Social Studies 30-1

Unit 1: Ideology & Its Foundations

To what extent should ideology be the foundation of identity? What shapes beliefs and values, what an ideology is and the themes it carries, and how the tension between individualism and collectivism sits at the root of every ideology.

• Factors that shape beliefs and values
• Expressions of individualism and collectivism
• Characteristics of ideology
• Themes of ideologies

• Individualism as a foundation of ideology
• Collectivism as a foundation of ideology
• Individualism and the common good
• Should identity be shaped by ideology?

Unit 2: The Origins & Impact of Liberalism

To what extent is resistance to liberalism justified? Where classical liberal thought came from, the ideologies that grew in response to it, the rise of modern liberalism, and the systems — communism, fascism, the Cold War — that rejected or challenged liberal principles.

• Aboriginal contributions to liberalism
• Origins of classical liberal thought
• Impacts of classical liberal thought

• Ideologies in response to classical liberalism
• The evolution of modern liberalism
• Systems that rejected liberalism

• Ideological conflict after 1945
• Perspectives on imposing liberalism
• Modern liberalism challenged by alternative thought
• Is resistance to liberalism justified?

Unit 3: Liberalism in Practice: Systems, Rights & Viability

To what extent are the principles of liberalism viable? How much governments should pursue economic equality, how far real political and economic systems reflect (or betray) liberal principles, and whether liberalism can hold up against contemporary issues.

• Should governments encourage economic equality?
• Do systems reflect liberal principles?
• Illiberal thought in liberal democracies

• Why governments may not reflect liberalism
• Promoting individual and collective rights
• Is liberalism viable today?

Unit 4: Ideology, Citizenship & Contemporary Action

To what extent should my actions as a citizen be shaped by an ideology? How worldviews and ideology relate, how ideology shapes citizenship, the rights and responsibilities of the individual in peacetime and in conflict, and how to act as an engaged citizen.

• Worldviews and ideology
• How ideologies shape citizenship
• The individual in a democratic society

• The individual in times of conflict
• Should ideology shape our responses?
• Strategies for individual and collective leadership
• Active and responsible citizenship