IDEOLOGIES

– an introdu
ction
• Information sourced from
• Heywood, A. (1998), Political Ideologies:
• An introduction. Palgrave Macmillan: Hampshire.
 Outline of Unit
What is ideology?

Core themes of different

ideologies
The political spectrum
ON TARGET

WHAT IS ‘IDEOLOGY’?
ISM’s!
• We are basically going
to be looking at many
of the words ending in
–ism, such as liberalism,
conservatism, socialism,
communism, religious
fundamentalism,
feminism,
totalitarianism etc.
 What is ideology?
ON TARGET

• First thing to be clear on is that

there really is no clear and agreed
upon definition of ideology. It is a
difficult term to really define properly.
Some attempted definitions of ‘ideology’

• A political belief system

• An action-oriented set of
political ideas
• The ideas of the ruling class
• The world view of a particular
social class or social group
Some attempted definitions of ‘ideology’

• Political ideas that embody or

articulate class or social
interests
• Ideas that propagate false
consciousness amongst the
exploited or oppressed
Some attempted definitions of
‘ideology’
• Ideas that situate the individual
within a social context and
generate a sense of collective
belonging
• An officially sanctioned set of ideas
used to legitimise a political system
or regime
Some attempted definitions of
‘ideology’
• An all-embracing political
doctrine that claims a monopoly
of truth
• An abstract and highly
systematic set of political ideas
 Origin of the term
• The term was created during the
French Revolution by Antoine Destutt
de Tracy (1754-1836), and first used in
public in 1796
• For de Tracy, idéologie referred to a
new ‘science of ideas’, or an idea-ology,
like in biology, or psychology.
 Origin of the term

The use of
ideology as a
political term
has a lot to do
with the work of
Karl Marx
(1818-1883)
The definition we will use in our class:
An ideology is a more or less
coherent set of ideas that
provides the basis for organised
political action, whether this is
intended to preserve, modify or
overthrow the existing system of
power.
 Take note!

It’s important to realise that

ideology is not just something that
is important to politics or
politicians. Ideology influences all
of our lives, but it works in such a
way that we are often unaware of
its influence!
Think of ideology as a pair of goggles!
Whichever pair of goggles you
put on, changes the way which
you see the world. It allows
you to interpret the world and
to make decisions! Now you
must work out, which ideology
has already influenced your way
of thinking and looking at the
world!
ON TARGET

LIBERALISM
Core themes
This ideology is in a sense the ideology
of the ‘Industrialised West’

It has a focus on a particular set of values: the

individual, freedom, reason, justice, toleration
 Liberalism: The Individual

Liberalism emphazises the

importance of the individual,
both the uniqueness of each
individual and at the same time
the equality of all individuals.
 Liberalism: The Individual
Thus, liberalism emphazises a commitment
to individual freedom. This does not mean
though, that an individual is free to do
whatever they like. There are still constraints
on what you are actually allowed to do, one
constraint being that you are not allowed to
hurt another individual.
 Liberalism: Faith in reason

Having faith in reason, or the

ability to use one’s intellect in
taking action in the world, is also a
central component.
Liberalism: Justice and tolerance
• Liberals look at justice in that each person
should be given what they are ‘due’.

• Because individual rights are central, this

means that liberalism believes in tolerance
and pluralism, or the idea that different
moral, cultural and political cultures can
exist together.
 Where can I see evidence of
liberalism today?
Everywhere! Have a look around,
and you will see that the ideas of
liberalism are central to our lives.
What examples of liberalism can
you find just by looking at your
school?
ON TARGET

CONSERVATISM

Core themes
 Conservatism: Core themes
Central beliefs of conservatism are
based around the ideas of:
• tradition
• human imperfection
• organic society
• hierarchy and authority
• property
 Conservatism: Tradition
• Conservatives argue for the
preservation of ‘tradition’, in
particular with regards to values,
practices and institutions

• They see tradition as being one of the

foundations of society; without it, they
believe society would crumble.
 Conservatism: Humans are
imperfect
Conservatives argue that human
beings are imperfect and not
perfectible, thus they will need
stability and security in their lives,
which the government can provide
Conservatism: Organic society
Conservatives believe that human
beings cannot exist outside of
society, or the social groups that
nurture him/her, such as family,
friends, colleagues, local
community, and the nation.
 Conservatism: Hierarchy and
authority
–Believe that society
is hierarchical, and
that authority (who
is on top or in
charge) develops
naturally
 Conservatism: Property
• Conservatives have a firm belief in
the importance of owning property,
and encourage private savings and
investment in property; property is
seen to be a way of creating a stable
world.
 Conservatism: Property

• People are less

likely to damage
someone else’s
property if they
also own a
property.
 Liberalism vs. Conservatism
• Can you make a list of the
differences between liberalism
and conservatism? Why would
they be opposed to one another?
ON TARGET

Core themes

SOCIALISM
 Core Themes
• Community
• Cooperation
• Equality
• Class politics
• Common ownership
 Community

• Human beings are tied to one

another by the bonds of a
common humanity
• ‘We are all brothers and sisters’
 View on human nature
• Belief in the plasticity of human
nature, or that humans can change
and be moulded by life experience

• Firm belief that humans are not

predestined, but have the capacity to
become something greater than what
they are
 Cooperation not competition
Socialists believe that the
natural relationship among
humans is one of
cooperation rather
than competition
 Equality

Socialists are committed to

equality
 Social Class

Emphasis is on social
class as the
determining factor of
society
 Social Class

What do you notice about the boys in this picture?

