The Influence of Political Ideas on the New Thoughts Developed - Essay Example

?Undecided INTRODUCTION Historians, on the basis of traditional political events, have been able to identify a linkage between these transitions in relation to economic growth components, technological advancements, climate changes, market conditions, demographic expansions and sociological developments (Foucault, “The Archaeology of Knowledge”). One such transition, which marked a different era in the world politics, was the notion of democracy and freedom, in contrast to the previously followed autocracy. Undoubtedly, history “works only one way” and it shall not be counterfactual to state that traditional political ideas are the roots to unconventional political regimes and thoughts amended today for the benefit of the nation at large. Evidently, strong linkages can be observed between four of the much idolized political documents where the idea of the previous show a certain degree of influence on the current political doctrines being followed. These four documents involve, Barack Obama’s Second Inaugural, Robert Kaplan’s “Was Democracy Just a Moment?”, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Third Inaugural, commonly referred as “The Four Freedoms”. THESIS STATEMENT In this thesis, similarities between the ideas presented in the above mentioned four political documents will be discussed. Similarities in this context will signify the influence of previously executed political ideas on the new thoughts developed, which in turn would imply the above stated notion that historic events, even in the doctrine of politics, tend to be interlinked through their unique ideologies. To be precise, the discussion henceforth will emphasize assessing the ways one political event influenced the following political ideas and thus, contributed to national well-being in different eras and different situations. DISCUSSION The “Second Inaugural” of 44th US President Mr. Barack Obama took place in the year 2013. The political ideology expressed by the President in his Second Inaugural emphasized on his belief and the historic significance of democracy for America. He thus implies that as a President, possessing the power of the Constitution of the US, his main objective is to seek that the people of in America are bind together irrespective of color, religion and names as they have been for years. The thought here ignites a value of equality within the nation, which can be identified as based on the ideas developed over two centuries before stating that men are to be treated equally with equal rights, opportunities, liberty and happiness. Importance of these thoughts can be found exhibited throughout the political history of America (White House, “Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama”). For instance, dating back to 1941, when the 32nd US president, Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt pronounced the four most vital freedoms that every American must receive in the nation, viz., ‘freedom of speech’(signifying the linguistic and cultural equality of the nation, ‘freedom of worship’ (signifying the religious equality principle in the democracy), ‘freedom from want’ (implying the principle of the nation to make basic life supporting amenities available to every American) and ‘freedom from fear’ (indicating the right of people to safety). Notably, in the 1941 period, America was undergoing substantial political changes where democracy was taking a much stronger and prominent importance against the tyranny suffered by many of the American communities even in the midst of the early and mid 20th century. Thus, by propounding these political ideas, the then US President aim to ignite a feel of equality within the nation, eradicate communalism differences and eventually, give a new direction to the country’s development (AmericanRhetoric, “The Four Freedoms”). . The President of the US, Barack Obama has also mentioned that with the ideologies of equality and democratic power within the country vowed from centuries. However, with gradual changes in the modern economy, alterations are ought to be made in the political dimensions. In this regard, the government of the US has devised new policies as well as regulations with the assistance of new ideas along with technologies, which were certain absent decades ago. From a critical point of view, the article signifies certain rules and regulations, formulated in course of historical developments witnessed in American political climate. Hence, historic conversions can be rationally deemed as playing an effective role in the present context in relation to the formulation of governmental policies and regulations, where strong similarities between the ideologies of 44th US President Mr. Barack Obama and 32nd US President Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt can be observed (White House, “Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama”). Again, the documented political ideologies in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in the year 1948, deciphers considerable similarities with the democracy notions propounded by the President Roosevelt in his political briefing in “The Four Freedoms”. The document provides information in relation to principles to be considered under the preamble by the member countries of the UN. The principles states that people of the member states are to be offered with equal rights and dignity with the intention of developing justice as well as peace on a global context, which can be found as similar to that argued and proposed by President Roosevelt in his Third Inaugural. Maintaining the concordance with American political ideology, which was at that point much stable and had considerable regularity in its performance deciphered, the UN ideology also focused on adhering to the same principles. For instance, the UDHR propagated that the people are to be provided with freedom in relation to speech along with religious belief. Additionally, the rules should be formulated with the aim of intention of protecting the basic rights of the people including life supporting amenities and safety. However, adding to the propositions made by President Roosevelt, the UDHR also focused on the need for developing a cordial relationship amid nations that was vital in the then period (NPS, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”). Accordingly, thoughts presented in the article titled, “Was Democracy Just a Moment?” by NPS in the year 1997, in which Robert D. Kaplan, signified that democracy is important for providing people with equal opportunities and rights so that they are able to obtain adequate independence and rights. Apparently, the influence of political ideologies that were adopted, tested, redefined and readopted by the political climate of various nations like America in 1941 and the UN in 1948 can be noted in this context. However, the political situation in 1997 was much different than it was observed during the 1940s. Continuous criticisms and long run regularity made the political changes almost predictable when concerned the framed ideologies by the involved parties. Hence, it was time to scrutinize the effectiveness of the political ideas brought into effect during this period. Correspondingly, in the article, Robert D. Kaplan argued that with the passage of time, the government, with the aim of developing better political and sociological growth has adopted policies, which led to wars, political instability and internal violence amid people of countries rather than contributing to their well-being as actually inferred in the ideologies (The Atlantic Monthly Group, “Was Democracy Just a Moment?”). Apparently, these viewpoints were also considered in the Second Inaugural of President Obama where the political ideas were not only focused on its national prosperity but also on the internal proximity of America with nations who act with justness and with principle giving freedom the utmost priority. As President Obama versed in his Second Inaugural, “We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom” (White House, “Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama”). CONCLUSION From the above discussion, it can be comprehended that ideas and polices developed from traditional ideologies in relation to the development and growth of countries along with people are identified to be influencing the political system in the present scenario. Presently, the government of countries is identified to be formulating various developmental policies on the basis of past ideologies that proved beneficial for the nation, however, implementing certain changes to it, with the intention of facilitated economic growth and social life. Apparently, the discussion above, presented the fact that the thought process giving shape to the modern day political ideologies have been based on similar principles and ideologies, which in turn advocates the notion that history, indeed “works only one way”. Works Cited AmericanRhetoric. The Four Freedoms. 2001. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge. 1969. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. NPS. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Was Democracy Just a Moment? 1997. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. White House. Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Read More