Everyone in America can identify as being a part of one of two groups. These two groups are at the core of our nation and have an effect on all of our lives. On November 6, 2012 voters from these two groups to went to the poles and made their decisions. After all the votes were counted one thing became very clear, our nation was divided. Barak Obama won reelections by only a slim margin on an almost perfect 50/50 split. The split in our nation’s political views has been caused by the polarization of the political views of liberals and conservatives. Conservative and liberal have different beliefs on most everything. At the most basic level liberals are considered to be open to change while conservatives hold traditional views and prefer the status quo. These differences in base beliefs have an enormous effect on their ideas of the role of government. Liberals believe that the government should provide for and help people. By providing for the people they believe that it will create a level of equality between all classes. Liberals also believe that it is the government’s job to be involved in the nation’s social problems and guide change. For liberals it all culminates in the belief for a larger, more involved government. Conservatives on the other hand believe in a government that focuses on people’s individual responsibility and freedom. By doing so they believe that people will work to better themselves and provide for themselves. Conservatives also believe in a limed government that only provides basic functions for the people. For conservatives it all culminates in the principle of a smaller, less involved government. The basic large versus small government mentality is evident in many of the differencing views of liberals a... ... middle of paper ... ...onal with conservatives. They again follow the traditional and religious beliefs that an unborn child is alive and has its own rights as a human. Once again it boils down to their basic beliefs. The only difference is that social values can be based on religious and moral grounds rather than pure political ideals like the size and function of the government or the economy. While there are endless examples that can be used to show the fundamental differences between liberals and conservative they can all be summed up rather simply. liberal prefer a larger, more involved government that is based on equality and change while conservative prefer a smaller, less involved government that is based on individual responsibility and personal freedom. These differences in the political views of our nation have caused polarization of the government and have divided the nation.
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.
Political ideas change and adapt their perceptions of the social and political world through the years to cope with all changing aspects of life. Liberalism is no different. It is these changes that allow the idea to maintain its identity. Sometimes it is hard for some political ideas to adapt and change for instance the divine monarchists. Liberalism goes back at least 300years; this means that it has had to change a great deal, the ideas behind the ideology have remained the same though. Liberalism started attacking the monarchy in Britain but soon moved on to social change. This relates back to the heart of liberalism, the concept of the individual. This can be difficult because ‘man is born free, but everywhere in chains’ (- Jean-Jaques Rousseau). Liberalism was a political idea adopted by many countries during the 19th and 20th century and has been the source of many economic and social policies. Liberalism believes that each person should be free to act as they wish, it also believes that each individual deserves respect no matter of race, religion, sexual preference, or social status. Most liberals believe that the government is detrimental to liberalism’s beliefs because it does not allow everyone to be an individual since laws are in place to limit freedom. John Locke advocated this when he attacked the government saying ‘no government allows absolute liberty”. This is true because if no laws were in place then absolute liberty would soon be replaced by anarchy. Liberalism not only influenced equality but it was the basic idea behind the United States of America constitution. This was easy for the American governments to adopt because unlike other countries, it did not have to contend with aristocratic traditions and institutions.
A liberal is generally defined as someone who looks more to themselves and their personal knowledge when deciding what is right or wrong. They would rather be free to experience life on their own and not be dependent on an external authority when making decisions. Conservatives however generally tend to live more traditionally, which means that they would rather continue living in a way that is similar to how past generatio...
There is much debate in the United States whether or not there is polarization between our two dominate political parties. Presidential election results have shown that there is a division between the states; a battle between the Democratic blue states and the Republican red states. And what is striking is that the “colors” of these states do not change. Red stays red, and blue stays blue. Chapter 11 of Fault Lines gives differing views of polarization. James Wilson, a political science professor at Pepperdine University in California, suggests that polarization is indeed relevant in modern society and that it will eventually cause the downfall of America. On the contrast, Morris Fiorina, a political science professor at Stanford University, argues that polarization is nothing but a myth, something that Americans should not be concerned with. John Judis, a senior editor at The New Republic, gives insight on a driving force of polarization; the Tea Party Movement. Through this paper I will highlight the chief factors given by Wilson and Judis which contribute to polarization in the United States, and will consider what factors Fiorina may agree with.
