Does Ideology Matter in Politics Anymore?
Political ideology has been an intrinsic part of world history for over two hundred years (Heywood 1998). The modern world was moulded by ideology resulting in political, economic and social upheavals. It has been argued in the 20th century that the importance of ideology in the political world has been declining and the question set requires an analysis of the arguments put forward by those who believe that ideology influence has come to an end.
This essay will challenge the view that ideology is no longer relevant in modern politics and argue that ideology is rife around the world. It will start with a definition of ideology followed with the theoretical basis required to support the claim …show more content…
Bell (1965) argued that in Western liberal democracies, political ideas had been exhausted because none of the parties disagreed on the fundamental beliefs of the social and political system. Communism and fascism had lost their appeal and the remaining ideologies only disagreed about which of them could offer material prosperity. It seemed that economics had transcended politics. The representatives for the three major ideologies left- socialism, liberalism and conservatism- had a common goal: to manage capitalism (Heywood 1998) and while politicians