"They are rarely grounded in an ideology cannily crafted from first principles. Like most of our beliefs, the reasons for political convictions are constructed

"They are rarely grounded in an ideology cannily crafted from first principles. Like most of our beliefs, the reasons for political convictions are constructed after we have settled on them.[5] Attempts to make the tangle of positions endorsed by Republicans or Democrats congeal into one coherent ideology are post-hoc justifications. Ideological coherence ultimately matters less than commitment to a coalition." is `values` synonymous with `beliefs` here? if so, isn't coalitionism a first principle itself? and therefore really what's happening is there's a hierarchy of beliefs and primary beliefs (such as loyalty, faith, etc.) inform secondary (more fungible) beliefs/political interests. personally i have throughout my life heard people say things to that effect ("god, family, country"). it has stood in stark contrast to how i've felt (because i didn't grow up religious, don't have close family ties, am an immigrant - so not patriotic) and as a consequence (i hypothesize) affects the way in which i approach politics, in that i try to reason things out from first principles.