Exercise 7.3. – Questionnaire on attitudes to change

Note for the teacher

Information on basic political attitudes

An attitude is a tendency to express an opinion or adopt a certain form of behaviour. It results from social Integration and personal history and is therefore less conscious than ideology. Attitudes guide our perceptions, our judgments and our actions.

The purpose of the exercise is to see, on the basis of the expression of opinions, to what extent a person is, or is not, in favour of social change. Change in itself is neither a good nor a bad thing, and the purpose is not to pass judgment on the students, much less to evaluate them. It should also be borne in mind that the results of such a “political litmus test” should not be taken too seriously, particularly if the students are not fully aware of the implications involved in a statement in the questionnaire.

The real question is: why, what, when and how to change. The modeis of political thought serving as guidelines for political attitudes have developed since the era of the French and American revolutions. The following sketch can serve as a rough guideline but cannot replace the reading of the original sources.

A progressive attitude leads to a belief that changes are desirable. It may be revolutionary or reformist, depending on the perceived urgency and on the means employed. For the revolutionary, if necessary, even violence is not ruled out. For a reformist too, change is desirable, but without radical rupture with the past.

A conservative attitude, on the other hand, values tradition and prefers experience to theory. It may favour the status quo or be reactionary. To favour the status quo means to hold that although it is imperfect, the present state is acceptable. Organic growth may be advocated as the mode of change (Edmund Burke). A fundamental concern is to keep the state strong and agile lest it be overburdened by partial interests and excessive participation. The reactionary, however, refuses the present state of things: he/she holds that it was a mistake to carry out changes in the first place and wishes to return to an earlier state.

The revolutionary and the reactionary tend to be doctrinaire, that is, fundamentalist, which means that they defend a position on an ideological basis, without taking present reality into account

The others are more pragmatic and define their positions by an analysis of immediate consequences.

This exercise may serve as a rough guideline to make students realise the existence of different modeis of political thinking and to become aware of their personal preferences and leanings. In political life, political attitudes will often be found to resemble a policy mix between different basic modeis of political thinking, for example when arguing along neo-liberal, ecologist, or technocrat lines.

Procedure

1. The students answer the questions. Before each statement they write a number to indicate their attitude. The code they use is as follows:
   5 – They are fully in favour of the statement.
   4 – They are more or less in favour of the opinion stated.
   3 – They are more or less neutral regarding the opinion stated.
   2 – They are more or less against the opinion.
   1 – They are fully against the statement.
2. Students draw up their total, which indicates their political attitude.
   100-80: revolutionary
   80-60: reformist
   60-40: in favour of the status quo
   40-20: reactionary.

Are there any revealing divergences between students, notably between boys and girls?

Extension

Working with texts: depending on how this exercise is used – as an introduction or a transfer exercise – text work is recommended to precede or follow this exercise. For advanced classes, excerpts from writers such as Locke, Burke or Marx might be selected. In addition, or as an alternative for younger students, statements by politicians or parry representatives on a specific issue may be appropriate.

Also see the following exercise.

Variation

These questions may be formulated on the basis of more local concerns. Any of the questions may serve as a starting point for debate.

Materials

Student handout