Liberal is defined as "one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways." (Webster's dictionary) A conservative is defined as "one who adheres to traditional methods or views." (Webster's dictionary) The definition of these words have changed throughout history. A liberal in older days was not what one would be today; they were considered a person whom sought to use change, while a conservative is one who opposed change. The differences between a liberal and a conservative is a wide gap that focuses upon the fundamental beliefs of those within each group.
Pure liberals are people who show themselves as liberal on both economic policy and personal conduct. This means "that they want the government to reduce economic inequality, regulate business, tax the rich heavily, cure the (presumably) economic causes of crime, allow abortions, protect the rights of the accused, and guarantee the broadest possible freedoms of speech and press." (Wilson, 121) In contrast to, a pure conservative who show conservative views on both economic and conduct issues. This means that "They want the government to cut back on welfare state, allow the market to allocate goods and services, keep taxes low, lock up criminals, and curb forms of conduct they regard as antisocial." (Wilson, 121) I believe according to Wilson's definitions on both terms, I am a pure conservative.
I believe that I pay too much tax. Before I took an economics' course I did not know where my money went every month. I realized that all the money I paid to the government was benefiting others and not me. The government spends too much money on social security programs. The social security program does not be...
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... programs needed to be cut, so I never really had the opportunity to go through an incident like that.
The term ideological is defined as "a more or less consistent set of views as to the policies government ought to pursue." (Wilson, 116) I believe that I am ideological in my political thinking. I stand really strong on what I believe in and will always try to persuade people that my thinking is right. My opinion on spending more money on national security rather than welfare is strongly felt because I have been a victim where I suffered because the government spent too much money on welfare rather than national defense. I feel that I am very consistent in all my thinking not only with politics but also with other issues.
With my own experiences in this world I do believe that I am ideological in my political thinking and I am a pure conservative.
Today, the definition of the term “liberal” is relatively uncontested, and its content is relatively well defined. A liberal today is someone who advocates for governmental solutions to various problems, not for unaided individual freedom. Liberals today trust and call for governmental action, not for the type of self-determination supported by Hoover. Contemporary liberals believe in individual freedom, but they typically advocate f...
The typical philosophical ideals of the liberals seem to focus on the government helping the little guy and leveling the playing field. They oppose tax-cuts for the rich, they are distrustful of big-business and those who are wealthy. They like government programs that help minorities and those with lower incomes. They want to raise the minimum wage, provide better national healthcare and provide better unemployment and welfare coverage’s. They nearly always side with unions over management, the guy who sues the big business. They are sick and tired of conservatives telling them that the poor are poor because they don't work hard enough. They are sick and tired of being criticized for caring about the little guy.
When it comes to my political beliefs, I am indecisive between being a Republican or a Democrat. The reason for this, is because I never really showed enough interest into learning more about politics. As for my politically ideology, I feel that I am more liberal than I am conservative. In theory, ideology is defined in two ways, “(1) Organized set of political attitudes based on underlying principles”, and “(2) a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the role of government” (McAtee). An Individual’s political ideology can be formed from public opinions and agents of socializations (McAtee). According to the quiz I took on “Politopia.com”, the results showed that I was “Centerville”, which means that I am in between of being a Democrat or a Republican, or that I support both sides and yet oppose to both sides.
Civic stances are generally broken down into three categories: liberal, conservative, and libertarian. A liberal is someone who is not narrow in his or her opinions or judgments. A conservative is someone who is disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions. And finally a libertarian is someone who upholds the principles of unrestricted liberty. Of the three, liberalism is a better stance because it is better to have an open mind when forming opinions and making judgments, especially in politics liberalism is a better stance to take than conservatism and libertarianism.
In conclusion, I am a centralist in my economic and social beliefs. However, there are some stances that I may take which would place closer to the Libertarian ideology. Generally, I believe in a fair and humane approach to citizenship as this separates democratic nations from socialist and dictatorial ones. Although most of my political beliefs are influenced by my upbringing, I am gradually developing my own ideologies as I learn more about modern politics and the impact of economic and social policies. I have learnt from the Nolan Test, that I am predisposed to the moderate view and do not possess a pure political stance.
Political ideology holds an important place when determining what to consider yourself as. The Republican Party holds a vision that is established on American traditions of family, community, and
Liberals usually have the perspective that the government should help the people much more than they do presently, with more programs such as welfare (etc.). Liberals generally agree that the government should intervene, regulate, and promote the economy and ensure fairness in society always. Government policies are indeed needed and necessary for citizens to fulfill their daily needs. Most also do agree with a "free-market" society, however, they stress the need for government policies.
Personally I am a Republican. This is dues to my beliefs and values I tend to have a more traditional ideology. Overall on most key issues I tend to be more conservative. For Example I am prolife, Pro second amendment rights, and anti-gay marriage. In closing I feel that my stand point on most issues is that most similar to the Republican Party.
