CHAPTER 1 UNDERSTANDING POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
PREVIEW All people are political thinkers. Whether they know it or not, people use political ideas and concepts whenever they express their opinion or speak their mind. Everyday language is littered with terms such as ‘freedom’, ‘fairness’, ‘equality’, ‘justice’ and ‘rights’. In the same way, words such as ‘conservative’, ‘liberal’, ‘socialist’, ‘communist’ and ‘fascist’ are regularly employed by people either to describe their own views, or those of others. However, even though such
Views of political ideology 2 Contours of ideology 7 From ‘classical’ to ‘new’ ideologies? 10 Left, right and beyond 13 The end of ideology? 16 Questions for discussion 18 Further reading 18
terms are familiar, even commonplace, they are seldom used with any precision or a clear grasp of their meaning. What, for instance, is ‘equality’? What does it mean to say that all people are equal? Are people born equal; should they be treated by society as if they are equal? Should people have equal rights, equal opportunities, equal political influence, equal wages? Similarly, words such as ‘socialist’ or ‘fascist’ are commonly misused. What does it mean to call someone a ‘fascist’? What values or beliefs do fascists hold, and why do they hold them? How do socialist views differ from those of, say, liberals, conservatives or anarchists? This book examines the substantive ideas and beliefs of the major political ideologies. This introductory chapter reflects on the nature of political ideology. It does so by examining the life and (sometimes convoluted) times of the concept of ideology, the structure of ideological thought, the differences between so-called ‘classical’ ideologies and ‘new’ ideologies, the extent to which ideologies conform to a left/ right divide, and the question of whether ideology has or could come to an end. (Chapter 13 discusses how and why political ideologies matter.)
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