Ideology
Ideology and state

When a political ideology becomes a dominantly pervasive component within a government, one can speak of an ideocracy. Different forms of government use ideology in various ways, not always restricted to politics and society. Certain ideas and schools of thought become favored, or rejected, over others, depending on their compatibility with or use for the reigning social order.

In The Anatomy of Revolution, Crane Brinton said that new ideology spreads when there is discontent with an old regime. The may be repeated during revolutions itself; extremists such as Vladimir Lenin and Robespierre may thus overcome more moderate revolutionaries. This stage is soon followed by Thermidor, a reining back of revolutionary enthusiasm under pragmatists like Napoleon and Joseph Stalin, who bring " normalcy and equilibrium". Brinton's sequence ("men of ideas> fanatics >practical men of action") is reiterated by J. William Fulbright, while a similar form occurs in Eric Hoffer 's The True Believer. The revolution thus becomes established as an ideocracy, though its rise is likely to be checked by a 'political midlife crisis.'
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