In political science, a political ideology is a certain set of ethical ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class or large group that explains how society should work and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order.
A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends it should be used. Some political parties follow a certain ideology very closely while others may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically embracing any one of them.
An ideology's popularity is partly due to the influence of moral entrepreneurs, who sometimes act in their own interests. Political ideologies have two dimensions: (1) goals: how society should be organized; and (2) methods: the most appropriate way to achieve this goal.
An ideology is a collection of ideas. Typically, each ideology contains certain ideas on what it considers to be the best form of government (e.g. autocracy or democracy) and the best economic system (e.g. capitalism or socialism). The same word is sometimes used to identify both an ideology and one of its main ideas.
For instance, socialism may refer to an economic system, or it may refer to an ideology that supports that economic system. The same term may also refer to multiple ideologies, which is why political scientists try to find consensus definitions for these terms.
For example, while the terms have been conflated at times, communism has come in common parlance and in academics to refer to Soviet-type regimes and MarxistâÂÂLeninist ideologies, whereas socialism has come to refer to a wider range of differing ideologies which are most often distinct from MarxismâÂÂLeninism.
Political ideology is a term fraught with problems, having been called "the most elusive concept in the whole of social science".
While ideologies tend to identify themselves by their position on the political spectrum (such as the left, the centre or the right), they can be distinguished from political strategies (e.g. populism as it is commonly defined) and from single issues around which a party may be built (e.g. civil libertarianism and support or opposition to European integration), although either of these may or may not be central to a particular ideology. Several studies show that political ideology is heritable within families.
The following list is strictly alphabetical and attempts to divide the ideologies found in practical political life into several groups, with each group containing ideologies that are related to each other. The headers refer to the names of the best-known ideologies in each group.
The names of the headers do not necessarily imply some hierarchical order or that one ideology evolved out of the other. Instead, they are merely noting that the ideologies in question are practically, historically, and ideologically related to each other.
As such, one ideology can belong to several groups and there is sometimes considerable overlap between related ideologies. The meaning of a political label can also differ between countries and political parties often subscribe to a combination of ideologies.
Anarchism
Political internationals
Classical
Post-classical
Contemporary
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
Authoritarianism
General
Other
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Communitarianism
General
Other
Regional variants
Communism
Political internationals
Authoritarian
Leninism
MarxismâÂÂLeninism
Libertarian
Marxism
Other
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
Conservatism
Political internationals
General
Reactionary
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
United States
Asian
European
Oceanian
Corporatism
General
Other
Religious variants
Regional variants
Western Europe
Democracy
General
Other
Direct democracy movements
Pirate politics
Political internationals
Opposition
Religious variants
Christian democracy
Political internationals
General
Other
Other
Regional variants
African
Asian
American
European
Oceanian
Environmentalism
Political internationals
Bright green environmentalism
Deep green environmentalism
Light green environmentalism
Other
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
Fascism
Political internationals
General
Other
Opposition
By country
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
Identity politics
Political internationals
Age-related rights movements
Animal-related rights movements
Disability-related rights movements
Feminism
General
Opposition
Chronological variants
Ethnic and social variants
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
LGBTQ social movements
Men's movement
Regional variants
Self-determination movements
African-American
Indigenous peoples
Latin American
Separatist and supremacist movements
Ethnic
Black
White
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceania
Gender
Religious variants
Student movements
General
Regional variants
Liberalism
Political internationals
General
Other
Opposition
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
Libertarianism
Political internationals
Left-libertarianism
Right-libertarianism
Other
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
United States
Asian
European
Oceanian
Nationalism
Political internationals
General
Other
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
Unification movements
Populism
Political internationals
General
Left-wing populism
Right-wing populism
Other
Regional variants
African
Asian
American
European
Oceanian
Progressivism
Political internationals
General
Other
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
Religio-political ideologies
Political internationals
General
Political atheism and agnosticism
Political BaháüàFaith
Political Buddhism
Political Christianity
Political Confucianism
Political Hinduism
Political indigenous religions
Political Islam
Political Judaism
Political Neopaganism
Political Shinto
Political Sikhism
Political Taoism
Political Zoroastrianism
Satirical and anti-politics
General
Other
Religious variants
Regional variants
Social democracy
Political internationals
General
Other
Opposition
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
Socialism
Political internationals
General
Authoritarian
Libertarian
Other
Opposition
Religious variants
Regional variants
African
American
Asian
European
Oceanian
Syndicalism
Political internationals
General
Other
Opposition
Regional variants
Transhumanism
Political internationals
General
Other
Regional variants
See also
References