Political Ideologies and Why They Matter

Political Ideologies and Why They Matter

Chapter – 1

Harshit Sharma

Political Science (BHU)

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The role of ideas

Some political thinkers argue that politics is merely a struggle for power and that political ideas are just propaganda.
According to this view, ideas and ideologies are used to attract support but do not reflect deeper political realities.
Contrarily, John Maynard Keynes suggested that political and economic theories shape the world, indicating that ideas influence human action significantly.
Keynes’ view implies that major historical systems, such as capitalism, communism, and Nazism, were influenced by specific ideological writings.
Both perspectives—that politics is just power struggle or purely ideologically driven—are inadequate.
Political ideas and ideologies are not only reflections of vested interests but can inspire and guide political action.
Political thought is shaped by social and historical circumstances and the ambitions it serves.
Political ideas influence political life by structuring understanding, setting goals, shaping political systems, and acting as social cement.
Ideologies provide a perspective through which people interpret the world and guide their behavior.
Politicians are influenced by a desire for power and by their beliefs and values about using that power.
Political ideologies shape the nature of political systems, such as absolute monarchies based on divine right or contemporary democracies based on liberal principles.
Political ideas also contribute to social cohesion by aligning social groups with particular ideologies, such as liberalism with the middle class or socialism with the working class.
Ideologies can unify divergent groups or classes within a society, promoting order and stability.
Unifying political ideas can be developed naturally or enforced from above, as seen in fascist, communist, and fundamentalist regimes.

Views of ideology

The book focuses on studying political ideologies rather than the nature of ideology itself.
‘Ideology’ and ‘ideologies’ are related but different areas of study.
Studying ‘ideology’ involves understanding the nature, role, and significance of political thought as a category.
Key questions include whether ideology is true or false, liberating or oppressive, or inevitable or transitory.
The categorization of ideologies (e.g., nationalism, multiculturalism) raises questions about their nature and classification.
Studying ‘ideologies’ involves analyzing the content of political thought, including ideas, doctrines, and theories within ideological traditions.
Examples include examining what liberalism says about freedom or why socialists support equality.
To understand ideologies, one must reflect on why specific ideas are categorized as ideologies and what this tells us.
There is no settled definition of ‘ideology,’ leading to various rival definitions.
The concept of ideology links theory and practice and reveals debates about the role of ideas in politics.
Ideology has been used as a political weapon to criticize rival beliefs.
Meanings attached to ideology include: political belief system, action-oriented set of ideas, ruling class ideas, social group worldview, class interests, false consciousness, collective belonging, legitimizing political systems, monopoly of truth, and systematic set of ideas.
The term ‘ideology’ was coined by Antoine Destutt de Tracy during the French Revolution.
De Tracy envisioned ideology as a ‘science of ideas,’ predicting it would achieve status comparable to established sciences.
Despite high expectations, this original meaning had little impact; Marxist and non-Marxist thinking influenced later usage.

ENLIGHTENMENT
An intellectual movement that reached its height in the eighteenth century and challenged traditional beliefs in religion, politics and learning in general in the name of reason and progress.

Marxist views

Karl Marx’s use of ‘ideology’ in his writings, especially in “The German Ideology” (1846), significantly impacts its role in modern political thought.
Marx described ideology as the ruling ideas of the ruling class, with control over both material and mental production.
Marx viewed ideology as involving delusion and mystification, presenting a false view of the world, known as ‘false consciousness.’
Ideology contrasts with scientific truth, with Marx’s own ideas intended to uncover the workings of history and society.
Marx linked ideology to the class system, suggesting it distorts reality to reflect the interests of the ruling class and justify oppression.
Marx used the image of the camera obscura to illustrate how ideology inverts societal views.
Liberalism is cited as a classic example of ideology, portraying privileged rights as universal entitlements.
Ideology serves as a manifestation of power, concealing contradictions and maintaining class inequalities.
Marx viewed ideology as temporary, destined to end with the abolition of class inequality by the proletariat.
Later Marxists, influenced by the failure of capitalism’s collapse, focused more on ideology, which now applies to all social classes.
Lenin and later Marxists described class-specific ideologies without negative connotations, recognizing ‘scientific socialism’ as proletarian ideology.
Antonio Gramsci advanced Marxist theory by introducing the concept of ‘hegemony,’ where bourgeois ideas dominate and become common sense.
Gramsci emphasized ideology’s embedding in art, education, mass media, language, and popular culture, advocating for proletarian hegemony to challenge capitalist ideology.
The Frankfurt School, including Herbert Marcuse, argued that advanced industrial societies use ideology to manipulate thought, create false needs, and stifle criticism.
Marcuse’s concept of ‘totalitarian’ character in modern societies highlighted how ideological control disguises itself as tolerance and free debate.

FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS
A Marxist term denoting the delusion and mystification that prevents subordinate classes from recognizing the fact of their own exploitation.
HEGEMONY
The ascendency or domination of one element of a system over others; for Marxists, hegemony implies ideological domination.

Non-Marxist views

Karl Mannheim, a German sociologist, attempted to construct a non-Marxist concept of ideology in “Ideology and Utopia” (1929).
Mannheim viewed ideologies as thought systems defending a social order and expressing the interests of the dominant group.
Utopias represent idealized futures needing radical change, serving oppressed groups.
Mannheim distinguished between ‘particular’ ideologies (specific ideas of individuals/groups) and ‘total’ ideologies (world-views of social classes or periods).
Total ideologies include Marxism, liberal capitalism, and Islamism.
All ideologies, including utopias, are seen as distorted, offering partial views of reality.
Mannheim believed objectivity is achievable by the ‘socially unattached intelligentsia,’ intellectuals without economic interests.
The concept of ideology was influenced by the rise of totalitarian regimes and Cold War tensions.
Liberal theorists, including Karl Popper, Hannah Arendt, J. L. Talmon, and Bernard Crick, used ‘ideology’ to describe oppressive systems like fascism and communism.
Ideologies are seen as ‘closed’ thought systems that claim a monopoly on truth and suppress opposition.
Liberalism is viewed as an ‘open’ system due to its commitment to freedom, tolerance, and diversity.
A conservative view, notably by Michael Oakeshott, sees ideologies as abstract systems simplifying complex social realities and equates them with dogmatism.
Conservatives traditionally preferred pragmatism and historical experience over abstract ideologies.
Since the 1960s, the term ‘ideology’ has become more neutral and objective, applied to all political thought systems.
Martin Seliger defined ideology as a set of ideas justifying organized social action, without moral or factual judgment.
The social-scientific concept of ideology is inclusive but risks losing critical edge by becoming overly generalized.
Neutral definitions of ideology may dilute its distinctive meaning, reducing its analytical value.

Contours of ideology

An ideology is defined as a coherent set of ideas that serves as a basis for organized political action, whether to preserve, modify, or overthrow the current system of power.
Ideologies feature:
- (a) An account of the existing order, often presented as a ‘world-view’.
- (b) A model of a desired future, depicting the ‘good society’.
- (c) An explanation of how political change should occur to move from (a) to (b).
This definition aligns with social-scientific usage and highlights ideology’s complexity.
Ideology bridges the gap between descriptive and normative thought, and between political theory and practice.
It synthesizes understanding with commitment and thought with action.

NORMATIVE
The prescription of values and standards of conduct; what ‘should be’ rather than what ‘is’.

Fusing understanding and commitment

Ideology blurs the distinction between what ‘is’ and what ‘should be’.
Ideologies provide an intellectual map of society and a general world view, integrating people into their social environment.
Descriptive understanding in ideologies is intertwined with normative beliefs about present and future societies.
Ideology has a powerful emotional character, expressing hopes, fears, sympathies, and hatreds.
Facts in ideologies merge with values, making it difficult to distinguish between ideology and science.
Ideologies can be viewed as paradigms, frameworks within which political knowledge is sought, similar to Kuhn’s definition of a paradigm.
Ideologies structure human understanding and political discourse, often making one’s own beliefs appear non-ideological.
Ideology provides the concepts through which the world is understood, making it effectively invisible to those who hold it.
Ideology can come to be seen as ‘common sense’, as noted by Gramsci.

Fusing thought and action

The fusion of thought and action in ideologies links abstract ideas with political action.
Seliger identified ‘fundamental’ (abstract, philosophical) and ‘operative’ (practical, mobilizing) levels of ideology.
At the fundamental level, ideologies resemble political philosophies and involve dispassionate enquiry.
At the operative level, ideologies manifest as political movements, slogans, rhetoric, and policies.
Some ideologies, like fascism, emphasize operative goals, while others, like anarchism, focus more on philosophical aspects.
Ideologies often lack clear shape and consistency, being fluid and overlapping with other ideologies.
Hybrid ideological forms, such as liberal conservatism or socialist feminism, can emerge.
Conflicts within ideologies can be more intense than those between different ideologies.
Ideologies often use the same political vocabulary, leading to ‘essentially contested concepts’ with deep controversy.
There is a limit to ideological incoherence; significant changes can lead to the loss of ideological identity.
Michael Freeden proposed examining ideologies based on their key concepts and structure, like a room’s furniture arrangement.
Ideologies can be ‘thick’ (broad, distinctive) or ‘thin’ (more fluid, incorporating elements from other ideologies).
Some ideologies, like nationalism and multiculturalism, may be debated as either standalone ideologies or extensions of other ideologies.

