Chapter 2:
Ideology
&
Philosophy
Ideology
 An organized set of ideas that modify one another
 Helps individuals make sense of political issues
(personal use)
 Can help leaders influence public in accepting or
rejecting policies (public use)
American Ideologies
1.
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American Liberalism:
Variant of more general political science
defined liberalism;
Important to American Liberals to seek to
create equality of people so give authority and
legitimacy to government to do this;
Seek to maintain and protect freedom of
expression.
Not necessarily same as Democrats.
American Ideologies
2.
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American Conservativism:
Also a form of more generally defined liberalism in
political science
Does not like government intervention
Willing to let government help maintain morality
Not necessarily same as Republicans
Liberalism
 Both American liberalism and American
conservativism fall under this umbrella
 Developed in 18th-19th century in Europe along with
conservatism and socialism—three main ideologies
political scientists debate
Liberalism
 Idea that government should help people develop to
their fullest potential
 Believe people should be responsible for themselves
as much as possible so government should be limited
 Suspicious of power
 Favor a view of politics and choice going together
Conservativism
 Very different than American conservatism
 Main goal of government is to create stability in
communities
 Based on hierarchy of power (leaders and people
have reciprocal responsibilities)
 Not suspicious of power
 Power should be in hands of traditional class of rulers
(ex. Queen)
Socialism
 States or localities consist of different classes of
people who are in constant conflict
 Believe working class should take power in state and
control industry to creat a just society of equality
Communism
 More militant form of socialism
 A political structure that promotes the establishment
of a classless and stateless society based on common
ownership
 See Karl Marx
Facism
 An authoritarian political ideology that is concerned
with notions of cultural decline or decadence
 Seeks to achieve a national rebirth by exalting the
natin or race, and promoting cults of unity, strength
and purity.
 Example: Benito Mussilini of Italy
Neoliberalism
 Political ideology that supports economic liberalism
as a means of promoting economic security
 Free markets, free trade, and privatization
 More focus on economy than traditional liberalism
Political Identity
 Also known as identity group
 A group of people with a shared set of ideas (in this
case political ideology)
 Think their ideology defines them