Many political parties base their political action and election program on an ideology. In social studies, a political ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class, and/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 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.2.Methods: The most appropriate way to achieve this goal.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. democracy, autocracy, etc.), and the best economic system (e.g. capitalism, socialism, etc.). Sometimes the same word is 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.Political ideology is a term fraught with problems, having been called "the most elusive concept in the whole of social science"; however, ideologies tend to identify themselves by their position on the political spectrum (such as the left, the cener or the right), though this is very often controversial. Finally, ideologies can be distinguished from political strategies (e.g. populism) and from single issues that a party may be built around (e.g. opposition to European integration or the legalization of marijuana).This book attempts to divide the ideologies found in practical political life into a number of groups; each group contains ideologies that are related to each other. The names do not necessarily imply some hierarchical order or that one ideology evolved out of the other. They are merely noting the fact that the ideologies in question are practically, historically and ideologically related to each other. One ideology can belong to several groups, and there is sometimes considerable overlap between related ideologies. Also, keep in mind that the meaning of a political label can differ between countries and that parties often subscribe to a combination of ideologies.This book gives an overview of the many ideologies that form the backbone of the many types of political systems that exist.Also read the companion volume "The Many Forms of Government" at: https: //www.createspace.com/6057437This book is designed to be a general overview of the topic and provide you with the structured knowledge to familiarize yourself with the topic at the most affordable price possible. The level of discussion is that of Wikipedia. The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint as the edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and some of the most currently available general knowledge on the topic based on the date of publication.
About the Author: The editor has degrees in Nuclear Engineering, Engineering Physics & Biomedical Engineering from The University of Michigan and is an Engineer and Former Intelligence Officer for the CIA and US intelligence Community. He has authored several books, edited many other books and has written over numerous Technical, Classified & Unclassified papers, Articles & Essays. He has also written for The International Encyclopedia on Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence and written several award-winning scientific manuals that have been sold in more than a dozen countries. He has also appeared in Marquis "Who's Who in the World" & "Who's Who in Science & Engineering" and continues to edit and write.