Ideology, truth and power

For Marx, ideology was the enemy of truth, created by the ruling class to disguise exploitation and oppression.
Mannheim criticized Marx’s romantic view of the proletariat as needing no ideology, noting that intellectuals are also influenced by broader social and cultural factors.
There is no objective standard of truth against which ideologies can be judged.
Ideologies embody values, dreams, and aspirations, which are not subject to scientific analysis.
Ideologies help individuals and societies make sense of their world, rather than standing up to scrutiny and logical analysis.
Michel Foucault described ideologies as ‘regimes of truth,’ structuring both thought and action.
Ideologies are linked to power, prioritizing certain values and theories over others.
They establish relationships between individuals, groups, and larger power structures, either upholding or challenging prevailing power dynamics.

Left and right

The terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ originated from the seating arrangements at the French Revolution’s Estates General in 1789, representing revolution vs. reaction.
Left and right are used to describe a political spectrum, indicating positions from left-wing to right-wing, including terms like ‘centre-left’ and ‘far right’.
Traditionally, left-wing views support change and progress, while right-wing views resist change and maintain the status quo.
Psychological studies, like Adorno et al.’s The Authoritarian Personality (1950), suggest ideological differences are influenced by psychological needs, such as conservatism’s aversion to uncertainty.
Alternative views distinguish left and right based on economic organization: left-wing supports collectivism and intervention, while right-wing favors market solutions and individualism.
Bobbio (1996) argued the key distinction lies in attitudes towards equality, with left-wingers advocating for more equality and right-wingers viewing it as undesirable or impossible.
The linear political spectrum has drawbacks: ideologies contain contradictory elements, making placement difficult; extreme ideologies may have more in common with each other than with centrists.
The political spectrum may be better represented as a horseshoe shape, as seen during the Cold War, where communism and fascism were considered similar due to their totalitarian tendencies.
Ideologies manifest differently in various geographical contexts, making it challenging to assign a fixed left/right identity. For instance, liberalism in the USA is seen as left-wing, while in continental Europe, it is associated with free-market thinking.
Political ideologies are fluid and constantly evolving, leading to shifts in the left/right divide. For example, reformist socialist parties have moved from nationalization to market economics, affecting their placement on the spectrum.
The linear spectrum may be seen as simplistic, leading to the development of a two-dimensional spectrum with a liberty/authority axis added to the left/right axis.
Some argue the left/right divide is outdated due to the rise of ‘new’ ideological traditions, rendering it less relevant.

New ideologies for old?

Ideology, an integral feature of politics since the late 18th century, has significantly evolved, with accelerated transformation since the 1960s.
Classical ideologies like liberalism, conservatism, and socialism emerged from the transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism.
Liberalism advocated individualism, market economy, and minimal government; conservatism defended the old regime; socialism promoted community, equality, and cooperation.
By the 19th century, ideologies aligned with specific social classes: liberalism with the middle class, conservatism with the aristocracy, and socialism with the working class.
Political parties developed to represent these classes and ideologies, focusing on capitalism vs. socialism.
The 1917 Russian Revolution intensified the ideological battle between capitalism and socialism.
During the Cold War, global politics were divided along ideological lines: capitalist West vs. communist East.
Since the 1960s, the ideological landscape has transformed with the rise of new ideologies and the redefinition of classical ones.
New ideologies, though rooted in earlier traditions, have emerged, influencing ideological debate with a hybrid or cross-cutting character.
Major reasons for ideological transformation include the rise of postindustrial societies, the collapse of communism, and the rise of globalization.
Postindustrial societies have shifted focus from material subsistence to ‘quality of life’ issues like gender equality, environmental protection, and personal fulfillment.
Social changes include greater individualization and ‘thinner’ social bonds, leading to the growth of new social movements such as feminism, environmentalism, and peace movements.
The collapse of communism discredited both revolutionary socialism and, to some extent, democratic socialism, leading to the rise of nationalism and religious fundamentalism.
Global terrorism and the ‘war on terror’ have introduced new ideological conflicts, such as the ‘clash of civilizations’ between Islam and the West.
Globalization has created both homogenizing trends, linked to liberalism, and new forms of inequality and opposition, such as anti-globalization movements.
New ideologies differ from classical ones by focusing more on culture than economics, shifting from social to identity politics, and moving from universalism to particularism.
The ‘new’ ideologies emphasize individual identity, cultural values, and specific local or group concerns over universal principles.