why political ideologies matter

Keywords:
Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Paradigms, Ethics, Collective Identity, Misuse, Tunnel
Vision, Truth, Polarization, Social Cohesion, Culture Wars.

Introduction:
Political ideologies serve as vital frameworks in politics, guiding politicians, political parties, and
other actors in navigating the complex world of politics. They operate as paradigms, offering
values, theories, and assumptions. However, their use can lead to both positive and negative
consequences.

why we need political parties?

● provide politicians, parties and other political actors with an intellectual framework
which helps them to make sense of the world in which they live
● ideologies operate as paradigms. they guide the process of intellectual enquiry by
providing a set of values, theories and assumptions within which the search for
knowledge is conducted
● ensuring that politics has an ethical or emotional dimension so that what ‘is’ is always
linked to what ‘ought to be’
● helping to forge a sense of the collective, by embedding the individual within a social
context

Use of ideologies may also be abused

● paradigms that structure and inform our search for knowledge may also foster tunnel
vision and even become intellectual prison
● difficult to think ‘outside’ or ‘beyond’ our fa ideological tradition
● ideologies tend to blur the distinction between truth and falsehood. There is no reliable
way of ‘proving’ that one political ideology is better than any other ideology
● in the process of forging a sense of collective belonging, political ideologies typically
conjure up the image of a distrusted, feared or hated ‘other’, bringing conflict
polarization in the society

Why we need political ideologies

 ● constitutes the vital link between theory and practice in politics
● making sense of the world
o to widen and/or deepen our perceptual field, and, in the process, to make better
sense of the world in which we live
o that they alert us to relationships, processes and structures of which we may
previously have been unaware
o political ideologies help to expose ‘hidden’ prejudices and biases. This makes
them a device for promoting critical self-refection, a means of uncovering ‘taken-
for-granted’ assumptions and understandings about the established order
o ideologies are treated as paradigms in the sense employed by Thomas Kuhn in
his pioneering “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. a paradigm is ‘the entire
constellation of beliefs, values, techniques and so on shared by members of a
given community’. Paradigms help us to make sense of what would otherwise be
an impenetrably complex reality. they draw attention to relevant questions and
lines of enquiry, as well as indicate how the results of intellectual enquiry might
be interpreted.
● investing politics with moral purpose
o outlining a model of a desired future, a vision of the ‘good society’
o principal source of meaning and idealism in politics
o If politicians cannot cloak the pursuit of power in ideological purpose, they risk
being seen simply as power-seeking pragmatists, whose policy programs lack
coherence and direction
● forging the collective
o they give people a reason to believe in something larger than themselves
o acting as a form of social cement, providing social groups, and indeed whole
societies, with a set of unifying beliefs and values
o political ideologies can also bind together divergent groups and interests within
the same society
o In providing society with a unifying political culture, ideologies deliver order and
social stability

Do Ideologies Matter too much

● political ideologies can be used but they can also be abused. Their dangers associated
with political ideology include the following:
o imprisoning the mind
o distorting ‘truth’
o pitting ‘us’ against ‘them’
● imprisoning the mind
o Ideologies may also promote tunnel vision, or even act as intellectual prisons
o Instead of widening and deepening our perceptual field, paradigms may allow us
to ‘see’ only what their account of political reality allows us to see.
o By generating conformity among those who subscribe to them, ideologies come
to resemble political religions, sets of values, theories and doctrines that
 demand faith and commitment from ‘believers’, who are unable to think
‘outside’ or ‘beyond’ their chosen world-view.
● distorting ‘truth’
o they have an unreliable relationship with truth
o to suggest that ideologies can be deemed to be either true or false is to miss the
vital point that they embody values, dreams and aspirations that are, by their
very nature, not susceptible to scientifc analysis
o Ideologies are embraced less because they stand up to scrutiny and logical
analysis, and more because they help individuals, groups and societies to deal
with the world in which they live
o Although all ideologies may have an unreliable relationship with truth, 'truth
decay' has become more prominent due to the rise of populism, particularly
through its emphasis on conspiracy theories.
● pitting ‘us’ against ‘them’
o Although political ideologies build within people a sense of collective belonging,
this is often accomplished through a deepening of conflict and division
o association between conflict and the collective may have a wider application,
and perhaps taints all ideological traditions
o Theorists in the field of social psychology have argued that there is a basic
tendency for people to divide the world into an in-group (‘us’), consisting of
those who support one’s own ideological beliefs, and an out-group (‘them’),
consisting of those who support rival political ideologies. In a process of negative
integration, our sense of ‘us’ is strengthened by the existence of ‘them’ who we
come to distrust, fear or even hate
o tendency for the ideological landscape to be structured according to the
‘us/them’ divide has become more prominent since the 1990s, as issues related
to identity, and thus who we are, displace more conventional socio-economic
issues. This is evident in the growing prevalence of ‘culture wars’

