Encyclopedia of Economic Systems and Key Terms in Political Theory

     In celebration of this, my 400^th article published to the Aquarian Agrarian blog (in its eight-year history), I have decided to start an encyclopedic dictionary of important political and economic systems and terms.

     I have begun below with the fifty words I felt most important to include first, but I plan to augment this list with readers' suggestions (perhaps stopping at 100). Feel free to comment below with ideas about which terms I should add, and do not hesitate to debate the definitions I have used.

     While the definitions you see here may not match those in the Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam-Webster's, I have provided my own definitions, which are based on and influenced by others' definitions. I have done this in order to provide more precise meanings for the terms contained herein; and I have also included more policy-specific connotations and explanations of each term (as well as associated schools, tendencies, theorists, and philosophers).

     You will not find biographies of the individual people, mentioned under the “see also” terms, in this article. Nor will you find definitions for every single one of the “see also” political terms within this article; you may wish to consult other sources for definitions of terms not defined here.

     I have tried to make the first “see also” terms reflect the most closely associated labels to the term being defined. The last “see also” terms listed, on the other hand, reflect either the least closely associated labels, or an “opposite” with which it is commonly paired, because it is actually somewhat similar to that “opposite”. I did not include any diametric opposites, nor significantly different terms, under “see also”.

     It would be difficult to understand the definitions of some of the terms contained below – especially “socialism” - without first understanding the classical economic definitions of “the means of production” and “the factors of production”.

Means of Production

     The resources and facilities which are used to produce goods. Includes large tools and machine parts and machines, factories and plants, and farms and the soil. Those who lend and rent-out MOP are capitalists and bourgeois; those who borrow and rent MOP are in the proletarian class. Distinct from the factors of production. See also: capital goods.

Factors of Production

     The three classical economic factors of production; land, labor, and capital. Distinct from, but includes, the means of production.

Encyclopedia of Terms

Anarchism

     The absence of an “archon” that is, the absence and abolition of dictatorship, rulership, control, aggression, and hierarchy; and often also exploitation, and exclusionary, exclusive private property ownership. See also: anarchy, anideotism (anti-propertarianism), statelessness.

Anarcho-Communism

     A stateless system in which land is managed in common and owned by no one, in which there are no states, borders, classes, nor money. See also: anarchism, Marxism, pure communism, social anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism.

Anarcho-Syndicalism

     A stateless system which focuses on abolishing private property in the means of production, abolishing the the wage system, and establishing democratic self-management of workers in as many workplaces as possible. See also: autonomism, operaismo.

Anarchy Without Adjectives

     The belief that all schools and tendencies of anarchism should work together against states. See also: Paul Emile de Puydt, Rudolf Rocker, Voltairine deCleyre, Kurt and John Zube, Karl Hess, synthesis anarchism, syncretic anarchism, panarchy / panarchism, polyarchism, personarchy, integral anarchism, and the Alliance of the Libertarian Left.

Autarky

     A closed economic system in which a country tries to be economically and productively independent and self-reliant. Distinct from autarchism. See also: protectionism, corporatism, ultra- nationalism, fascism, dirigism, tyranny, oligarchy.

Authoritarianism

     A political system in which control and order is enforced through obedience of authority figures, usually in a highly structured, hierarchical, and complex chain of command. See also: tyranny, fascism, corporatism, totalitarianism.

Autonomism

     A form of worker organization which focuses on abolishing the the wage system, and establishing democratic self-management of workers in as many workplaces as possible, but which also strongly protects the rights and independence of individuals in the workplace. See also: Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), workerism / operaismo, libertarian socialism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-communism.

Capitalism

     An economic system in which the means of production are owned and operated by private owners, usually on a for-profit basis. Entails the collection of rent, interest, and profit by private owners; and supports minimal restraint upon  private transactions. See also: classical liberalism, corporatism, free market system, libertarianism.

Classical Liberalism 

     A political system in which the powers and authorities of government are limited and diffused, and in which duly delegated powers are shared, and check and balance one another. See also: democratic republic, libertarianism, fusionism.

