Political Systems & Environmental Issues

Subject Area

This activity is designed for “The Emergence of The Global Village” unit in the History (HWT 4A1, HWT 4G1) curriculum. It addresses the need for understanding the interrelationship between political and environmental issues.

Learning Outcomes

Teaching, learning and evaluation will focus on the student’s ability to:

• Recognize the need for an organized form of government to solve problems;
  
• Investigate and describe the key concepts of five political systems;
  
• Apply the principles of a political system to achieve certain goals;
  
• Infer the strengths and weaknesses of a range of political systems.
  

Classroom Development

In this activity, you will have to decide whether you are going to have students consider the historical realities of each political system, or the philosophical foundations of the system. Often practice and policy differ widely. For example, Marx’s communism differs widely from Stalin’s. Students should understand clearly which version you intend them to look at. It might be useful to repeat this activity twice; addressing both the theoretical and practical manifestations of the political systems.
Have students complete the sheets: “Solving Human Problems” and “Political Systems and Environmental Issues” drawing on the “Political Ideologies” sheets to augment their own research.
Ensure that students are aware that their consideration of these political systems are tainted. Ask students to consider the concept that we may all be subject to continual attempts by government and media to indoctrinate us into believing that our system is the best. If students object to this assessment, ask them to support their belief without reference to what they have been told by members of established authority (politicians, teachers, media representatives).

Timing

Allow 2-3 periods for the completion of this activity.

Resources

“Connections—Political Ideologies.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 1986.
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia. Microsoft Bookshelf on CD-ROM. Delaware: Microsoft 1994.
The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations. Microsoft Bookshelf on CD-ROM. Delaware: Microsoft 1994.
The Canadian Encyclopedia. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988.

Student Activities

Solving Human Problems—Simulation

Scenario
The aircraft on which you were traveling through Asia has just made an emergency landing in the Himalayan Mountains. Although there are no casualties, all the communications systems for the aircraft have been destroyed. However, the maps and charts are intact. There is little hope that rescue is imminent, and it is vital that all passengers band together to establish a practical plan for survival.

1. In your group of five, devise a survival plan. It is important to check out the location, climate, wildlife, vegetation and the distance to the nearest settlement. In the 40 minutes of class time allotted, share ideas, consult the resource centre, and record your survival plan on 1-2 pages.
   
2. Present your survival plan to the class and compare it with others. Decide as a class which group is most likely to survive.
   
3. As a class, discuss the group experience of working together to formulate a survival plan, consider the following:
   • What was the degree of cooperation of group members?
   • Did a natural leader emerge in your group?
   • How was consensus achieved?
   
4. Did your group’s survival plan resemble a government undertaking? Explain your answer.
   
5. Could humans survive together without government? Explain your answer.
   

Role Play
In response to the need for solving human problems many types of political systems have emerged. Among these are the following:

1. Anarchism
   
2. Communism
   
3. Democracy
   
4. Fascism
   
5. Socialism
   

You will be a member of 1 of 5 groups in the class, representing 1 of 5 political systems.
Your group tasks are as follows:

1. Become familiar with your assigned political system by reading, researching and recording information based on these five headings (See accompanying information sheets for each group.).
   
2. Answer the following questions. In your assigned political system:
   • Will individuals be allowed to own private property, or will everything be shared equally?
   • What key rules, if any, should there be? (See #3 below)
   • Who will make these rules?
   • How will rules be enforced and by whom?
   • How will those who disagree be handled?
   
3. The time is present-day Canada (1990s). For your assigned political system, set up a program which responds to the following environmental issues in your country (Canada):
   • Population policy: Expansion? Control? Immigration?
   • Land use: urban versus rural use?
   • Pollution: acid rain; ozone depletion, pesticides, loss of top soil, noise pollution, and others;
   • Energy: oil, hydroelectricity, micro-hydro, biomass, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, passive and active solar, and others;
   • Urban concerns: transit, waste disposal/control, financing public amenities (parks, sports facilities).
   Assigned Task Research
   Over the centuries, people have struggled to implement their own political systems. Wars have been fought in their name and many have died for them.
   As a group, discuss and develop one position paper for each of the five environmental issues. Each group member will be responsible for presenting a position paper. Include key features of your policies, and note the process which resulted in your group’s conclusions.

Political Ideologies: Anarchism

Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are nonexistent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only through man's subordination. Anarchism is therefore the teacher of the unity of life; not merely in nature, but in man.
Emma Goldman
In Europe, in the 19th century, anarchism was one of the leading political philosophies to develop. The word anarchism derives from the Greek term meaning “without government”. The chief tenet of anarchism was that government should be abolished, “arguing that people, although naturally good, are corrupted by artificial institutions.” Also part of anarchism was the concept that the people should be allowed to live in free associations, sharing work and its products. In Canada, the Doukhobours represent the strongest expression of Anarchism.
Leading Advocates:
William Godwin (1765-1836) England
Pierre J. Proudhon (1809-1865) France
Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) Russia
Emma Goldman (1869-1940) U.S.A.
George Woodcock (1912 -) Canada
References
Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 1, p. 371.
The Canadian Encyclopedia, Volume 1, p. 72; Volume 4, pp. 2331-2332.
The Columbia Encyclopedia, CD-ROM.

