1. 7. Parties and ideologies
Ideologies and specific worldviews are of particular relevance for political parties. Ideologies are comprehensive visions of societies and social developments, which contain explanations, values, and goals for past, present and future developments. Ideologies inspire and justify political and social action. They are an essential element for political orientation. The term “ideology” has been and is still used mainly by leftist, communist and socialist parties to characterize their worldviews and political positions. Nevertheless, other streams of political thinking can also be denominated as “ideologies”, like, for instance, liberalism, conservatism, nationalism or fascism.