Ideological Call to Arms: Disentangling Ideology, Meanings, and Practices in the Reproduction of Education Policy

• In Event: New Perspectives on the Roles of Institutional Actors in Education Reform

Abstract

Political ideologies determine much of how parties view the world and the actions they promote. Consequently, understanding these ideologies helps us make sense of their behaviors and resulting influence on social institutions. We employ archival research methods and computational linguistics to analyze the education-specific portions of Democratic and Republican party platforms from 1952-2008. We test the parties’ ideological frames as they categorize social issues, assign responsibilities, and situate education in a broader social context. We demonstrate the ways the two parties’ distinct notions of community vs. individual manifest in their assignment of actors, positioning around issues, and promotion of actions. The study finds that ideological differences take form in contradictory ways creating dissonant realities within the institution of education.

Authors

• Debbie Kim, Northwestern University

• Jeannette Colyvas, Northwestern University