voting behavior of different social groups (e.g.,
women, CATHOLICS, southerners) but does not evaluate
or judge their wisdom or “rightness”; just the “facts”
are reported. Critics of behaviorism assert that this
ethical neutrality is itself a value judgement. Most
Western social sciences (psychology, sociology, POLITI-
CAL SCIENCE) rely at least in part on behaviorism.
The philosophical foundation of behaviorism is
found in Thomas HOBBES, especially his book
Leviathan,in which it is posited that humans are gov-
erned by sensory stimulation (pleasure and pain) and
that the movements prompted by those sensations
explain human activity. This contrasts with the CLASSI-
CAL(ARISTOTLE) view that humans are governed by rea-
son and the religious view (e.g., St. Thomas AQUINAS)
that people are at least potentially governed by faith
and morals. Hobbes’s perspective produces a hedonism
and ethical relativism contrary to much of the Western
political tradition. His emphasis on POWER, wealth, and
other worldly qualities renders behaviorism one of the
aspects of modern political REALISM.
Further Reading
Baum, W. M. Understanding Behaviorism.New York: Harper-
Collins College Publishers, 1994.
Bellamy, Edward (1850–1898) U.S. writer,
journalist, and socialist utopian
Born in Massachusetts, Bellamy is best known for his
UTOPIANnovel, Looking Backward (1889), which was
one of the most popular utopian SOCIALISTbooks criti-
cal of U.S. CAPITALISM, INDUSTRIALISM, and late 19th-cen-
tury society. In this book, Bellamy’s main character
(who awakens from a hypnotic 100-year sleep in the
year 2000) sees how the United States has solved the
problems of capitalism and competition in his own
time. He is told that economic competition in the 20th
century caused the ruin of many businesses and the
consolidation of all firms into one big monopoly. Then
the American people, democratically, nationalized this
economic monopoly, creating a SOCIALIST system of
cooperation, harmony and prosperity in the United
States. Poverty and competition are eliminated by the
state-operated economy. Socialism is thus portrayed as
“economic democracy.”
Bellamy’s novel sold widely in the 1890s and
spawned 150 “New Nationalist” clubs that worked to
implement his reforms. His ideas of government regula-
tion of the economy for the common good later found
expression in the PROGRESSIVEand LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC
PARTY. The ideas of using the central government to end
unemployment, poverty, and misery continue as major
theme in AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT.
Several of Bellamy’s predictions of latter 20th-cen-
tury American life were startlingly prophetic. For
example, he predicted that the economy would rely on
credit cards. In his utopian scheme, each citizen would
be allotted an annual salary on their credit card, and
they would simply charge things at the state stores that
they need. Money would be eliminated. Because every-
one would feel secure from want, greed and savings
would end. The state would provide for each “from
cradle to grave.” Socialism would rely solely on
humans’ higher impulses of dedication and honor,
each recognizing his or her duty to work hard for the
common good. Like many other utopians and social-
ists, Bellamy believed that humans are naturally good,
corrupted only by society to become mean, selfish, and
materialistic. Contrary to the REALISMof the CHRISTIAN
tradition in America which situates evil inside the
human heart and will (see St. AUGUSTINE, James MADI-
SON) utopians like Bellamy thought that simply chang-
ing social institutions and public education would
produce decent, unselfish, hardworking human
beings. The only incentive people need, for Bellamy, is
others’ gratitude and a sense of patriotism to the
nation. This socialist utopian optimism over the natu-
rally noble qualities in humanity was largely disap-
pointed in the 100 years that followed the publication
of Bellamy’s book, but it represents a utopian socialist
thread in AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT.Further Readings
Aaron, Daniel. Edward Bellamy, Novelist and Reformer.Schenec-
tady, N.Y.: Union College, 1968.
Bellamy, Edward. Equality.New York, London: D. Appleton-
Century Incorporated, 1933.
———. Looking Backward, 1000–1887,with an intro. by Paul
Bellamy and decorations by George Salter. Cleveland, New
York: World Publishing, 1945, 1888.
Looking Backward, 1988–1888: Essays on Edward Bellamy, Patai,
Daphne, ed. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press,
1988.Bennett, William J. (1943– ) U.S. conserva-
tive political thinker
William Bennett is the codirector and cofounder of
Empower America, a fellow with the Heritage Founda-32 Bellamy, Edward