This new revised edition includes an updated bibliography, a new glossary and index and fresh suggestions for further reading, as well as a discussion of ideology after September 11. : *traces the history of the term and the debates which surround it, from Machiavelli to the present day *asks why ideology matters *examines ideology within the critical frameworks of empiricism, idealism, Marxism, post-Marxism and postmodernism. With plenty of clear examples to illuminate the discussion, offers an accessible introduction to this controversial and widely debated critical concept.