academic definition of ideology

Ideology is a word that is perhaps taken for granted within the study of politics. Its pervasiveness creates an illusion that its definition needs no more clarifying. In academia, this can never be the case. Every term requires clarification, none more so than ‘ideology’.

Sources utilised (full reference list at the end of the post)

Ideology by David McLellan
Political Ideologies: An Introduction by David Heywood

Problematisation

David McLellan (1995) reminds us how problematic the endeavour of defining ‘ideology’ is.

McLellan, D. (1995). Ideology. 2ⁿᵈ ed. Buckingham: Open University Press

The book’s opening sentence is in fact:

“Ideology is the most elusive concept in the whole of social science.” (McLellan 1995, p.1)

In the first page he also touches upon how ideology as a word to describe a collection of thought has very often been used in a perjorative sense. Rather than seeing every thought as part of a particular ideology, the word is often use to describe those thoughts that are considered misguided.

“Ideologies, on the other hand, were the products of an increasingly pluralist society and where associated rival groups whose sectional interests they served⁴ .” (McLellan 1995, p.2)