Why do you suppose names in politics get corrupted over time?

[Anonymous]

Why do you suppose names in politics get corrupted over time?

What we now call Libertarians was once called liberal, and before that Whig. In every case the term as invented originally referred to people opposed to centralized power, and was abandoned to people who favored the opposite.

For example America was founded by what we today call libertarians, although before the revolution they called themselves Old Whigs, thereafter Liberals.

https://fee.org/articles/the-libertarian-and-whig-heritage-of-america/

They don't get corrupted people just imagine they change out of romanticism about the past.

Politicians who run under said platform betray and redefine said term once in power to justify reelection.

The ideology itself simply changes and splits into different branches both adhering to the original in different ways.

The languages is redefined by writers to justify and manipulate people into supporting their ideas.

[Soteris]

Actually pretty much none of what you said is accurate but that is besides the point. Why do the names of political groups change over time? Because the people in them and the political ideologies change over time. For example, lets take the Tories in the UK right now as an example. It is not like they are a monolithic organization with a singular direction.

Right now the Tories are more or less fighting an internal civil war between several different factions, each with their own goals and each with their own ideologies. Depending on who wins there will be a major change in the internal party structure and policies which will then change the identity itself. After all comes the part where we dont generally call the party with its actual name. The Tory party in the UK is actually called the "Conservative and Unionist Party" but that name is frankly dumb so people found their own nicknames for it.

As with all nicknames, they change over time as people change and as peoples view of the subject changes.

[RolandCuthbert]

I would guess some combination of your different answers would be closer to the truth. But I would add one additional reason. Most people see politics as a way of affirming their identity, rather than an affirmation of their ideals. A person can be about freedom, or about the domination of the group they identify with. A person can be about conservative concepts of family and community or pretend to be and overlook the shortcomings of candidates/representatives of their political party.

Today's political climate is a joke. It has become insane. And we don't have enough folk advocating for actual ideals any longer. It simply is more effective to sign on to the craziness and profit off the zealotry. And it is hard to see how any of this has a positive end.

[jshm2]

Everything gets corrupted after a while, kiddo.

The Democratic party of yesteryear is what the Republican party is these days.