1. Keeping in mind the material covered in this lesson, describe how you understand ideology in your own words.

Ideology is a framework of ideas, beliefs, and principles that people use to guide their decisions. It’s an understanding of the world, and more specifically politics, that groups and individuals use to determine their actions. It often functions as a shorthand, allowing us to make fast decisions and quickly identify likeminded people.

When we allow ideology to guide our decisions, we risk not earnestly engaging with legitimate questions and forming biases to our own detriment. This is often the case in politics, where ideology and tribalism lead us to disregard ideas presented by rival political parties based on who’s presenting the idea, rather than on the merits of the idea itself.

2. How do you understand the difference between conservative and liberal ideology in US politics? What seem to be the big differences, the dividing line? Given an example to backup your arguments.

Liberals believe in the power of government and collective decision-making to create the best outcomes for the greatest number of people, valuing equality over individual liberty. Conservative ideology has an emphasis on individuality, believing that free markets yield the best outcomes for the greatest number of people. 

As a broad example, liberals generally agree that a public healthcare system, funded by tax dollars, is better than private healthcare, as it makes healthcare available to more people. Conservatives believe that government spending is largely inefficient and wasteful, therefore a private healthcare system (with lower taxes) will better allow individuals to seek out and afford the healthcare they need.

3. How do you understand Althusser’s definition of ideology? Paraphrase it in your own words. Given an example.

Althusser argues that ideology is most often a framework for class and social repression. By instilling bad or distracting values to people (say, emotionally investing in a sports team rather than issues of class and personal/group well being) and by giving the illusion of choice (like the choice between two political parties that altogether as different as they may claim themselves to be, nor as threatening to the status quo as other options may be), the working class is largely distracted and deterred from fomenting societal change.