Full Idea
An ideology generally has three components: a judgement (usually critical) of how things are, a picture of the ideology's ideal society, and a strategy for progressing towards the ideal.
Gist of Idea
An ideology judges things now, and offers an ideal, with a strategy for reaching it
Source
Andrew Dobson (Environmental Politics: very short intro [2016], 2)
Book Reference
Dobson,Andrew: 'Environmental Politics: Very Short Intro' [OUP 2016], p.35
A Reaction
Conservatives tend to think we are already living in the ideal, and they reject most ideologies for being 'idealistic' (which presumably means delusional). I'm a fan of ideals, but combined with cool judgement.