ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that analyzing the historical dimension of political ideologies is vital if one wants to understand them properly. This is so for three reasons. First, all political ideologies necessarily exist in a particular historical context. Second, they all use concepts (such as “democracy” or “liberty”) that carry historical accretions that affect their meaning. Finally, political ideologies all have to find ways to conceptualize historical change in order to remain compelling in new historical circumstances. The chapter then explores the different ways in which the major ideologies of liberalism, conservatism, and socialism do this. It argues that liberalism justifies its continuing commitment to liberty in four different ways. Three of these cite various reasons for historical progress, justifying individual liberty as key to this process; the fourth is more ambivalent about historical progress but nevertheless contends that the pluralism modernity has brought provides a good justification for liberty. By contrast, conservatives have sought to manage change, some contending this can be done on a cautious, evolutionary basis, while others have argued that it is necessary to return to an earlier point or even criticize the Western tradition as a whole. Finally, socialists were presented with a powerful conceptualization of history by Marx in the 19th century, and this has remained influential. However, other socialists have rejected the necessity for revolution whilst retaining Marx’s commitment to universal emancipation, while more recently, other socialists again have sought to reformulate the ideology more radically in response to the challenges of globalization.
