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To what extent are British Political Parties Ideological?
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| Submitted: Mon Aug 18 2003
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To what extent are British Political Parties Ideological? Political parties are influenced by more than one ideology. Key liberal ideas, for example the free market and minimal state have been upheld by the conservative government 1979-1997 and have continued through Tony Blair's premiership 1997-today. Since its first beginnings in the late eighteenth century the distinction between left and right has remained ambiguous and difficult to pin down. Left and right have also changed their meanings over time. A glance at the development of political thought shows that the same ideas that have been regarded as political left in certain periods and contexts have also been regarded as political right in others. In this way the major parties cross over the political spectrum sharing similar ideas in places, weakening the divides between them. For example, advocates of free-market philosophies were seen in the nineteenth century as left-wing but thanks to...
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