Ideology
Party budgets, startup mantras that survive until the first lawsuit, and campus election wars all run on this noun: ideas filed into a ruling system.
Learn This WordMeaning
System of ideas behind politics.
Memory trick
IDEA + LOGY (study/system): ideas filed into a ruling system.
Examples
Party ideology shaped budgets.
The startup’s "move fast" ideology survived exactly until the first lawsuit.
Campus ideology wars peak every election season and vanish by placements.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From French idéologie, coined in 1796 for the "science of ideas." Ideas organized into a ruling system.
Usage Notes
Political science core: party ideology, market ideology, ruling ideology. Can shade negative (rigid dogma) so watch your adjectives.
Real-life contexts
Use in polity: "Coalitions dilute strict ideology."
Use in essays: "Ideology fills budgets with priorities."
Use in debate: "Judge the ideology by its outcomes."
Common Mistakes
Ideology is a system, not a single opinion; one belief is a view, a structure of beliefs is an ideology. Plural ideologies for competing systems.
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Part of Speech
noun
Difficulty
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