Collectivism

     The belief that the community, or groups of people, or multiple people, always matter more than the needs or values of any one particular person (or fraction of the community or group). See also: communitarianism, communism, socialism.

Communism

     An economic system in which land (and usually also the means of production) are seen as primarily belonging to “the commons”; to nature and/or to the community. Marx called his book “The Communist Manifesto”, and his philosophy Communism, only at the urging of the Communist League, which commissioned him to write the book. See also: Marxism, libertarian communism, Bookchinism, pure communism.

Conservatism

     The belief that socio-cultural norms and traditions; funds and resources; and/or progress, should be saved and conserved. Can include right-wing traditionalist religious “social conservatives”, but also liberal conservatives and progressive conservatives. See also: nationalism, right-wing populism, free market system.

Corporatism

     A political and economic system in which production, distribution, and/or ownership is mostly performed by corporations. Usually also involves the control of policy and law enforcement by corporations, and promotes a conception of the people into a corporate “body politic” which is synonymous, and at one, with government and state, as well as community, collective, and/or nation. Usually involves the subjugation of competition and cooperation, especially when they interfere with the state, and/or with the dominance of well-established, state-approved firms. Includes left-wing variants such as social corporatism, and right- wing variants such as “crony corporatism” / “crony capitalism”. See also: corporativism, corporative federalism, fascism, and the social contract.

Democracy

     Decision-making, and management of society, by the majority of the people. Includes first-past-the-post simple majority democracy, democratic-republicanism, supermajoritarian democracy, social democracy, progressive democracy, participatory democracy, and many other varieties. See also: neoliberalism, cooperative federalism.

Democratic Centralism

     A system in which a central government controls resources on the basis of majority rule. Lenin imagined that centralization of resources and centralization of decision-making would lead to decentralization of resources and a more equitable allocation thereof. See also: Leninism, Marxism, Soviet communism, council communism, cooperative federalism, democratic republic, mutualism.

Democratic Socialism

     Democratic decision-making and management which pursues socialist aims, often including the centralization of resources which are dominated by monopolies, whether natural or artificial. These usually include banks, farmlands, oil fields and energy plants, and railroads. See also: democratic confederalism, democratic federalism, cooperative federalism, social democracy.

Dirigism

     An economic system in which production and/or distribution are mostly directed by the government or state. See also: command and control economy, fascism, protectionism.

Fascism

     A political system which combines ultra-nationalism with racial and/or religious prejudice, and usually also theocracy (“clerical fascism”). Stems from the ancient Roman belief that government and national identity are necessary to bind people together – in the “fasces” (an axe bound together with a bundle of wooden rods, a symbol of power and order) in order to prevent conflict between warring factions of society. Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini described fascism as “the merger of state and corporate power”. Features a strong autocratic figurehead, strict regimentation and control, and usually also expansionist or imperialist ambitions. In a general sense, can also refer to any or all of the imperialist, ultra- nationalist Axis Powers of WWII, including Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, whose philosophy was known as “Falangism”. “Soft fascist” refers to anyone whose views lean towards separatism, hierarchy, discrimination, or special treatment on the basis of national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, or social views. See also: corporatism, corporativisim, dirigism, tyranny, totalitarianism.

Federalism

     A system in which governmental jurisdictions besides the central government retain duly-delegated spheres of policy influence in the areas they control. Types of federalism include dual federalism, triple federalism, cooperative federalism, and corporative federalism. Might refer to more, or less, central control, depending on the context in which it is used. See also: classical liberalism, corporativism, mutualism.

Fusionism

     A political philosophy which combines traditionalism and social conservatism with right-leaning economic and political values. May include, or overlap with, mixtures of libertarian and conservative thought such as paleoconservatism, paleoliberterianism, libertarian-conservatism, right-libertarianism, right-Rothbardianism, Misesian “free-market capitalism”, and/or mercantilism. See also: Frank Meyer, and the “libertarian Southern Strategy”.

