Name: Jashith Sachdeva
D270 Section: 8486
Date: 27 October 2023
Word Count: 295 (not including the assignment questions)
Related to Political systems on pages 59-60 of the textbook:
a. In your own words, explain what the text authors mean by individualism as it applies to a specific country. How does this concept apply?
b. In your own words, explain what the text authors mean by collectivism as it applies to a specific country. How does this concept apply?
c. Which of these two terms applies best to your home country? Support your answer with a clear explanation.
a.
Individualism places the interests, rights, and freedoms of the individual above those of the group. The country with individualism promotes independence and autonomy, and people are allowed to take independent decisions until their decisions do not affect this right of others. It is the role of the government in these countries to protect these rights of the individuals. It means that the government restrictions on these businesses is the least and they get full autonomy to operate without any influence. For example, US has Individualism, and they promote freedom of speech and free life to their citizens as well as autonomy to businesses with minimal government regulation. b.
Countries with collectivism promote teamwork and the interests of people as a group. This helps them promote teamwork and the notion of synergy, i.e., 1+1 = 3. Governments of these countries promote labor rights and workplace harmony. The governments restrict the right of use of assets for certain businesses and influence them to use these assets which promote the harmony and collective benefits. This ideology applied to country like Russia, where Marxism and Lenin who took various initiatives to collectivize the businesses during their terms in the country. Russian businesses promote hierarchical structure in their lifestyles and business work cultures till date. c.
India is a mix of both individualism and collectivism. Traditionally, India promotes harmony and collectivism according to the culture. There are certain mechanisms such as Hindu United Family (HUF) accounts, which is basically a joint bank account amongst the family members. However, the younger generation is inclined more towards the western society, and they demand self-independence and freedom to take their own decisions. This culture of
individualism is prevalent only in developed cities and is percolating down to various localities across the nation.
