List of political ideologies

In social studies, a political ideology is a certain set of ethical ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class or large group that explains how society should work and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order. A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends it should be used. Some political parties follow a certain ideology very closely while others may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically embracing any one of them. The popularity of an ideology is in part due to the influence of moral entrepreneurs, who sometimes act in their own interests. Political ideologies have two dimensions: (1) goals: how society should be organized; and (2) methods: the most appropriate way to achieve this goal.

Part of the Politics series
Party politics
Political spectrum
Left-wing Far-left Centre-left Centre Centre-left Radical centre Centre-right Right-wing Centre-right Far-right
Party platform
Anarchist Communist Socialist Social-democratic Progressive Liberal Libertarian Republican Syncretic Democrat Populist Globalist Internationalist Environmentalist Green
Party organization
Cadre party Cartel party Catch-all party Entrepreneurial party Mass party
Party Leadership
Party Leader Party Secretary Party Chair Party spokesperson
Party system
Non-partisan One-party Dominant-party Two-party Multi-party
Coalition
Ruling party Opposition party Hung parliament Confidence and supply Minority government Majority government Rainbow coalition Grand coalition Full coalition National unity government
Lists
Ruling parties by country Political parties by region Political ideologies
Politics portal

Part of the Politics series
Basic forms of government
Power source
Democracy (rule by many) Demarchy Direct Liberal Representative Social Socialist Others Oligarchy (rule by few) Anocracy Aristocracy Ergatocracy Gerontocracy Kleptocracy Kritarchy Noocracy Particracy Plutocracy Stratocracy Technocracy Autocracy (rule by one) Despotism Dictatorship Military dictatorship Tyranny Anarchism (rule by none) Anarchy Free association Stateless
Power ideology
Monarchy vs. republic (socio-political ideologies) Absolute Constitutional Directorial Legalist Parliamentary Presidential Semi-presidential Socialist Authoritarian vs. libertarian (socio-economic ideologies) Anarchism Colonialism Communism Despotism Distributism Feudalism Socialism Totalitarianism Tribalism Global vs. local (geo-cultural ideologies) Commune Civilization state City-state Intergovernmental organisation National government World government Nationalism Internationalism Globalism
Power structure
Unitary Unitary state Empire Principality Client state Associated state Dependent territory Dominion Protectorate Puppet state Puppet monarch Satellite state Self-governing colony Tributary state Vassal state Federalism Confederation Devolution Federation Superstate Supranational union International relations Small power Regional power Middle power Great power Superpower
Politics portal

An ideology is a collection of ideas. Typically, each ideology contains certain ideas on what it considers to be the best form of government (e.g. autocracy or democracy) and the best economic system (e.g. capitalism or socialism). The same word is sometimes used to identify both an ideology and one of its main ideas. For instance, socialism may refer to an economic system, or it may refer to an ideology which supports that economic system. The same term may also be used to refer to multiple ideologies and that is why political scientists try to find consensus definitions for these terms. While the terms have been conflated at times, communism has come in common parlance and in academics to refer to Soviet-type regimes and Marxist–Leninist ideologies whereas socialism has come to refer to a wider range of differing ideologies which are distinct from Marxism–Leninism.[1]

Political ideology is a term fraught with problems, having been called "the most elusive concept in the whole of social science".[2] While ideologies tend to identify themselves by their position on the political spectrum (such as the left, the centre or the right), they can be distinguished from political strategies (e.g. populism as it is commonly defined) and from single issues around which a party may be built (e.g. civil libertarianism and support or opposition to European integration), although either of these may or may not be central to a particular ideology. There are several studies that show that political ideology is heritable within families.[3][4][5][6][7]

The following list is strictly alphabetical and attempts to divide the ideologies found in practical political life into a number of groups, with each group containing ideologies that are related to each other. The headers refer to names of the best-known ideologies in each group. The names of the headers do not necessarily imply some hierarchical order or that one ideology evolved out of the other. Instead, they are merely noting that the ideologies in question are practically, historically and ideologically related to each other. As such, one ideology can belong to several groups and there is sometimes considerable overlap between related ideologies. The meaning of a political label can also differ between countries and political parties often subscribe to a combination of ideologies.