Political ideological shift: A theoretical approach

Abstract

The author explains ideological change using a theory justifying an individual’s grounds for action. If an individual prefers ideology A to ideology B, it is because the costs of justifying A are less than the costs of justifying B. On this basis, the dynamic behind ideologies is explained partly by their justification context and partly by rises in justification costs. The context for their rationale plays a not insignificant role, as it qualifies the type of event capable of generating a change. An event generates a change because it makes an ideology problematic and places the individual in a situation of cognitive dissonance. This event is an experiment in an empiricist justification context, a logical factor in a rationalist context and an interpretative inconsistency in a religious context. The event that generates change is qualified thus; it might be argued that an event makes an ideology problematic when it increases its justification costs. Logically, its rationale costs should increase with the quality of alternative ideologies, the position of scientific or religious authorities – depending on the rationale context – the number of people who decide to revise their ideology or to abandon it, and the entire body of knowledge deemed to be non-problematic by individuals.