Ideologies and Power: A Guide to Political Systems and Beliefs

Definitions of political systems and platforms to help decode everyday political language

Definitions of political ideologies and platforms to help decode everyday political language #

Leftist #

Leftists believe that capitalism, prisons, and police protect power not people, they want to replace those systems with ones based on equality, and justice.

• Core values: Emphasizes economic and social equality, anti-capitalism, collectivism, and often anti-imperialism.
• Economic position: Typically anti-capitalist or post-capitalist, favoring socialism, democratic socialism, Marxism, or anarchism.
• Structural change: Seeks systemic or revolutionary change to dismantle institutions viewed as inherently oppressive (e.g., capitalism, prisons, police).
• Examples: Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Means TV, political figures like Angela Davis, Cornel West.
• Typical stances: Advocates for abolishing ICE, defunding the police, universal housing and healthcare, and worker ownership of industries.
• Critiques: Accused by opponents of being too radical, unrealistic, or hostile to markets and personal freedom; critics say some leftist visions lack clear transition plans from capitalism.

Liberal (modern U.S. context) #

No, they're not communists.
Liberals support capitalism with guardrails; they want civil rights, regulated markets, and reform through voting and law within the current system, not revolution.

• Core values: Emphasizes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and regulated capitalism.
• Economic position: Supports a mixed economy with social safety nets but operates within a capitalist framework.
• Reformist: Seeks gradual, institutional change through courts, legislation, and democratic processes.
• Examples: Mainstream Democrats, MSNBC commentators, organizations like the ACLU or Human Rights Campaign.
• Typical stances: Supports raising the minimum wage, expanding the ACA, protecting voting rights, and regulating industry while maintaining markets.
• Critiques: Criticized from the left for maintaining a fundamentally unequal system, and from the right for overreach and excessive government; often seen as too incremental to address systemic issues.

Conservative (modern center-right) #

No, it’s not just about being old-fashioned.
Conservatives believe in preserving traditional institutions, personal responsibility, and minimal government interference in markets and culture.

• Core values: Emphasizes tradition, individual responsibility, limited government, free markets, and national sovereignty.
• Economic position: Strongly supports capitalism, deregulation, low taxation, and private enterprise.
• Reform stance: Prefers to preserve established institutions and values, with cautious or incremental change.
• Examples: Mainstream Republicans, think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, National Review.
• Typical stances: Advocates for school choice, strong military, low taxes, private healthcare, and traditional family values.
• Critiques: Criticized for resisting progress on issues like racial justice, climate change, and LGBTQ+ rights; often seen as prioritizing markets and order over human needs.

Right-Wing (populist or far-right) #

No, it’s not just “patriotism.”
Right-wing politics often prioritize national identity, cultural dominance, and law and order—even if that means limiting democracy or civil liberties.

• Core values: Emphasizes nationalism, cultural or ethnic identity, law and order, and opposition to progressive social change.
• Economic position: May include protectionism, corporatism, or crony capitalism—less consistent than conservatives.
• Change stance: Often seeks to reverse liberal or progressive reforms and return to a prior social order.
• Examples: Far-right parties or movements, figures like Steve Bannon or Tucker Carlson, media like Breitbart or OANN.
• Typical stances: Promotes immigration bans, "anti-woke" policies, book restrictions, nationalist rhetoric, and skepticism toward democratic norms.
• Critiques: Accused of racism, authoritarianism, anti-intellectualism, and undermining democracy; critics say it exploits fear and division.

Socialism #

No, they’re not coming for your house.
Socialism means essential services and industries are owned by the public, not corporations; so people benefit from things like healthcare, housing, and education, rather than being priced out by profit.

• Core idea: An economic and political system where the means of production are owned or regulated collectively by the public or the state for the benefit of all.
• Forms: Ranges from democratic socialism (Scandinavian welfare states) to state socialism (centralized planning).
• Distinction: Unlike communism, socialism can exist within a democratic framework and may allow for some private ownership.
• Critiques: Detractors argue socialism stifles innovation, creates inefficiency, and risks state overreach; some fear a slippery slope to authoritarianism or reduced freedoms.

