Ideology

Ideology, set of beliefs based on related political, social, and economic assumptions. People who hold to a particular ideology often rely on its system of thought in forming decisions about the way they live or work. Ideologies may be religious, such as Catholicism, or artistic, such as Impressionism. Communism, socialism, democracy, fascism, and totalitarianism are different kinds of political ideologies. For example, until 1989 the government of West Germany adhered to a form of democracy, whereas the government of East Germany adhered to a form of communism: both democracy and communism are political ideologies.