Choosing between ideologies

● political ideologies were portrayed very much as a mixed blessing

● while ideologies may constitute an essential road to political understanding, this road
may also promote tunnel vision and distort truth
● the balance between understanding and distortion may not be uniform across the
ideological landscape; rather, it may differ from ideology to ideology
● certain ideologies proving to be more reliable or more insightful than others
● ideologies vary in the extent to which they correspond to ‘the facts’ and succeed in
explaining real-world events and developments
● A widening gap thus developed between ideological belief and reality
● ideological thought is concerned not just with understanding the world, but with doing
so for a purpose: namely, remaking the world for the better
When we choose between political ideologies, then, we are not evaluating rival intellectual
frameworks so much as selecting the most compelling vehicle for ethical and emotional
engagement in politics.

Benefits of Political Ideologies:

Ethical Dimension: Ideologies connect the objective description of the world to normative
visions, infusing ethics into politics.
Collective Identity: They foster a sense of belonging by embedding individuals in a broader
social context.
Intellectual Framework: Ideologies aid in making sense of the world by guiding intellectual
inquiry and simplifying complex realities.
Moral Purpose: They outline a vision of the "good society" and provide meaning and idealism in
politic
Coherence: Ideologies help politicians provide a principled direction in their policy agendas,
preventing them from appearing as mere power-seekers.
Social Cohesion: They cement social groups and societies through shared beliefs and values,
delivering order and stability.

Comparing Ideologies:
Varied Impact: The influence of ideologies can differ among different belief systems.
Reliability: Some ideologies may prove more reliable or insightful than others in explaining real-
world events.
Ideological Gaps: A widening gap may exist between ideological belief and reality, affecting
their effectiveness.
Choosing Ideologies:
Purposeful Selection: Individuals choose ideologies not just as intellectual frameworks but as
pathways for ethical and emotional engagement in politics.
In conclusion, political ideologies are indispensable in politics, offering guidance, ethical
grounding, and collective identity. While they have significant benefits, their potential for
misuse, tunnel vision, and polarization necessitates thoughtful consideration when choosing an
ideological framework
For conclusion in ideology debate
Moreover, because ideologies tend to blur the distinction between truth
and falsehood, there is, in the final analysis, no reliable way of ‘proving’ that one
political ideology is better than any other ideology.

Or

However, the balance between understanding and distortion may not be uniform across
the ideological landscape; rather, it may differ from ideology to ideology, certain
ideologies proving to be more reliable or more insightful than others. In that sense,
some ideologies may matter more than others. This may be evident in a number of
ways. One of these is that ideologies vary in the extent to which they correspond to ‘the
facts’ and succeed in explaining real-world events and developments. Socialism, for
instance, has widely been viewed as a less reliable and insightful political ideology, as a
result of the declining significance of social class since the 1970s. A widening gap thus
developed between ideological belief (reflected in the socialist assumption that social
classes are the principal actors in history) and reality.

Conclusion in question of new global order or multipolar world

The notion of a distinction between facts and values is nevertheless foreign to the thrust
of ideological thought, which is concerned not just with understanding the world, but
with doing so for a purpose: namely, remaking the world for the better (whatever that
may mean in practice). When we choose between political ideologies, then, we are not
evaluating rival intellectual frameworks so much as selecting the most compelling
vehicle for ethical and emotional engagement in politics.