In recent years there has been a massive upserge in academic, professional and lay interest in studies on political ideologies world- wide. This is reflected in academic and professional literature, in the popular media and in the proliferation of printed matter focused on individual ideologies. Until now the majority of reference material on political ideologies has been designed for particular disciplinary readership and addressed only specific ideology or concerns connected with it. There has been an urgent need for an authoritative and accessible reference work reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of this field. This encyclopaedia answers that need. The Encyclopaedia of Political Ideologies consolidates and contextualizes the basic ideas of all major ideologies practiced throughout the world. The phenomena of each ideology and its related aspects are explored and explained in detail, in most cases from the works of the greatest writers on the subject. The work covers widely studied ideologies: Anarchism, Communism, Conservatism, Democracy, Ecologism, Fascism, Feminism, Liberalism, Nationalism, Socialism; and sets each ideology in its historical, political, and cultural context. The reference work shall be welcomed by scholars, teachers, and students of political science, and be equally useful for sociologists, political historians, and cultural anthropologists. It will also benefit those professionals and practitioners whose work demands an informed opinion making, governance, and administration at all levels.