Democratic Socialism #

Democratic Socialism combines socialist economics with democratic political systems, aiming to ensure both economic fairness and civil liberties.

• Core values: Economic equality, worker empowerment, public control of essential services, and strong democratic institutions.
• Characteristics:
  • Belief that capitalism concentrates wealth and power in harmful ways, but replacing it must happen democratically, with public support.
  • Supports universal healthcare, free higher education, housing as a right, and strong labor protections.
  • Champions civil rights, civil liberties, and pluralist democracy—rejecting authoritarianism and one-party rule.
• Typical stances:
  • Medicare for All, Green New Deal, ending corporate influence in politics, expanding unions, taxing the wealthy, and demilitarizing police.
• Modern usage:
  • Popularized in the U.S. by figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
  • Distinct from social democracy (e.g., Nordic model) by advocating for deeper transformations of economic ownership, not just generous welfare.
• Critiques: Accused by critics of promising too much with unclear means of delivery; opponents say it relies on unrealistic budget projections or disrupts market dynamics.

Neoliberalism #

No, it’s not just “liberals being liberal.”
Neoliberalism is a global economic and political ideology that prioritizes free markets, privatization, and limited government—treating society as a marketplace and people as economic actors above all else.

• Core values: Emphasizes market freedom, competition, individual entrepreneurship, and minimal state intervention in the economy.
• Economic position: Strongly pro-capitalist; champions deregulation, globalization, low taxation, and private sector solutions to public needs.
• Policy characteristics:
  • Privatization of public services (education, healthcare, utilities).
  • Austerity measures in government spending.
  • Trade liberalization, reduced tariffs, and global supply chains.
  • Weakening of labor protections and union power.
• Cultural impact: Promotes a worldview where success is personal responsibility, poverty is individual failure, and the role of the state is to create favorable conditions for capital.
• Examples: Politicians like Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair; institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and World Economic Forum.
• Typical stances: Advocates for school vouchers, private retirement accounts, gig economy flexibility, and “public-private partnerships” in infrastructure and services.
• Critiques: Accused of deepening inequality, eroding democracy, commodifying life, and causing widespread precarity; blamed for climate inaction and corporate dominance over public policy.

Oligarchy #

Oligarchy is when a small elite whether wealthy, corporate, or military runs everything while pretending the rest of us have a say.

• Core idea: A system of governance where power rests with a small, elite group, often based on wealth, family, corporate control, or military rank.
• Characteristics: Few people control decision-making; public participation is minimal.
• Modern usage: Sometimes used to describe plutocracies or corporate-dominated systems that appear democratic on the surface.
• Critiques: Criticized for being fundamentally undemocratic, resistant to accountability, and prone to corruption and economic inequality.

Autocracy #

Autocracy means one person holds absolute power, often bypassing democratic systems and silencing opposition.

• Core idea: A system where one person holds absolute power over the state, without meaningful checks or accountability.
• Types: Includes monarchies, dictatorships, or personalist regimes.
• Key feature: Power is centralized in a single leader, regardless of ideology.
• Critiques: Denounced for human rights abuses, suppression of dissent, and lack of transparency or public input.

Techno-Oligarchy #

Think: power without consent, channeled through code, data, and infrastructure.

• Core values: Control, profit, platform dominance, and centralized data power with little to no public oversight.
• Characteristics:
  • A small group of tech billionaires and corporate elites shape global policy, public discourse, and even democracy.
  • Power stems from ownership of digital infrastructure, algorithmic influence, and exclusive access to personal data.
  • Decisions are often made behind closed doors, with no democratic mandate or meaningful regulation.
• Modern usage:
  • Describes the growing dominance of companies like X (formerly known as Twitter), Meta, Amazon, Google, and OpenAI in shaping everything from news visibility to national security.
  • Critiques focus on unaccountable influence over elections, culture, labor, and the economy.
  • Often overlaps with concerns about surveillance capitalism, AI governance, and platform monopolies.
• Critiques: Accused of being the new form of unregulated power—obscured by technology and profit motives—with little regard for ethics, labor rights, or democratic norms.