List of political ideologies


In political science, 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.
An ideology's popularity is partly due to the influence of moral entrepreneurs, who sometimes act in their own interests. Political ideologies have two dimensions: goals: how society should be organized; and 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 and the best economic system. 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 that supports that economic system. The same term may also refer to multiple ideologies, which is why political scientists try to find consensus definitions for these terms.
For example, 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 most often distinct from Marxism–Leninism.
Political ideology is a term fraught with problems, having been called "the most elusive concept in the whole of social science".
While ideologies tend to identify themselves by their position on the political spectrum, they can be distinguished from political strategies and from single issues around which a party may be built, although either of these may or may not be central to a particular ideology. Several studies show that political ideology is heritable within families.
The following list is strictly alphabetical and attempts to divide the ideologies found in practical political life into several groups, with each group containing ideologies that are related to each other. The headers refer to the 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.

Anarchism

; Political internationals

Classical

Post-classical

Contemporary

Opposition

Religious variants

Authoritarianism

General

Other

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Communitarianism

General

Other

Regional variants

Communism

; Political internationals

Authoritarian

Leninism

Libertarian

Marxism

Other

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Conservatism

; Political internationals

General

Reactionary

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Corporatism

General

Other

Religious variants

Regional variants

Western Europe

Democracy

General

Other

Direct democracy movements

Pirate politics

;Political internationals

Opposition

Religious variants

Christian democracy

; Political internationals

Other

Regional variants

African

Asian

American

European

Oceanian

Environmentalism

; Political internationals

Bright green environmentalism

Deep green environmentalism

Light green environmentalism

Other

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Fascism

; Political internationals

General

Other

Opposition

By country

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Identity politics

; Political internationals

Age-related rights movements

Animal-related rights movements

Disability-related rights movements

Feminism

General

Opposition

Chronological variants

Ethnic and social variants

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

LGBTQ social movements

Men's movement

Regional variants

Self-determination movements

African-American

Indigenous peoples

Latin American

Separatist and supremacist movements

Ethnic

African

Gender

Religious variants

Student movements

General

Regional variants

Liberalism

; Political internationals

General

Other

Opposition

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Libertarianism

; Political internationals

Left-libertarianism

Right-libertarianism

Other

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Nationalism

; Political internationals

General

Other

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Unification movements

Populism

; Political internationals

General

Left-wing populism

Right-wing populism

Other

Regional variants

African

Asian

American

European

Oceanian

Progressivism

; Political internationals

General

Other

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

Religio-political ideologies

; Political internationals

General

Political atheism and agnosticism

Political Baháʼí Faith

Political Buddhism

Political Christianity

Political Confucianism

Political Hinduism

Political indigenous religions

Political Islam

Political Judaism

Political Neopaganism

Political Shinto

Political Sikhism

Political Taoism

Political Zoroastrianism

Satirical and anti-politics

General

Other

Religious variants

Regional variants

Social democracy

; Political internationals

General

Other

Opposition

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Socialism

; Political internationals

General

Authoritarian

Libertarian

Other

Opposition

Religious variants

Regional variants

African

American

Asian

European

Oceanian

Syndicalism

; Political internationals

General

Other

Opposition

Regional variants

Transhumanism

; Political internationals

General

Other

Regional variants