Free Market System

     An economic system which focuses on individuals' subjective evaluation of goods and services as a basis for voluntary exchange and trade in markets. Also emphasizes entrepreneurship, the acquisition of property through just means and meritocracy, and the ownership of personal possessions. Sometimes called “free-market capitalism”. See also: libertarianism, mutualism, conservatism, capitalism.

Georgism

     A system which features both a market system and the holding of land in common; the philosophy of social reformer and economist Henry George. George proposed Land Value Taxation, formerly referred to as “the Single Tax”. This would involve taxing only land (in its broad economic definition), rather than taxing labor and capital. George believed that land should be owned either by no one, or by the entire community. Aside from charging private owners rent, payable to the community, George favored entirely free markets otherwise. See also: geolibertarianism, geo-anarchism, green anarchism, Geo-Mutualism, Mutualism, and market socialism.

Individualism

     The belief in the freedom of individuals. Often used in contrast to collectivism, which most individuals see as antagonistic towards individualism, and irreconcilable. May be used in a political, economic, or social sense. See also: individualist anarchism, libertarianism, autarchism.

Left-Wing Nationalism

     An anti-capitalist, pro-socialist form of nationalism which rejects the bourgeois, cronyist, and oligarchical tendencies of right-wing nationalism. See also: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Jacobins, Thomas Hobbes, the social contract, social-nationalism, corporatism.

Leninism

     Russian Communist Party Secretary Vladimir I. Ulyanov's (Lenin's) development of Marxist theory. Lenin wanted a centralized, federated network of soviet-socialist (or council-communist) republics. Also referred to as Marxism-Leninism, or M-L for short, Leninism is characterized by single party rule. See also: Bolshevism, Vanguardism, democratic centralism, council communism, Soviet communism, the one-party state, and Stalinism.

Libertarianism

     A political philosophy which focuses on free choice; freedom of, to, and from association; free will; and the natural liberties and negative rights of individuals.

Libertarian Socialism

     A category of socialism which rejects the state, and the use of force. Libertarian socialism aims to achieve the management of the means of production by the whole of society, but unlike authoritarian socialists, they aim to do so through non-authoritarian means, and on a free and voluntary basis. Libertarian socialists reject vertical hierarchy in favor of horizontality and egalitarianism, and value making capitalist practices unnecessary, and developing alternatives to them, instead of using force or the state to ban them. Libertarian socialists support minimal government (however defined); and decentralization, localism, and subsidiarism; as well as participatory democratic frameworks to manage resources. Like social anarchists, libertarian socialists support non-political direct action, such as mutual aid, but unlike social anarchists, libertarian socialists support supplementing that non-political action with gradual political reforms. See also: libertarian Marxism, libertarian communism / Bookchinism, left-Marxism, Luxemburgism, Wilhelm and Karl Liebknecht, and left-Marxism.

Maoism

     Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong's (Mao Tse Tung's) development of Marxism- Leninism, which focuses on the role of peasants in the revolution more than other variants of Marxism do. Also called Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, or M-L-M for short. See also: Leninism, Marxism-Leninism, Communism with Chinese Characteristics.

Market Anarchism

     The political and economic belief that the laws of supply and demand should not be interfered with by governments, and that freedom to enter into direct competition against the state is the ultimate illustration of freedom, anarchism, and voluntary exchange. See also: Gustave de Molinari, Agorism, free market system, anarchism, anarchy without adjectives, libertarianism, capitalism.

Marxism

     The school of socialist thought founded by Karl Marx; most notably endorsing the abolition of the bourgeois state, through the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, which would wither away amid international cooperation to achieve free society, thus giving way to stateless anarcho-communism.

Mercantilism

     An economic policy designed to maximize a nation's exports, and to maximize its accumulation of precious metals and other forms of hard currency. May involve “limited” or “minimal” supports for domestic firms and industries. See also: conservatism, nationalism, fusionism, protectionism, classical liberalism.

