learn language enquire and even think all which are developed through interactions with others (Hossain and Ali, 2014). It shows that an individual cannot live in complete isolation. All the needs and necessities, therefore, compel an individual to live in a society which in turn helps to provide him/her with a framework for meeting those needs.
Conforming to the role of state principles, it is evident that both claims support the idea that the government is responsible for all its citizens overall well-being. As seen from the case of LPP, it fulfills this by protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons. In the case of NDP, the state aims to ensure that it uses its power to “act in the public interest for social and economic justice, and for the integrity of the environment.” These principles are supported by the conservatism and liberalism ideologies, they believe that the role of the government should be to benefit the people.
However, the two ideologies differ on how the government should benefit the people. As stated by the liberalism ideology, the government should first focus on property rights which form the foundation for all other rights. This will allow it to create an equal opportunity and equality for all its people. Additionally, based on the LPP principle, the government achieve this by adhering to the fundamental civil liberties, human and individual rights. However, in accordance with conservatism ideology, it does not go in line with the LPP principle. The main reason for this is that the ideology mostly focuses on pushing for free markets, a limited government intervention, a strong national defense, traditional values and believing in personal responsibility. The overall aim of the government according to this ideology is to empower the people to solve the various problems they are bound to encounter. This ideology goes in line with the NDP’s principle that aims at “having the power to address all the limitations the market and in addressing the common good by having the power to act in the public interest for social and economic justice, and for the integrity of the environment.” This is achieved by maintaining peace and stability in a society that lays down a foundation for realizing the most perfect order. In the long run, this will allow the people to grow and lead a truly fulfilled life.
According to the claims on individuals and society basing on the NDP and LPP parties of Canada, it is evident that using the two ideologies, there is a relationship in terms of similarities and differences. The main similarity as seen from the liberalism and socialism ideology is that the two must exist. A society cannot exist without individuals and correspondingly, a society has a direct relationship with individuals. The main reason for this similarity is that people must live in groups and adhere to various rules that form a foundation for the existence of a society. More importantly, the society is the sole provider of all human needs. Nonetheless, the main difference between the two ideologies results from the co-existence nature of the individuals and society. Conforming to liberalism, it believes in the fact that it is the human dignity that forms a society. Therefore, a society is non-existent without people. The main reason for this belief is that the people must first live together so as to form a society. This is later governed by rules and regulations that all people with it must observe. Nonetheless, according to socialist ideology, the society and individuals have a co-existent relationship. Without a society, the individuals cannot exist. The main reason for such beliefs is that the society forms a foundation upon which all the five basic needs according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs are met. Additionally, without the human beings, the society will not exist for people, and will not have an ability to live if their need is not being met. Furthermore, the LPP and NDP principles believe that the government is responsible for the well-being of its citizens. However, the liberalism ideology believes that it is the duty of the state to ensure it does not have negative influences on the freedoms of its people. Additionally, it should push for humanitarian efforts that will form a foundation for trade and commerce. This ideology is relevant to LPP’s principle which fuses on fundamental freedoms and human rights. Additionally, it also reflects on NDP’s principle in relation to pushing for economic justice. Still, the conservatism ideology calls for limiting the freedom which is the core element in LPP’s principle. However, it calls for opening up of free markets that goes in line with NDP’s principle on economic justice despite not meeting the social justice facet.
