Ideology is a system of views and ideas that express the interests of a particular society. With regard to political ideology, it focuses specifically on ideas and interests that relate to politics. It expresses the interests and goals of one of the political elites. Depending on the ideology, there are also different points of view on the political and socio-economic development of society. In the article we will try to analyze the question of what criteria distinguish types of political ideologies and what they hide in themselves.
Structure
Each political ideology must have a certain structure, which is defined as follows:
- There must be a political idea.
- Ideology should highlight its concepts, doctrines and principles.
- In addition, they highlight dreams and utopias, the values of ideology and its main ideals.
- All political processes are being evaluated.
- Eachideology has its own slogans, under which leaders act, illuminates the program of action.
This is the political ideology and its structure in particular. A political movement that does not have at least one of the above items cannot be called a political ideology.
Functions of political ideology
Before starting to characterize the types of political ideology, I would like to focus the reader's attention on the functions that are common to any political system.
- Political ideology expresses and also protects the interests of a particular social group, nation or class.
- She introduces political stories and assessment of political events into the public consciousness, which is made according to her own criteria.
- An integration process is underway, when people unite depending on the political ideas, orientations and assessments of society.
- General ideological norms and values are adopted, on the basis of which the regulation of human behavior and its organization is carried out.
- The government sets certain tasks for society and explains to it the motives for their implementation, thereby mobilizing social communities.
Next, we will consider the concepts and types of political ideology. Let's try to figure out what similarities there are between them and why some of them actively opposed each other.
Criteria for singling out types of political ideology
You can determine the political ideology by what modelsociety, she proposes what comes first: society or the state.
- Next, attention should be paid to the attitude of ideology to the national question.
- An important aspect is the attitude towards religion.
- Ideologies have their own special character, which is not repeated in any of them.
- There is also a conditional classification that divides ideologies into left, right and central.
These are the main criteria for selecting types of political ideology.
Liberalism
This ideology is considered historically the first. Its founders are J. Locke and A. Smith. Their ideas are based on the process of formation of an individual who is a prominent representative of the bourgeoisie, which has economic activity, but is absolutely powerless in politics. But despite this, representatives of this population group have always sought to seize power.
This ideology has certain values, which are to preserve the rights of people to freedom, life and private property. Their priorities have always risen above the state and the interests of society. At that time, individualism was considered the main economic principle. If we talk about the social sphere, then there it was embodied in asserting the value of a person's personality, as well as making equal the rights of all people. In the economic sphere, there was an active propaganda of the free market, which envisaged absolutely unlimited competition. As for the political sphere, there was such a call - the rights of all social groups and individualindividuals so that they can freely manage any processes in society.
Conservatism
Another main type of political ideology is conservatism. Here the main values were stability in everything, order and traditionalism. These values did not appear on their own, but were taken from political theory, if you stick to it, you can come to the conclusion that the state and society are the result of natural evolution. Such an opinion is completely contrary to the ideas of liberalism, which believed that they are the result of an agreement and association between citizens. As for politics, here conservatism was on the side of a strong state, it demanded a clear stratification. This means that power should be regulated only in the hands of the elite.
Communism
Next, I would like to single out such a type of political ideology (and its content) as communism. It is probably no secret to anyone that communism was formed on the basis of Marxism. Marxism replaced liberalism, whose dominance fell on the nineteenth century. His teaching was to build a just society where there would be no exploitation of people by other people, and Marxists also sought to completely move away from any kind of social alienation of people. It was this society that was decided to be called communist. At this time, a great industrial revolution took place, which caused the worldview of the proletariat to become Marxism.
The following basicvalues of this period:
- Regulation of social relations was carried out on the basis of a class approach.
- The government sought to educate completely new people who would not be interested in material values, but there was a huge incentive to carry out social work.
- Any human labor was done only for the common good, individualism was replaced by a serious concern for the interests of society.
- The main mechanism for the integration of social culture was the Communist Party, which sought to fully merge with the state.
As for the type of political ideology of socialism, it is considered only a transitional moment from capitalism to communism. During socialism, they actively called for everything public: enterprises, property, natural resources.
Socialist Democracy
An example of the types of political ideology is social democracy, which even now is the political doctrine of the centrist forces. Within Marxism, there was such a current as the "left" ideology, and it was on its basis that the ideas of social democracy were born. Its main foundations were already formed at the end of the nineteenth century. E. Bernstein was recognized as the founder of these foundations. He wrote a lot of works on this subject, in which he categorically rejected most of the provisions that existed in Marxism. To be more precise, he opposed the aggravation of bourgeois society, did not support the idea thata revolution is necessary, that it is necessary to establish a dictatorship on the part of bourgeois society. At that time, the situation in Western Europe was somewhat new, and in connection with this, Bernstein believed that it was possible to achieve recognition of socialist society without the forcible pressure that was then exerted on the position of the bourgeoisie. Many of his ideas have become components of the doctrine of social democracy today. Solidarity, freedom and justice came to the fore. The Social Democrats developed many democratic principles on the basis of which the state was to be built. They argued that absolutely everyone should work and study, that the economy should be pluralistic, and much more.
Nationalism
Quite often, this kind and type of political ideology, like nationalism, is perceived very negatively. But if you look at the merits, then this opinion is erroneous. In general, now they distinguish creative and destructive nationalism. If we talk about the first option, then here the policy is aimed at uniting a certain nation, and in the second case, nationalism is directed against other peoples. And at the same time, there is a risk of destruction not only of other nations, but also of one's own. In this case, nationality becomes a riding value and the whole life of the people revolves around this.
