The Greeks are generally regarded the forefathers of western philosophy.  They used the term "kyklos" to reference the cycles of government that societies typically experience.

The five generally regarded cycles were aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny, following one another roughly in that order.  Much conjecture was made as to the causes behind these cycles and what the ideal system was.

Aristotle's work "Politics" sought to provide a comprehensive analysis of society, social systems and pretty much everything as it related to the polity and how to govern it. 

It was also generally regarded that the cycling between styles of government was bad for the state as it created instability and violence.  A stable transfer of power with a limited set of laws that didn't change with new rulers was preferred.  In this vein, constitutional governments were highly regarded. 

In "Politics", Aristotle considers a constitutional government preferred and Democracy as the least harmful derivative of it.  Churchill, as well, quipped that Democracy was the worst, except for all the other forms of government.

Anarchy is the absence of government.  There are those that advocate for it.  This is the point Aristotle and Churchill were making I believe - given the unworkability of a stateless state, Democracy is the preferred form of governance.  Herein, the government is the representation of Civilization to the violent and unpredictable state of nature provided by anarchy.

Curiously, timocracy is likely what anarchy would lead to.  It wouldn't be flowers and candy-canes.  There are modern examples we can look to and such seems to be the outcome.

The concept of ideology really comes with the birth of Liberalism following the black plague.  It is a product of the freedoms and liberties that the anti-feudal idea of Liberalism brought.  It was to be the best implementation of those Aristotelian ideals.  It's not the way the word "liberal" is used in American vernacular today.

Ideology is abstraction.  Policy is the practical implementation of ideology, ideally filtered through compromise between entities of varied experience and opinion.  Varied voices provide greater likelihood of accounting for maximum entropy in a system.

Empathy is the penultimate manifestation of maximum power. 

I like to think of ideology as a lantern.

If you're out on a boat, in total darkness, ideology can provide a guide for where to go.  If you row to one shore, the enemy with sharpened rocks awaits.  Your friendly camp can send you signals with a lamp so you know where to steer, avoiding the violence.

Only an idiot would attempt to use a lantern to try to row a boat.  You need a paddle.  Sometimes humans get lost in the abstractions.