Ideologies refer to a set of ideas and values that provides a base for organised political action. They justify and influence the different theories of society and human nature. Ideologies have a big impact on policy making, as the government of the day will base their policies around these political ideologies. The two major political parties in New Zealand, National and Labour, each have different beliefs and values which lead to different ideologies. Looking at both parties previous and current policies, we can observe the impact of the ideologies they have adopted on their policy making. The National party in the last 20 years has driven policies from a neo-liberal viewpoint, focussing on minimal state intervention. The Labour party, in contrast, is looked at as being the flagbearer for social democracy (Eichbaum & Shaw, 2008), and their policies are influenced from this ideology.
An ideology is a coherent set of ideas and values. Ideologies justify specific policies and support specific groups; such as social or economic. It extends into an assessment of the existing state of social and economic affairs, and a political strategy for shifting from one to another (Eichbaum & Shaw, 2008). Social issues, and the way in which policies are created and explained, will be shaped by the values and ideas of those who have the most political influence on society at the time. These ideas are commonly grouped into political ideologies.
Political ideologies are the groups of ideas and ethical values, based on the core behind, and the solution for, social and economic problems (Duncan, 2007). They are both normative and politically motivated. Political ideologies are normative in the sense that they hold values about human nature and how society should live their lives, and politically motivated in being supported by political interests (Duncan, 2007).
Political parties base their
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