Mutualism

     An economic system in which most resources are owned collectively or cooperatively, but in which most allocation and distribution is done through markets and voluntary exchange. Mutualism deems “economic rent” and “unearned income” - like surplus profit, rent, and interest – as unjustifiable, exploitative, and bordering on fraudulent; because all transactions must be mutually beneficial as well as voluntary, and must adhere to the principle “cost the limit of price”. See also: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Josiah Warren, Benjamin Tucker, market socialism, Dengism, Titoism, Geo- Mutualism, Ricardian socialism, free-market anti-capitalism.

National Socialism

     A political and economic development of nationalism which rejects the Marxist conception of socialism, and instead re-frames the nation as synonymous with society and with the collective, thus re- framing racist ultra-nationalism as a form of socialism. Involved shutting large numbers of members of society out of what were supposed to be “societal” or “collective decisions”. Also involved government creating an illusion of private property ownership through government-directed privatization and selling-off of resources, but with jackbooted goons paying routine, intimidating visits to “private” properties. See also: Nazism, Hitlerism, and the N.S.D.A.P. (Nazionalsocialistiche Deutsche Arbiterpartei; National Socialist German Workers' Party).

Nationalism

     The sentiment that peoples should express themselves as nations, usually in a territorial context with borders; and that peoples should aim to be politically and economically independent, and if necessary, restrict the movement of people and resources in order to protect the nation. Usually involves nationalization, which is the assumption of the control of productive firms by some national, federal, or central government authority. See also: nativism, National-Anarchism, nation-state, ultra-nationalism, conservatism, fascism, fusionism.

Neoconservatism

     A political philosophy which supports hegemony and global conquest through a militant imperialist foreign policy, but which ironically pursues internationalism under the guise of nationalism, by advocating military presence in most or all foreign countries. Usually supports a dirigist, soft-fascist, or quasi-autarkic economic system, but may be less staunchly right-wing on issues related to social mores and the size and scope of government. See also: Irving Kristol, conservatism, fusionism, neo-liberalism, corporatism, fascism.

Neo-Liberalism

     A system in which a liberal capitalist government has established a robust social safety net or welfare state, in order to supplement capitalist production, to relieve economic stress, to moderate the excesses of the market or capitalist system, and to provide a basic level and standard for subsistence. Usually involves high degrees of both economic equality and economic opportunity, but may also feature market-fetishism, and/or social mores which are not as enthusiastically inclusive as those advanced by modern social liberals. Neoliberal European nations are sometimes inaccurately described as practicing “European socialism”. See also: ordoliberalism, the Nordic Model, Rhine Capitalism, neoconservatism.

Populism

     Any movement which appeals to marginalized, overlooked, and “common” people, who feel they have been disregarded by the political, economic, and social elite. Includes left-wing variants such as social democracy and democratic socialism, and right- wing variants such as fusionism and libertarian-conservatism.

Progressivism

     A social, economic, and political philosophy which supports decision- making by majority rule, and which places a strong focus on progress. This progress can be social, technological, or pertain to achieving freedom and protecting positive rights (or all or any combination of the above), but the most popular associated position is the belief in economic progress through the progressive taxation of income (in which those earning the most income pay the highest percentages of that income in taxes). See also: democratic socialism, social democracy, left-wing populism, social liberalism.

Protectionism

     The practice whereby a country extends privileges and protections to favored domestic industries, in order to attempt to give the nation as a whole an edge in those industries in the world markets. Can include subsidization, tax credits, bailouts, discounts on utilities, tariffs and barriers against foreign production, extension of L.L.C. status, creating favorable professional regulations that allow existing firms to shut out their competitors, and furnishment of easy credit and low interest rates to encourage investment. See also: mercantilism, corporatism, crony capitalism, fascism, dirigism.

Republicanism

     A political system in which the public limits the power of government through a constitution or compact establishing the rule of law. Includes right-wing variants like conservative republicanism, as well as left-leaning variants like democratic-republicanism and social republicanism. See also: constitution, rule of law, limited government, libertarianism, social contract.

