POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:

An Introduction
 The role of ideas

• Behaviourism and the ‘material basis’ of ideas.

• Ideology and political theory influence all action.
• Political theory and political practice are inseparably linked.
• The function of ideology:
⁻ to provide a perspective in understanding the world
⁻ to shape political systems
⁻ to act as a social cement between groups
 Views of ideology

• The study of ideology vs. the study of ideologies

• What is ideology?

“Ideology is the most elusive concept in the whole of the

social sciences”- David McLellan
⁻ A political belief system
⁻ Political ideas that embody or articulate class or social
interests
⁻ An abstract and highly systematic set of political ideas
 Marxist views of ideology

Marx
• ideology vs. science
• ideology and the class system
• ideology and power
• ideology as temporary

Post-Marx
• The endurance of capitalism
• Lenin and a socialist ‘ideology’
• Gramsci and capitalist hegemony
• Marcuse and consumerism in advanced industrial societies
 Non Marxist views of ideology

• Liberals
• Conservatives
• Socialists
• Fascists
• Ecologists
• Religious Fundamentalists
Heywood’s definition of ideology

An ideology is a more or less coherent set of ideas of that

provides the basis for organized political action, whether this is
intended to preserve, modify or overthrow the existing system of
power. All ideologies therefore have the following features. They:

(a) offer an account of the existing order, usually in the form of a

‘world view’
(b) advance a model of a desired future, a vision of a good
‘society’
(c) explain how political change can and should be brought about
– how to get from (a) to (b)
 The evolution of ideology

• The transition from feudalism to industrial

• 1917 Russian Revolution, the ‘short’ twentieth century and
ideological warfare
• The twentieth century: the emergence of ‘new’ ideologies
• Post-industrialization and prosperity
• The ideological ramifications of the collapse of communism
• Global interconnectedness and cosmopolitan sensibilities