What Are the 8 Political Ideologies?

Ideologies are the social and political systems that shape our world. They are rooted in basic assumptions about reality.

For example, Ronald Inglehart’s World Values Survey suggests that people in Africa and Asia are more likely to hold traditional beliefs than those in Protestant Europe.

A political ideology is a system of ideals, principles, doctrines and myths that explain how society should work.

1. Liberalism

Liberalism is an ideology based on the belief that human beings are basically rational and capable of resolving their disagreements in peaceful ways, such as through free and fair elections and by means of international agreements. It also stresses individualism and the importance of property rights as a fundamental check on government power.

Liberals are committed to limiting the state’s military powers because they fear that a centralized army may be used to oppress its own citizens. They are also concerned about foreign policy that involves building up large military forces.

In the past, classical liberals have been opposed to the idea that social reform has to come from above. They were particularly critical of hierarchical bonds, such as the family, and sought to attack the idea that societies are well ordered by a patriarchal hierarchy that leads up to the ultimate father, God. Nonetheless, modern liberals have developed an attitude that encourages intervention in communities that fail to adopt liberal principles, provided that it does not interfere with their own rights and freedoms.

2. Conservatism

Conservatism differs from liberal liberalism and socialist socialism in that it resists a priori value-commitments. It holds that there is a practical wisdom in institutions, which can be found in history and tradition but not articulated in advance or in any explicit way, and which is best preserved rather than discarded. Kekes argues that this anti-utopian attitude to change makes conservatism more philosophically problematic than its rivals.

For Oakeshott, conservatism is a disposition that prefers familiarity over the unfamiliar; it values the tried over the untried; it favours stability over change; and it prefers agreed error to controversial truth (Oakeshott 1991). The idea of a conservative disposition has been compared to reaction and orthodoxy.

This disposition is opposed to rational planning, and it rejects the abstract notion of rights (see entry on rights). But it does not dogmatically oppose planning that works; it simply tries to ensure that markets work within, and do not erode, traditional customs and moral and legal traditions. Thus it straddles the fence between liberal modernism and revolutionary Jacobinism. Scruton has argued that the conservative view of society synthesises Burkean scepticism with Hayek’s esteem for “local, transient, untheoretical knowledge” (Scruton 2007).

3. Socialism

Socialism is a political and economic system in which the means of production (which refers to everything that goes into making goods) are owned collectively rather than privately, as is the case under capitalism or by aristocrats under feudalism. It is based on the belief that human beings are best served when they are mutually supportive of one another, and that social injustices can be overcome through revolution.

Socialism can be divided into various types based on how government is structured. Some forms of socialism, such as social democracy, maintain a large degree of private property but also use taxes to finance public services like healthcare and education. Other forms, such as communism, seek to eliminate private ownership altogether and impose direct control by the state.

Some socialists, such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, advocate central planning; they believe that markets create inequality and exploitation by allowing individuals to take more than their fair share of the resources. Others, such as Anarcho-Socialists, argue that the state and bourgeois classes oppress workers and that an anarchist society should be established through a revolution.

4. Anarchism

Anarchism is a radical political movement that seeks to eliminate the state and all forms of authority. It is a combination of liberalism’s emphasis on individual freedom and communism’s focus on an equal society. Anarchists produce powerful arguments denying any general obligation to obey the state and highlighting the ill effects of government power. However, they are less convincing in arguing that the state ought to be abolished and that a transition to anarchy is a realistic prospect.

While some anarchists are focused on negative liberty (freedom from constraint, authority, and domination), others are more concerned with community and the social good. These anarchists, like Proudhon, are aware of the Isaiah Berlin distinction between positive and negative liberty.

Anarchists often express their commitment to non-violence by engaging in nonconforming practices (free love, nudity, gender disruption) or by forming intentional communities that live outside the norms of mainstream culture. Examples include religious communes of the Nineteenth Century, hippy communes, anarchist squats, and the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria known as Rojava.

5. Fascism

Fascism is a totalitarian right-wing nationalist ideology characterized by an autocratic leader, centralized authority, a state devoted to economic autarky, and forcible suppression of opposition. Its name comes from fascio, the Italian word for bundles, referring to the bundling of people into an unifying group under the leadership of a charismatic figurehead. It rejects assertions that violence is always negative or pointless and instead sees war, political violence and other forms of social repression as a means to national rejuvenation.

Its extremist nationalism often takes the form of a belief in the purity of a dominant race or people paired with some variant of racism against scapegoat groups, such as Jews, homosexuals, minorities and immigrants. Fascist leaders use a demonized “Other” as a unifying force for the nation and to justify repressive measures.

It is often lumped in with populism, which can involve criticism of elites and a claim to fully represent the common people. But unlike Fascism, Populism doesn’t usually rest on obsessive ideas about national or racial purity and aggression.

6. Feminism

Feminism is an umbrella term for all movements and ideologies that advocate for women’s equality. Historically, feminism has been associated with the left-wing of politics but today women of all political persuasions endorse its basic principles. Feminists believe that since women comprise one-half of the world population true social progress cannot occur without their full participation.

The primary feminist belief is that men and women are not equal in the public sphere of society because of the culturally-instituted gender divisions of the male-dominated patriarchy. Women must be emancipated from these roles to be fully equal with men.

Feminism includes beliefs that promote the rights of women in areas such as bodily autonomy, employment equality, fair wages, property ownership and education. It also encompasses beliefs that address the ways in which other forms of discrimination such as racism, sexism, ageism, ableism and homophobia intersect with female oppression. This is known as intersectionality and was popularized by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989. Intersectionality is a core element of all modern feminisms. Women of all races, socioeconomic statuses, religious beliefs and sexual orientations are a part of the feminist movement.

7. Ecologism

Ecologism is an ideology which recognises the intrinsic connection between human societies and the natural environment. It promotes sustainable practices and a reevaluation of consumption and economic growth. It is based on the concepts of ecology, holism and environmental ethics and is driven by the belief that humanity is part of a vast interconnected web of living ecosystems.

Ecologism opposes capitalism on the grounds that it drives a relentless quest for wealth which leads to the commodification of nature and degradation of the environment. It is also based on the principle that the only way to redress ecological imbalance is through social change.

Another key distinction between ecologism and other political ideologies is its approach to societal transformation. While environmentalists are often content with small improvements within the existing system, ecologism is based on the belief that fundamental changes are required. One of these is an extension of ethical concerns to animals (ecological utilitarianism). Another is the rejection of materialism, which posits that happiness can be found in material possessions and encourages greed.

8. Nationalism

Nationalism is a collection of claims about the nation and its people. The aims of nationalism range from civic to ethnic. The former tends to promote inclusionary values such as freedom, tolerance and equality. The latter, on the other hand, can be used to justify ethnic cleasning and even genocide of certain groups such as Jews or Roma in Europe or the persecution of Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar.

Some scholars construe nationalism as the invention of frustrated, marginalized intellectuals in the wake of modernity and industrialization. They present it as a kind of civic religion with a narrative of the nation’s descent, a path to redemption, and exhortations to sacrifice and purification.

Other scholars conceive nationalism as a reaction to the insecurity, xenophobia, and racism brought on by globalization. They see it as the invention of disillusioned and resentful elites who seek a new form of political mobilization to outcompete richer and more powerful national rivals. This variant of nationalism, known as economic nationalism, advocates protectionism by promoting domestic control over the economy and opposing free international trade.