Are you Republican or Democrat? Maybe you are Conservative or Liberal? What do these terms mean and how did they begin? Classical Conservatism is defined as “a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order.”(Frohnen, Beer, and Nelson, 2006) Classical Liberalism is described as “a philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets.” (Hudelson, 1999) These two ideas have shaped our philosophies and parties for centuries to come. These philosophies were made possible by many bright men of the time like Edmund Burke, John Adams, John Locke and Adam Smith.
Liberalism is an ideology and due to the changing views of historical persons, who have each viewed themselves to be Liberals, is difficult to define precisely. There are five agreed defining tenants of Liberalism. The most important of these, percolating through the ideology, is the ‘Importance of the Individual’, and closely interlinked with this is ‘Freedom’, which leads on to the concept of ‘Individual Freedom or liberty’. Liberals believe that humankind is a rational species, and thus ‘Reason’ is a third tenant. Furthermore Liberalism advocates that the principle of ‘Justice’ and Toleration’ are fundamental in the well being of society and each of these aspects relates directly back to the quintessential first tenant. Liberalism, according to Habermas “emphasizes individual freedom from restraint and is usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard; c: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties.” As an individualist, rather than a collectivist ideology the individual is placed as the building block of society. J. S. Mill says ...
After taking “The Political Compass” test, it is interesting to see how I turned out to be more communist and authoritarian than I originally believed. I am a bit disappointed that I turned out to be “less ideological.” This could be a result of the fact that I do not see myself to be an extremist. Extremists are typically unable to share views with other extremists. I can identify with authoritarians more than with libertarians. This exam is able to determine whether someone can identify with libertarians, authoritarians, communists or neo-liberalists. Many of the questions on the exam were very vague, while others were very direct and specific. There are plenty of factors that affect the results of this exam- childhood experiences, age, gender, religion, race, ethnicity, influence
Few people know their own political beliefs. Although this sounds strange I truly believe it, considering the varying political opinions that are constantly being thrown at us from the television, the news, the radio, magazines, our families, and even the president. So much influence makes it hard to maintain personal political views; your own opinion can easily be swayed. The media often presents information on current issues that may cause someone to stray from their original, authentic position. In order to reestablish a personal opinion, everything else must be set aside, and all outside influences disregarded. Having done this, and having taken several political quizzes, I was surprised to find myself, according to the political quizzes, considered a centrist- a moderate or middle grounder. Prior to exploring my own political views I considered myself a conservative. Having been influenced by the media and especially by my family I thought of myself as a true conservative in every way. Until recently, I never even bothered to have my own political views; what I heard from family members I accepted as true and learned what I could from the media. Although I still passionately support the Republican Party on many issues, I discovered that with all other influences set aside, I have more moderate, and surprisingly several liberal opinions than I ever would have acknowledged.
Modern liberalism and modern conservatism are both political outlooks that involve acceptance or support of the balance of the degree of social equality and social inequality; while they tend to avoid political changes that would result in extreme deviation of society to either side. Modern liberalism and modern conservatism tend not to be as centrist or middle-of-the-road ideologies as they once could be. Ideology is a set of ideas and beliefs that guide the goals, expectations, and actions of a group (Webster’s Dictionary). Individuals who are conservative or liberal tend to have views that align within a political party, whether it be Republican or democratic, but this is not always the case. There are conservative democrats, such as, Jim Costa and Jim Cooper and there are liberal republicans, such as, Nathaniel Banks and George Washington Julian. Another name for conservative democrats would be blue dog democrats while the nickname for liberal republicans is the Rockefeller republicans. These two ideologies tend to be more of the centrist ideologies. Modern liberals tend to be members of the Democratic Party because they support a wide range of welfare programs and government support of the public sector and tighter corporate regulations (PP Modern Liberalism). U.S. Conservatism evolved from classical liberalism, which makes them similar, yet there is many differences between modern conservatism and modern liberalism. There are principles and tenets that govern each ideology. A tenant is a belief or idea that is held as being true from a group (Webster’s Dictionary). In understanding both ideologies, it is imperative to have an understanding of classical liberalism. Classical liberalism was built on ideas from the seventeenth ...
However, conservatism was founded as an opposition to new emerging ideas such as socialism in order to keep social order and restore tradition. Early conservatism can be seen as a disbeliever but over time it has adapted to have its own distinct set of core ideas that protect social order and tradition. Without social order and tradition conservatives believe society will go into the unknown creating chaos and fear. In short, early conservatism may be a disbelief but conservatism today is a set coherent
Ideology is a set of beliefs or ideals that are followed by a group of people or an individual. These beliefs are then used as a format for political or economic systems. An example of one of these ideological systems is Republicanism, which is the belief that a