Right-Wing Nationalism

     The dominant form of nationalism; the bourgeois Westphalian nation- state. Often features political and economic isolationism and autarky, oligarchy and crony capitalism, and exploitation of workers and/or the environment for profit. See also: nationalism, ultra-nationalism, corporatism.

Social Anarchism

     The belief in social tolerance, equality, equity, diversity, and multiculturalism; paired with the belief that the abolition of government or the state will help achieve these ends. See also: anarchism, socialism, social liberalism.

Social Democracy

     The achievement of a socialist system through democratic decision- making and other democratic means. In the 19^th century, those described as “social democrats” were mostly Marx-influenced socialists who were criticized by other Marxists as “revisionists” for being open to gradualism and reformism (that is, working with the bourgeois state slowly on its own terms), and for believing that a revolution can be bypassed by voting a socialist or pro-worker government into control of a bourgeois nation-state's government.

Social Liberalism

     The belief in social tolerance, equality, equity, and usually also diversity and multiculturalism; sometimes paired with the belief that limiting government will help achieve these ends. More or less synonymous with modern liberalism. See also: social anarchism, neo-liberalism.

Social Nationalism 

     A variant of socialism which – although it staunchly opposses industrial capitalism when done by anyone – is also highly nationalistic or nativist, and which may also subscribe to racial supremacy. See also:national syndicalism, left-wing nationalism, social patriotism, patriotic socialism, social chauvinism, Strasserism, national communism, National Bolshevism, the East German Stasi, and national socialism (Nazism).

Social Republic

     A political system in which the rule of law is established through a constitution or compact limiting the powers of governments, but which focuses on including as much of society as possible in the drafting of a “social contract” or “social compact”. See also: republicanism, left-wing nationalism, social nationalism, corporatism.

Socialism

     The societal management of the means of production, and/or the factors of production. An economic system in which the means of production are managed and operated for the benefit of the society as a whole, for communities and collectives (or “the community” or “the collective”), and/or for workers. In a general sense, can refer to any left-leaning or socialist-inspired system; or to any system in which production, distribution, purchase, possession, and/or management are primarily done by workers, cooperatives, groups, or collectives. Include authoritarian "right-wing socialist" variants such as Stalinism, as well as libertarian "left-wing socialist" variants such as anarcho-communism and Bookchinism. See also: social democracy, democratic socialism, libertarian socialism, communism.

Stalinism

     Josef Stalin's development of the Marxist-Leninist ideology. Involves authoritarian enforcement, establishing strict military and labor disciplines, mass surveillance and the encouragement of spying on one's neighbors, little recognition of human rights and the rights of historically marginalized peoples (race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, political opinion, etc.), and a focus on industrialization. Much more open to war and imperialism than most other Marxist tendencies. Also called Marxism-Leninism- Stalinism, and derisively referred to as State Monopoly Capitalism and “collapsed communism”. See also: Vanguardism, Bolshevism, Socialism in One Country, and “world communism” and the Comintern (the communist Third International).

Totalitarianism

     A political system in which all political, economic, and social affairs and interactions are strictly controlled, by a strong (usually central) government, which often employs harsh punishments and invasive surveillance, monitoring, and tracking techniques – as well as thorough record keeping, and the requirement that permits and licenses be issued for any and all types of activities - to enforce its order and acquire and retain control. Mussolini described totalitarianism as "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state". See also: fascism, national socialism (Nazism), imperialism / colonialism, tyranny.

Ultra-Nationalism

     The belief that one's nation of birth makes one intrinsically superior to people who were born elsewhere, or to those who pledge fealty to a different sovereign. Usually involves autarkic and nativist measures like the enthusiastic imposition of barriers to free movement and free flow of goods from outside of the nation, often whether the need is pressing or not. See also: nativism, nation- state.

Originally Written on August 7^th, 9^th, and 10^th, 2018

Originally Published on August 10^th, 2018

Edited and Expanded on August 13th, 21st, and 23rd,
and September 5th, 2018