Political Ideologies

What is an Ideology?
• Ideology is a comprehensive belief system that allows us to describe,
understand, and interpret the world. Similarly, an ideology is our world-
view. This is how we see our world.
• When we talk about ideologies, they have ideas regarding all aspects of
human life- political, economic and social
 Political Ideology
• A political is out point of view regarding political view.
• The most important group to have a political ideology would be a
political party.
• A political party is a social movement that has interest in
gaining political power. It aggregates the individual political
interests of individual members. Hence, the uniting factor of
political is its ideology.
 Political Ideology
• Without a clear ideology, political turncoatism or butterfly politics will
occur most of the time.
• Political turncoatism or butterfly politics is a political phenomenon that
describes a party member jumping from one party to another. Usually, this
can be observed when one candidate goes to another political party because
he or she was not satisfied with his/her previous party.
A number line of some political ideologies
from the left and right wing
LEFT-WING CENTER RIGHT-WING

ANARC SOCIALI LIBERA CONSER NATION FASCISM

HISM SM LISM VATISM ALISM
 Left Wing to Right Wing
• The difference between the two has something to do with relationship
between state and society.
• Left-wing ideologies lean towards society. Thus, it gives more emphasis to
the freedom of society, political participation, human rights, freedom,
equality and like.
• Right-wing ideologies leans toward state. It values stability, state power,
state intervention, regulation of society, peace and order, and the like. The
concept of authoritarianism or dictatorship is a belief of a rightist.
Left-wing Ideology
 Liberalism

• Liberalism is an ideology that

emphasizes individual freedom and
participation. Basically, it works well
with the concept of democracy because
of its emphasis.
 Perspectives in Liberalism

• Political: Freedom to choose their leaders and

government officials. (elections), protection of the
natural rights of man(right to life, liberty and property)
• Economic: Economic Liberalism(individual freedom in
the market)
• Social: Individual freedom and rights.
 Socialism

• The ideology of socialism is close to the utopia of

communism. As Karl Marx analyze, socialism is the stage
before communism. This will happen when the proletariat
has been successful at overthrowing the bourgeoisie. Hence,
they will turn the social triangle upside-down. In effect, the
proletariat will now rule the state. With such rule, private
property will be abolished and equality will be achieved.
 Perspectives in Socialism
• Political: Socialists still believe in the existence of a state that is controlled by the
proletariat class and not the elites. Hence, the main purpose of the state here is to
slowly wither away by assuring equality and freedom for everyone. This is why rulers
will use the power of the sate to make sire that they can reach the ideal of
communism.
• Economic: There is no private property anymore. Everything is owned by the
state. The state shall gradually distribute the property to everyone in an equal
manner.
• Socialism: It emphasizes equality in society.
 Anarchism
• Basically, anarchism is considered as one of the most extreme left-wing political
ideology.
• Its belief in the absence of a central authority makes it a stateless ideology.
• Most people would assume that anarchism is an ideology that believes in chaos. This
is a misconception. The reason is that anarchy is not synonymous with chaos or
war. To define anarchy, it is a situation wherein there is no central authority to
regulate the behavior of society.
• There is no need for a central authority to regulate behavior because man is
capable of self-governance.
 Perspectives in Anarchism
• Political: There is no need for a state to regulate the behavior of human
being because the man is capable of self-governance.
• Economic: It values individual freedom, choice, and preference in their
economic life. The marker should not dictate the behavior of individuals. In
fact, the individual preferences would control how markets should operate.
• Social: Individual Freedom
Right-Wing Ideology
 Conservatism
• The conservatism focuses on the ideas that the status quo or the current
situation is the best one. Hence, it values traditions and customs that a state
has. In this light, the state’s role is vital in maintaining the current situation so
that it will avoid any change because for conservatives, change is not good.
The reason is that change can lead to a worse situation. Thus, it is better to
maintain status quo rather than change it.
 Perspectives in Conservatism
• Political: The state should do everything in its power to maintain status quo. In this case,
the state can use of force of coercion to make sure that the traditions and customs of the
sate is followed. Usually, conservatism promote the ideas of monarchy since the sovereign
or monarch must maintain status quo.
• Economics: The conservatives promotes the ideas of traditional kind of economy where
the economy must be controlled by the state so it can control and regulate economic
activities. The state does not allow the idea of free market. The state is also responsible for
distributing the benefits of the economy.
• Social: Society is repressed by the tradition and customs in this ideology. There is not
much room for liberty because everything should be done in accordance to the culture.
 Nationalism
• It refers to the belief system where people believe that they belong to
one nation or people. In this context, this encourages a kinds of
ethnocentric behavior by the state and society. This means that they
view themselves and the culture as superior to other cultures.
• Nationalists see the importance of the state in protecting its own
against anyone who is not part of the nation. More over, change is not
encouraged especially if it comes from “outsiders.”
 Perspectives in Nationalism
• Political: Nationalism would argue for strong state control. The purpose of such
is to disallow those people who do not belong to the nations] from gaining any
control in politics. Hence, there is great possibility for discrimination in a
nationalist state.
• Economic: It promotes protectionist policies for its local industry. Hence,
foreign investors usually do not allow foreign investments. If foreigners are allowed
in the business, they will be regulated strictly so that the local industries will be
protected. There is a need for strong state intervention and a command economy.
• Social: Encourages a degree of discrimination.
 Fascism

• This political ideology became famous during the Second

World Wat. It was Benito Mussollini who made this
ideology popular.
• This ideology is sometimes tagged as the perversion of
nationalism because this is the result of ubernationalism
or over-nationalism.
 Perspectives in Fascism
• Political: It encourages totalitarian state where the participation from below does not happen.
The state represses all the actions in the society. Hence, this ideology views the withering away
from society. The reason for this is to make sure that only the nationals will remain in state
power.
• Economic: The economy is totally controlled by the state. There is no way that non-nationals
will enter a fascist economy. Also, the economy will be composed of protectionist policies that
will make sure that no foreign investments will come in. In this light, the fascist state must
provide incentives for the local investors so that they can produce goods for society.
• Socialism: There is a high level of oppression, repression and discrimination in a fascist state.
Hence, the concept of freedom and human rights is non-existent in a fascist society. In this
context, there is zero political participation and people act in accordance with the order of the
state.