FRAMEWORK DEFINITIONS
(updated 4-5-02,  9pm: section 4 - Bourgeoisie & proletariat)

1.  Aristotle's Six Forms of Goverment/Political Structure "Eyeglasses"

               GOOD                BAD

one       monarchy            tyranny

few       aristocracy         oligarchy or plutocracy

many    polity                  democracy

Good government (govn) = when the ruler, be he one, few, many, rules for the
benefit of thew entire body politic.

Bad govn = when the ruler rules only for the benefit of the "big
Toe," and disregards the health of the rest of the body. Rules for
the benefit of himself, family, cronies -- to hell with the well
being of the majority of the citizenry.

Polybius & Cicero--> best govn = mixed govn because  it is more
stable than a pure monarchy, pure aristocracy, or pure polity.

Mixed govn = monarchy + aristocracy + polity

U.S. Govn = mixed govn
          = monarchy (president) + aristocracy (U.S. Senate) +
polity (U.S. House of Rep.)

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2. Economic-structure eyeglasses/10 major sectors of any economy at any time:

 1-agriculture
 2-commerce & trade(wholesale & retail)
 3-manufacturing
 4-transportation
 5-construction
 6-mining
 7-finance, banking, insurance
 8-communications
 9-services
10-government

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3. Capitalism/socialism

Capitalism = an economic/social system in which a majority of the
businesses are owned privately.

Socialism = an economic/social system in which a majority of
businesses are owned by the government.

Communism = an advanced state of socialism which follows the principle:
                         "from each according to their abilities and to each
                          according to their needs"

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4. Bourgeoisie & proletariat

Bourgeoisie = the class of business owners.

      petit  ________________________ Upper Bourgeoisie
   Bourgeoisie

     The bourgeoisie is a continuum from petit B (Mom & Pop grocery
store) to Upper B (Carnegie, Bill Gates, etc.)

     The bourgeoisie has two major components: urban bourgeoisie
(factory owners, merchants, bankers, etc.); and rural bourgeoisie
(planters, farmers, grain-elevator owners, etc).

     The proletariat is the class of propertyless workers whose
only asset is the labor that they have to sell. Proletariat can be
divided into: urban proletariat (factory workers, low-level office
workers, etc.); and rural proletariat (landless agricultural
laborers working for landowning farmers, migrant farm workers,
etc.).

     The 19th-century historian and economist Karl Marx (1818-1883)
believed that the history of the world was in large measure the
history of class warfare. In the middle Ages, it was the noble
class (barons, counts, knights, etc.) vs. the serfs. Since the mid-
19th century, with the rise of a market economy, class war has
raged between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. It is that
conflict between these two opposing groups that has dominated
western civilization from about 1840 down to the present.

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5. Mercantilism

þ The economic system in the West that succeeded Feudalism and
preceeded modern Capitalism.
þ It is government management of the economy, but the economy is
nonetheless composed of privately owned firms.

þ main aim of M = max gold & silver in national treasury.
þ maximize exports, minimize imports.
þ export only high-value manufactured goods, import only low-value
raw materials.
þ establish colonies: sources of raw materials; also market for manufactured
goods.
þ navigation acts --> carry all goods in British owned and made ships.
þ king grants exclusive monopolies of trade to favored parties -->
monopoply to Br. East India Co on all trae with India.

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6. Republic =

Government (govn) by a legislative (not necessarily representative)

body -- as distict from govn by one person (monarchy).

A wide range of republics exist, depending on class of people
sitting in chamber.

     Republics lie on a continuum, ranging from radically
democratic (includes the less wealthy)
to elitist (includes only the most wealthy).

       radically  ____________________________ Elistist
      democratic

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7. Capital, Productivity, Wealth

þ capital =

1. anything that enhances person's power to do work (e.g. a hoe).
2. capital goods = stock of equipment, machines, buildings that
society produces to expedite the production process.
capital = capital goods --> humans are weak, not very fast,
readily tire, etc. capital goods enormously enhance a person's
powers, they make him into a superhuman.  In other words, capital
goods make humans more productive, increases their
productivity.
3. money used to run a business.
4. material wealth (money, buildings, equipment, etc) used in the
production of more wealth.
5. funds contributed to a business by owners or stockholders.
 

þ productivity = a person's output in a given span of time.
     50 shoes/day  500 shoes/wk   200 shoes/month  etc.
 

þ wealth =

     þ all goods and resources having economic value.
     þ the total sum of physical objects in a society.
     þ consider an economic system that consists of 10 TV sets and
100 people. If the number of sets is increased to 200 while people
stay at 100, then it is a wealthier society -- the entire society
is wealthier, and the per capita wealth is greater.