How do political ideologies differ in their understanding of the state?

Firstly, define the political ideologies you are going to examine. For example, I will speak about: Liberalism, Conservatism and Marxism. The principle of individualism is recognised as the core of Liberalism, hence it’s believed by liberals that the main role of the state is to protect individual freedom and uphold ‘natural rights’ defined by John Locke (1632-1704) as the rights to: life, liberty and property. Consequently, liberals believe that society requires little state intervention and any attempt by government to intrude excessively is deemed an infringement on individual freedom. Conservatism, however, strongly contrasts to Liberalism as it rejects the rational philosophy constructed from the Enlightenment. In terms of the social role of the state, Conservatives believe firstly in the preservation of what they deem traditional institutions, such as the monarchy and conventional family structure. Secondly, they hold great significance to the concept of authority. In particular it is believed that increasing modernity has lead to the undermining and collapse of authority. The states role therefore is to attempt to reinforce the values of tradition and authority to retain morality in society. Understanding of the state takes another form in the socialist ideology of Marxism, which proclaimed ‘the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles’. Marx believed that the capitalist state imposes and preserves structure in society and actively suppresses the lower class. He believed therefore that a proletariat revolution to abolish capitalism was inevitable and once a communist ‘utopia’ was achieved, there would no longer be an operative role for the state and it would simply ‘wither away’.