Political ideological shift

A theoretical approach

Bibliographic Data

ID3066994
AuthorsFiiorenzo Facchini (0000-0001-9471-0385, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France, corresponding author), François Facchini
Year2016
Volume55
Issue4
Pages589-602
Publication date2016-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Science Information (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0539-0184 • E-ISSN: 1461-7412
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0539018416658149
OpenAlexW2474735797
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited29

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

Cognitive dissonance · Economics · Empiricism · Epistemology · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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