 Common ownership
• Disagree with the idea of private
property, as they see this as one of the
causes of competition and therefore social
inequality.
• Thus, have a view that all property
should be communal
• ‘From each according to his ability, to
each according to his need’ – Karl Marx
 Socialism vs. Communism
• These two ideologies are often confused
with one another
• The similarities and differences are quite
difficult to define
• Communism is thought to be a classless
society, where there is no hierarchy or
authority. It has been argued by Marxists
to be the end point of human
development
 Pause: Comparing the three we have
looked at so far
View Liberalism Conservatism Socialism

Human Inherently good Inherently Inherently

nature imperfect and good
selfish
Of Free to pursue Individual is to Supports the c
individual individual goals obey the power ommon good
structures

Of society Made up of Hierarchical – Society more

individuals, working divisions are important than
together natural the individual

Private Used for personal Necessary for The cause of

property benefit stability inequality
ON TARGET

FASCISM
Core themes
 Origin
While liberalism, conservatism and
socialism are ideas that have their
roots in the 19th Century, fascism
was born in the period between the
first world wars, and emerged most
dramatically in Italy and Germany.
 Italian Fascism
–Benito Mussolini and his
Fascist Party came to power in
Italy in the 1920s and lasted
until the 2nd World War, upon
which he was executed by the
Italian partisans and hung by
his feet in a square in Milano
German Fascism
–Adolf Hitler and his
Nazi Party came to
power in the 1930s and
lasted until the Second
World War, until the
defeat of Germany by
the Allies.
 Features of fascism
It is a difficult ideology to define, but
some of its common themes include:
• A reaction against rationalism, or the use
of reason to make sense of the world
• A belief that life is struggle, and that the
strongest survive (influenced by Darwin’s
idea of natural selection)
 Features of fascism
• Does not believe in equality; instead
believes in elitism, or that some people are
born leaders

• An extreme embrace of nationalism;

incorporating a belief that certain nations
are superior to others.
ON TARGET

CAPITALISM

Core themes
Capitalism
• Is an economic system that is focused
on profit, and the major part of
production is privately owned
• Goods and services are created in
order to generate profit
 The ‘Market’

• The market is seen to be the defining

mechanism in ordering society.

• In this sense, ‘the market’ refers to the

procedure of selling and buying goods in
general (and anywhere), not necessarily
a physical market like SuperMarket!
 The ‘Market’

• The market procedure is a way where

people bring their goods to sell to
consumers, and it is thought that through
trade society’s order is maintained.

• In economics talk, ‘supply’ and ‘demand’

are terms used to describe this process.
 Economic Growth
• Believe in the idea of economic growth,
so that all people increase their material
wealth (best seen in the pie example
below) and become better off, no matter
their position in the economy. If all
people are concerned
with increasing their
wealth, this will
maintain order
in society
ON TARGET

TOTALITARIANISM

Core themes
 Totalitarianism
• Is a political system where the state
(in the hands of perhaps one person
or a small group/party) controls
almost everything in its territory. All
freedom is removed, and all
subjects are under control of the
authority. It is a ‘total system’ of
control.
 Totalitarianism
• It establishes its rule by
ideological manipulation
(controlling the minds of its
subjects), terror and
brutality.
ON TARGET

ANARCHISM

Core themes
 Anarchism

• The defining feature of anarchism is

its opposition to the state and the
institutions of government and law
• Their main argument against
authority is that they see authority as
being an offence against the principles
of freedom and equality
 Anarchism
• They believe in a natural goodness
of humans, and that without a
state governing humans would
naturally fall into a state of
cooperation with one another.
ON TARGET

RELIGIOUS
FUNDAMENTALISM
Core themes
 Religious Fundamentalism
Rejects the distinction between
politics and religion; for
fundamentalists, ‘politics is
religion’
(Khomeini, leader of the
Islamic Revolution of
Iran in 1979)
 Religious Fundamentalism
•Maintains a commitment to ideas and
values that are seen as basic or fundamental

• Most often turns its back on modernity, or

the modern world we live in. Modernity is
seen to be the root of decay in our world,
where values are lacking and moral social
fabric has disintegrated.
 Religious Fundamentalism

•Very often it is a militaristic

ideology, and the use of
violence to achieve its aims is
common
Some funny stereotypes
ON TARGET

NATIONALISM
Core themes
 Nationalism
A firm belief in the idea that the
‘nation’ should be the central principle
of political organization.
ON TARGET

ENVIRONMENTALISM
 Environmentalism

A belief that nature is the

most important focus of
social organization.
 FEMINISM
ON TARGET
 Feminism
– Important ideology that cha
nged the focus of ideology fro
m looking at the public to the
private sphere. That is, rather t
han looking at the politics of t
he state level, they started to l
ook at the politics of the indivi
dual. Key to this was looking a
t the power relationship that e
xists between men and women
.
 Feminism
• Use of the concept of ‘patriarchy’ to
describe the power relationship between
men and women

• Made a distinction between the idea of

‘sex’ and ‘gender’: sex is a biological term
defined by birth, whereas gender is a
cultural term which incorporates
learning how to be female or male
ON TARGET

GLOBALIZATION
 Globalization
•This term describes the process through
which economies, societies and cultures
become further integrated through a
global network of political ideas
through communication, transportation
and trade.
 Globalization
•Whether the term is an ideology
or not is debatable, but it is an
idea that more and more comes
to influence the way we see the
world.