Originally posted by: torpid
Originally posted by: Champ
is conservatism a ideology...so to look at that we have to define both conservatism and ideology
i guess i can leave it out but i need to find what it cited for its definition and see if that is usable
Well, you would know best, but it doesn't sound like you should be basing your answer on dictionary definitions. If the paper was assigned, there is probably an assumed definition for both ideology and conservatism. The important one being conservatism. Typically that would include "the beliefs of conservatives" or similar which includes very specific ideas and as such would obviously be an ideology; but more likely they are talking about just the generalized notion of retaining existing practices and disfavoring radical change. Unless the class is just an introduction to using the dictionary, most likely they are asking about the generalized notion.
If that is the case you should be writing a paper as if the question/subject is: Can "A general preference for the existing order of society, and an opposition to efforts to bring about sharp change" be considered an ideology? You do not need the dictionary to answer that question. The content of your essay would be based on whether you think, basically, that a resistance to change can be considered a political doctrine.