Political Ideologies: Communism

Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objectives of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objectives of freedom movements.
Nelson Mandela (b. 1918)
Communism is the term used to describe any theory that advocates the abolition of private property. Throughout history there have been communist societies and groups where goods were held in common. Many religious orders can be said to be living communistic lifestyles.
Since the mid-19th century, the word communism has also been used to refer to revolutionary socialism as described by Karl Marx; often referred to as big ‘C’ communism. By the 1980s, more than 20 countries were being governed by political systems that claimed to be Communist. In this sense, Communism describes a political system that opposes Capitalism.
Although Communist governments differ, they share certain characteristics. Most government follow some version of the Soviet model rather than a pure communist or Marxist model. These governments tend to be authoritarian, and the party in power is normally the only political organization allowed.
Communist governments usually control “the means of production” (industry, agriculture, business) in the name of the “workers.” Private ownership for profit is sometimes prohibited or discouraged. The government establishes comprehensive plans for economic development. Countries like China have freemarket systems, but the majority of commerce is influenced by a central “planned economy” as opposed to our “market economy.”
Leading Advocates
Karl Marx (1818—1883) Germany
Vladimir Lenin (1870—1924) Russia
Leon Trotsky (1879—1940) Russia
Norman Bethune (1890-1939) Canada
Josip Broz Tito (1892—1980) Yugoslavia
Mao Tse-tung (1893—1976) China
Fidel Castro (1926—) Cuba
Reference
Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 3, p. 496.
The Canadian Encyclopedia, Volume 1, pp. 221, 475.
Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, CD-rom.

Political Ideologies: Democracy

The more I see of democracy the more I dislike it. It just brings everything down to the mere vulgar level of wages and prices, electric light and water closets, and nothing else.
D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)
The word democracy comes from two Greek words demos, meaning “the people” and kratos, meaning “authority” or “rule.” Democracy means literally “the rule of the people.” Any government, therefore, in which the people have supreme power is a democracy.
By the 19th century, most of the European and North American societies were swept by democratic movements, or “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Though anarchism, socialism and communism all claim to be democratic, only systems which allow for multiple parties, support a relatively free-market economy, and allow free association of its populace are generally referred to as democracies by the industrialized nations.
The Iroquois League of Nations functioned as a democratic government for hundreds of years, and their model formed the foundation of the U.S. Constitution.
Leading Advocates
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Irish-born British politician and writer.
Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826) United States
Jeremy Bentham (1748—1832) England
John Stuart Mill (1806—1873) England
Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919—) Canada
References
Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 4, p. 4.
The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, CD-ROM.

Political Ideologies: Fascism

I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it would choose the American system.
Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
The word fascism was first used by Benito Mussolini in Italy to describe the form of government he brought to that nation in the 1920s.
The name is derived from the Latin fasces, a symbol of authority in ancient Rome. The fasces was a bundle of elm or birch rods strapped together around an axe, and it represented the unbreakable power of the state. Benito Mussolini adopted this symbol as the emblem of the Italian Fascist Movement in 1919.
Fascism holds to the notion that the state is supreme over the individual. It is, therefore, the responsibility of all individuals to work together for the betterment of the state.
Generally, the term fascism is applied to any ethno-nationalist totalitarian movement or government. Fascist movements usually oppose democracy and socialism, and are usually racist, homophobic and anti-women. Similar governments have appeared in the histories of Italy, Germany, Spain, Argentina.
Fascist movements were active in Canada during the second war, and appear to resurfacing in the guise of neo-Nazi skinheads and nationalism.
Fascist Leaders
Benito Mussolini (1883—1945) Italy
Francisco Franco (1892—1975) Spain
Reference
Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 4, p. 691.
The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, CD-ROM.

Political Ideologies: Socialism

Real socialism is inside man. It wasn't born with Marx. It was in the communes of Italy in the Middle Ages. You can't say it is finished.
Dario Fo (b. 1926), Italian playwright.
Times (London, 6 April 1992).
Socialism manifests itself relative to other political systems. Canada is often called socialist by the United States, where as we are considered to be capitalists by the Chinese government. Socialism is a political doctrine focusing on the economic order in society and on the differences in people’s circumstances produced by economic factors. It proposes state intervention to lessen inequality in society, with social and economic planning as the key. This is usually called a redistributive economic policy.
Socialism places emphasis on the community rather than on the individual; however, the goal is to see that the needs of the individual are met. A socialist today would believe in the active involvement of the state to ensure an equitable society—one in which the major means of production, distribution and supply managed for the betterment of the people that make up a society rather than an economic elite.

Leading Advocates
Compte de Saint-Simon (1760—1825) France
Francois Fourier (1772—1837) France
Robert Owen (1771—1858) Britain
Karl Marx (1818—1883) Germany
Eugene V. Debs (1855—1926) United States
Tommy Douglas (1904—1986) Canada
Reference
The Canadian Encyclopedia, Volume III, p. 1725.