12. Ideology

A part of political culture is ideology, a word with many meanings which scholars debate fiercely. Ideologies are distinct from political strategies (such as democracy or totalitarianism) and are distinct from specific political issues (such as the economy, education, or environmental politics). The term ideology instead loosely describes a person’s set of beliefs about how society in general does, and should, function. A general rule of thumb is that if a political word ends in “-ism” (socialism, fascism, liberalism, Marxism, environmentalism), then it usually describes an ideology. After the end of the Cold War in 1991, many political scientists and commentators believed that as the Cold War had been the apparent final struggle between ideologies (the West’s capitalism versus the Soviets’ communism), that ended in the victory of a single ideology, ideology itself would become irrelevant. Since 1991, this has changed radically in response to an ever-changing world.

At its most basic meaning, an ideology is a set of beliefs about how politics should function: how the group should be managed, and what actions/strategies should be taken to achieve those beliefs. Ideologies span a range from quite vague (e.g., “capitalism”) to extremely specific (e.g., “anarcho-syndicalist capitalism”), and the terminology can change wildly depending on local culture. For example, the word “liberal” means very different things in the USA (describing a left-leaning and progressive ideology) and Australia (where the same word describes a very conservative and reactionary ideology). Ideologies are based on beliefs, values and norms among parts of society, and are intimately connected with peoples’ social identities (see below). As a result, different ideologies are often strongly connected with different groups in a society.