Convergence and divergence in the study of ideology: A critical review

Jonathan Leader Maynard, Matto Mildenberger

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)
550 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Dedicated research on ideology has proliferated over the last few decades. Many different disciplines and methodologies have sought to make a contribution, with the welcome consequence that specialist thinking about ideology is at a high-water mark of richness, diversity and theoretical sophistication. Yet this proliferation of research has fragmented the study of ideology by producing independent communities of scholars differentiated by geographical location and by disciplinary attachment. This review draws together research on ideology from several disciplines on different sides of the Atlantic, in order to address three questions that appear to be of great relevance to political scientists: (1) What do we mean by ideology? (2) How do we model ideology? (3) Why do people adopt the ideologies they do? In doing so, it argues that many important axes of debate cut across disciplinary and geographic boundaries, and points to a series of significant intellectual convergences that offer a framework for productive interdisciplinary engagement and integration.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)563-589
Number of pages27
JournalBritish Journal of Political Science
Volume48
Issue number2
Early online date21 Mar 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2018

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