ABSTRACT
“Politics” embraces a variety of meanings, feelings, actions, and even states of mind. Politics are personal and global, from as direct as a candidate wanting our vote, to a dangerous international crisis, to our own personal life and its relationships. Politics can be a way of looking at the world: conservative or liberal; reactionary or progressive. This chapter discusses differences between political ideology and ideology-driven politics. Political ideology might be described as party affiliation: Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Labor, Right or Left. Ideology-driven politics are more encompassing: Communism, Socialism, Liberal Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Fascism, White Supremacist. These are life-driving beliefs that go beyond who we might vote for and determine the way we view the world and interact with people. Liberal democracy, which embraces the basic concepts of individual liberty and the freedom to rise economically despite class or race, is rarely considered an ideology, perhaps because it is the reigning ideology of many Western countries.
