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Politics & Government vocabulary · Parties and Ideologies

Ideology

Meaning in politics & government, with examples

/ˌaɪdiˈɒlədʒi/nounCore term

In politics & government, ideology means: A connected set of ideas and beliefs about how society should be organized and what government should do, which guides a political group or movement.

In Turkish: ideoloji, dünya görüşü

How it is used

A key term in political science. Courses compare the main political ideologies, and analysts describe parties as driven by ideology or as pragmatic. The adjective ideological appears in phrases such as ideological differences and ideological divide.

Example sentences

  1. This module introduces the major political ideologies of the last two centuries.

  2. The two parties agree on many practical issues despite their different ideologies.

Common collocations

  • political ideology
  • ideological differences
  • driven by ideology
  • ideological divide
  • left-wingSupporting political ideas usually linked with greater social and economic equality, a larger role for the state in the economy and stronger workers' rights.
  • right-wingSupporting political ideas usually linked with free markets, lower taxes, a smaller economic role for the state and respect for tradition and established institutions.
  • conservativePreferring gradual change and valuing tradition and established institutions, often together with support for free markets and limited government; also used for a person with these views.
  • liberalSupporting individual rights and freedoms, tolerance of different views and gradual reform; its exact political meaning varies from country to country.
  • political partyAn organized group of people with similar political aims and ideas who try to win elections so that they can form a government or influence policy.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Parties and Ideologies

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