Important Information from the Chapter

Chapter 2: Political Ideas and Ideologies

Important Information from the Chapter

From my analysis, the important information I have found in the Chapter is the question on if politics can exist without ideology. This is because ideology is one of the controversial concepts that is encountered in political analysis. For instance, ideology is viewed as an intellectual framework that politicians, parties and other political actors use to make sense of the world in which they live. Also, the information seems to be most significant because it makes us understand political ideology as an of beliefs, ideas, and values that compete deliberately to provide plans of action for public policymaking so that to change social-political arrangements.This chapter looks at political ideas from a traditional perspective, with the main focus being on classical ideologies such as socialism, conservatism, and liberalism. Ideology is a controversial concept that is often talked about in politics. People use it to criticize and condemn the beliefs of others. Destutt de Tracy first used the term in 1796, mainly focused on referring to a new science of ideas. He was interested in how ideas work, and he thought ideology was a new science. Karl Marx gave the more enduring definition of the term in his writings in the early nineteenth century. He viewed political ideology as a way for people to be interested in what is happening in the political world. Michael Oakeshott developed a unique way of thinking about ideologies (Heywood, 2019). He saw them as an abstract system of thought linked to political theory and practice. As a result, ideology is a controversial term that political theorists and practitioners often debate. This means that the ideologies can be similar to political philosophers, but they can also take the form of a political movement. This happens when they are expressed through the activities of groups and leaders.

In fact, from the information I have learned, many people think that politics cannot exist without an ideology. An ideology is a set of ideas about how things should be. People have been predicting that ideologies would die for a long time, but they have not. Also, the information seems important to me because it has allowed me to learn that great thinkers have developed ideology. From the information, I have been able to know that ideology has little place in the modern democratic systems to the logic of electoral competition. But even though things have changed in the current democratic perspective, political ideology has refused to die, thus indicating that ideological forms of politics seem to be enduring features of world history. This shows that ideological forms of politics are likely to continue to exist in the future. Ideology has been important to politicians and other political actors for a long time because it has helped them understand their world. Ideology is still alive and important because it can change (Heywood, 2019). When old ideologies die, a new one takes their place and keeps the relevance of political ideology alive. So, in any case, politics will exist without ideology; it will lead to the existence of a world without hope or vision.

Unclear Factors In The Chapter

If there is something in the Chapter that seems unclear to me is how political ideology has stubbornly refused to die. Given that particular ideologies may fall or rise, political ideology seems to be an enduring feature of the world. This has made a clear view on whether politics is intrinsically linked to ideology or the politics will be able to emerge from shadow cast by ideological beliefs in the future. Thus, the change in political dynamics always leads to the view about the relationship between ideology and politics by specifically explaining if politics can exist without ideology.

It can be argued that ideologies have become irreverent due to western societies' parties competing on the promise of economic growth. Although the Chapter has significantly explained the reason for political exitance today, it has not clearly explained why the ideology will not die anytime soon. The unclear information about the political ideology has made to inquire finding information from sources about political ideology. For instance, in social studies, it is indicated that political ideology is not falling down anytime soon because a certain set of ethical principles, ideals, and doctrines explains how society should work. This is the reason when you look at liberalism view, it is significant to explain the earliest political ideology developed because people were trying to figure out how to deal with the changes in society. There were two different economic philosophies at war - socialism and capitalism. Most political ideologies start with liberalism. This is because liberalism is the ideology of the Western world. The early form of liberalism was different from modern liberalism, but it was still based on the needs of the rising industrial middle class. It was also closely linked with capitalism. Although it is not clear why political ideology has stubbornly refused to die, the reading in the Chapter, compared to other parts, has only focused on showing the ideas behind the existence of ideology from classical ideological traditions to other ideological traditions. From different articles and books, I have found significant information that has helped me know that political ideology will still exist because it helps individuals understand why the current situation exists within the society and how it can be solved.

Findings

 From the chapter argument, I have been able to end up with different findings, which are important in clarifying the topic of discussion. As I have been able to find that by no means liberalism, socialism and conservatism could exhaust the field of ideological politics. Since the late nineteenth century, social liberalism has developed. Social liberalism supports welfare reform and economic intervention. Because liberalism is so important in political ideology, it was divided into two types of liberalism: classical liberalism and modern liberalism.

However, other ideologies have emerged and challenged the core beliefs of western political tradition. Although socialism, liberalism, and conservatism were political ideologies of the nineteenth century, fascism is a child of the twentieth century. Most people say that fascism results from the events of World War I and its aftermath (Heywood, 2019). Two types of fascism have recently resurfaced: neo-Nazism and neofascism (Heywood, 2019). They take advantage of economic crises and political instability to become more popular. Another unusual political ideology is anarchism. It has never been successful in winning power, but it still exists. But even though the movement was not very strong, that does not mean it was not powerful. Their idea continued to challenge the law and government. Anarchists believed that political authority was evil and unnecessary in all its forms. Unlike liberals and individualist anarchists, they believed that people could manage their affairs without politics. Political ideologies are very important in the world today. They help shape the way people think about the world and their place in it. Each ideology has its own set of beliefs that set it apart. It is important to understand these ideologies if you want to understand the world around you.

Feminism has been an important idea in many societies for a long time. Even ancient Chinese societies had feminism, even though there was not a lot of developed political theory about it. But things changed in the 1840s when women's suffrage movements started, and more people started to learn about feminist ideas (Heywood, 2019). This helped women get their rights in society. Feminist theories and doctrines have been developed to help liberate women from gender inequality in society. From a feminist perspective, current society is characterized by male power and domination; thus, these can be overturned with the right tools and strategies. However, some people think about feminism differently. They think about it in terms of the difference between socialist and liberal schools of thought. This means that people can see how political theory connects to political practice. Since the twentieth century, different ideologies like feminism have emerged and changed how people think. This has caused people to pay more attention to political ideology in our society. After the fall of communism in the 1980s, further revisionism was processed within social democracy. The ideological change was experienced because of class structure and professional and clerical occupation growth that focused on bringing social-democratic policies around the modern market. Also, having compared the information in the Chapter with others, it is true that the information about political ideology is the same. For instance, the information in the first Chapter indicates that politics is understood differently by different thinkers, indicating that it depends on an individual's ideology.  

 References

Heywood, A. (2019). Politics. Macmillan International Higher Education. 3rd Edition