A Repressive State Apparatus, as defined by Althusser, refers to institutions like the military, police, courts, and prisons that maintain control over society through force or the threat of force. Althusser calls it repressive because these institutions enforce compliance using coercion and violence. For example, the police use physical force to arrest and punish those who break the law, ensuring the state’s power through direct suppression.

Ideological State Apparatuses are institutions like schools, media, religion, and family that shape people’s beliefs and values through ideology. They influence individuals by promoting social norms making them feel natural. For example, schools not only teach academics but also reinforce norms like respect for authority, which supports the existing social order.

The difference between Repressive State Apparatuses and Ideological State Apparatuses lies in their methods. Repressive State Apparatuses maintain power through direct force and using authority to impose compliance through threats or physical punishment. In contrast, Ideological State Apparatuses maintain power through shaping people’s thoughts and beliefs, guiding them to follow societal norms. While one relies on coercion and physical power, the other operates through influence and persuasion.

The Image above represents Repressive State Apparatuses at work. Police are using tear gas and physical force to maintain control. The goal is to ensure compliance and ultimately stop protestors from resisting and being defiant by continuing their movement.

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

Ideology to me is a person or group of persons own ideas or personal view of what to them is right or wrong, the beliefs they hold about the world around them that usually pertains to political theory and policy and is usually swayed by economic conditions. For example my personal ideology is that everyone should have equal rights and that our taxed dollars should be used in governmental assistant programs like universal healthcare and less used on military defense spending. With those ideologies I am considered a left leaning either liberal, democrat or progressive even though I consider myself independent.

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.
These days it really doesn’t seem that there exist the typical conservative party as this day in age MAGA republicans in my opinion are not conservative at all. Yet a conservative once upon a time believed in less government involvement, less taxes and conservative spending. Most conservatives are white Christians that believe in prayers in school and loose gun laws. The conservative party differs from the liberal ideology as liberals believe that the wealthiest should pay more in taxes literally just their fare share as sometimes they pay nothing, they believe in stricter gun laws and that government should be stepping in to regulate the greedy large corporations to protect the environment and ensure equality for all just to name a few.

Republicans have created more government involvement in our personal lives than ever. They tell kids what they can read by banning books, they create new agencies like DOGE, use religion to control the masses by implementing laws to take women’s reproductive rights away and LGBTQ rights to marry or seek gender affirming care away. They preach about fiscal spending yet add 8 Trillion dollars to the deficit more than any even 2 term president in history. They preach christian values yet so many are riddled by sex scandals and corruption. They use to be originalists and swore by the constitution now they break the rules to force their white supremacist agenda.

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

Louis Althusser a Marxist philosopher’s definition of ideology can be understood as a set of beliefs or ideas that help maintain the existing social and political order, particularly by supporting the interests of the ruling class. He believes in shaping people’s beliefs, values, and perceptions in a way that reinforces the status quo, using fear to ensure that the dominant social order remains intact. In this view, the ruling class controls the masses by creating ideologies that convince them to act against their own interests, often without realizing it.

For example, in capitalist societies, the wealthy elite may perpetuate the idea that immigrants are the reason for job loss among the working class. This distracts from the real issue: corporations outsourcing jobs or hiring immigrants for lower wages. As a result, the working class vote for politicians whose policies benefit the wealthy (such as opposing better healthcare or wage increases) while blaming immigrants for their struggles. Eventually, these policies can have negative consequences for everyone, such as rising food prices or labor shortages, as the focus shifts away from addressing the real causes of economic inequality.