Most politicians believe that a nation is united by its ethnic origin. There is an opinion that if a person calls himself Russian, then he talks about his ethnicity.origin, but if a person calls himself a Russian, then this is already a clear indicator that he indicates his citizenship.
If we look more deeply at the ideology of nationalism, we can see that here the idea of an ethnic group merges with the idea of a country that is intended specifically for this ethnic group. Here, certain movements begin to emerge, the demands of which provide for the combination of ethnic and political boundaries. In some cases, nationalism accepts that "non-nationals" are present in society, but in some cases it actively advocates for such people to be expelled, moreover, it may demand their complete destruction. Nationalism is now considered one of the most dangerous political ideologies on the political spectrum.
Fascism
The main types of political ideology include fascism, which is very different from liberalism, communism and conservatism. Since the latter put the interests of certain social groups of the state in the first place, and fascism, in turn, has the idea of racial superiority. He seeks to integrate the entire population of the country around the national revival.
Fascism is based on anti-Semintism and racism, and is also based on the ideas of chauvinistic nationalism. The opinions of researchers regarding the development of fascism differ greatly, since some argue that it is a single phenomenon for all countries, while others are of the opinion that in each stateformed its own, special type of fascism. The main thing for the Nazis has always been the state and its leader.
Anarchism
Now I would like to consider the signs and types of political ideology of anarchism. Anarchism is a completely opposite political direction to fascism. The highest goal of anarchism is its desire to achieve equality and freedom through the abolition of all institutions and forms of power. Anarchism puts forward ideas that are directed against the state, and also offers ways to implement them.
The first such ideas appeared in antiquity. But for the first time the concept of the existence of a people without a state was proposed by Godwin in 1793. But the foundations of anarchism were developed and implemented by a German thinker named Stirner. Now there is a huge variety of forms of anarchism. I would like to stop my attention on the directions of anarchism. First of all, anarcho-individualism stands out. Max Stirner is considered the founder of this movement. In this direction, private property is actively supported. Its adherents also advocate that no state authority can limit the interests of an individual or a group of people.
Further attention should be paid to mutualism. It appeared back in the distant eighteenth century among the workers of England and France. This direction was based on the principles of mutual assistance, the conclusion of voluntary contracts, as well as the possibility of providing cash loans. If you believe the beliefs of mutualism, then under its rule, everyonethe worker would not only have a job, but would also receive a decent wage for his work.
Social anarchism. It is on a par with the individualistic and is one of the main directions of this policy. Its adherents sought to abandon private property, they considered building relationships between people only on mutual assistance, cooperation and cooperation.
Collectivist anarchism. Its second name sounds like revolutionary socialism. Its supporters did not recognize private property and sought to collectivize it. They believed that this could be achieved only if a revolution was launched. This direction was born simultaneously with Marxism, but he did not share his views. Although it looked strange, because the Marxists sought to create a stateless society, but they supported the power of the proletariat, which did not coincide with the ideas of the anarchists.
Anarcho-feminism is the last branch of anarchism to which special attention should be paid. It is the result of a synthesis between anarchism and radical feminism. Its representatives opposed patriarchy and the entire existing state system in general. It originated in the late nineteenth century based on the work of several women, including Lucy Parsons. Feminists of that time and now actively oppose the established gender roles, they seek to change the concept of family relations. For anarcho-feminists, patriarchy was a universal problem that needed to be addressed urgently.
The role of ideology in politics
In ideology, it is customary to single out certain preferences of certain social strata regarding the organization of state power. Here people could express their views, clarify ideas, talk about their goals and new concepts. Political ideology has been developed for a very long time by representatives of a certain political elite and only then carried it to the masses. Their goal is to attract as many people as possible. This is necessary so that their ideology can gain power in the state.
Large groups of people unite in a certain political ideology in order to achieve common goals that were set by the creators of this ideology. Here it is very important to think over everything to the smallest detail. After all, the ideas of each political ideology should embody the ideas not only of a certain social group, but of the entire people of this country. Only then will this social movement make sense.
A striking example is Germany, in which fascism was firmly established in the thirties of the twentieth century. After all, Hitler was able to discover the most serious problems of his people and promised to solve them as soon as possible. The same rosy promises were used by the Bolsheviks, who came to the war-weary people and told them about the beautiful life under communism. And people had no choice but to believe and follow the Bolsheviks. After all, they were simply exhausted, and the powers that be understood this and took advantage of it.
Ideology has always been a very powerful weapon becauseit can not only unite and rally people, but also quarrel them, make real enemies. From an ordinary working class, she can bring up real warriors who are not afraid of anything.
The presence of a certain ideology in the state is a mandatory component. A state without ideology is considered amorphous. Here everyone begins to speak for himself, people can unite in small groups and quarrel with each other. Such a state is very easy to destroy, and for this it is not even necessary to unleash a war. After all, if everyone defends their interests, then who will take the side of the state?
Many believe that an ideology is necessarily a movement that is directed against someone, but in fact it is not. After all, people can unite and act in the interests of their own country, glorify their state, fight for demographic growth, overcome poverty and solve many other domestic problems, but only together.
Now the Constitution of the Russian Federation says that no ideology is established in the country at the state level. However, people were able to unite for the future of the country. And this is easily seen in their attitude to their state, to their power, to their roots. They strive to improve their country without encroaching on the freedom of others.