From their earliest formation, political parties have been a controversial aspect that have both strengthened and weakened the United States. It has a massive effect on voters, congress, and policymaking in the government. Party polarization is the prominent division that exists between parties, most noticeably Democrats and Republicans, because of the extreme differences of the ideological beliefs of the opposing parties. In the past, many individuals considered themselves “mixed” and did not associate themselves with just one side. According to www.pewresearch.org, “the share of Americans who express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions has doubled over the past two decades”. Every year less and less people consider
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.
The pieces on liberalism and conservatism has shown how different the two ideologies mean compared to the labels we see in American politics. The media has made it seems as though conservatives (which in the U.S. is becoming synonymous with Republican) is all against change, while liberals (Democrats) lie in the exact opposite of the spectrum: promoting changes. However, the essays by Locke, Berlin, and Oakeshott showed us how the two ideologies are much deeper than that. It is not just a manual of how to govern a nation, but rather ideals and philosophies. Furthermore, while contemporary politics have created an illusion that there is a clear and definite distinction between liberalism and conservatism, these essays show that they actually do overlap in many ways. In "Two Concepts of Liberty", Berlin categorizes liberty as "positive" and "negative". Positive liberty defines freedom as an individual being able to control his life and decisions in his own interests. On the other hand, in negative liberty, freedom exist when an individual is free from external interference. The major difference between the two concepts of liberty is that positive liberty focuses on the capability of an...
Liberals also believe the role of the government is to help lessen poverty, protect civil liberties and to ensure all Americans have an equal opportunity to succeed. Lastly, Liberals believe that the ugly shadow of racism will dwell on all possibilities of equality if the government does stop treating the oppressed like they are criminals. They believe that because of the racist past of America, certain groups need additional help to become equals in society (“Liberal vs. Conservative
Liberals also believe that terrorism is a result of arrogant foreign United States policies the best way to deal with terrorism is good diplomacy. Liberals also say that responding to terrorism with military actions will only create more hatred and also cause more terrorism. Now conservatives have a totally different approach to how to deal with terrorism conservatives also believe that terrorism is the biggest threat to the United States of America. Conservatives want terrorism to dealt with and destroyed the use of intelligence gathering and military action are the best ways to deal with terrorism around the world. Conservatives also want the terrorist that are caught should be treated as enemy combatants and they should be tried in military
Liberalism, formed in the latter part of the 18th Century from opposition to existing political monarchies in Europe, was based on rights of individuals and the responsibility of government to protect those rights. Conservative philosophy was born as a reaction to dangerous tendencies detected within the liberal movement toward excessive governmental control. While conservatives form the base of their beliefs on traditional values, respect for authority, and maintaining custom, liberals fought government tendencies to diminish, ignore, or abuse individual human rights. Both beliefs balanced each other until liberalism shifted its emphasis from protecting individual rights from government to using government as a source for supplying basic life necessities. The modern liberal agenda began as President Johnson's Great Society to wipe out poverty and enhance the quality of life for all Americans.
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)
Liberals are very progressive and optimistic about people. They think that people are good when given a chance. They believe in lighter prison sentences for convicted criminals and blame crime on environmental factors like poverty. A big emphasis is on better education and job training for people who are being rehabilitated. Liberals think that all people can become "better" with rehabilitation and think prisons should emphasize on rehab. I believe that liberals would rather have freedom over order.
Throughout history Democrats and Republicans are known to have a difference of opinions when it comes to their parties and ideas. However, there are similarities between the parties. There are many fundamental differences between the parties it can be quite difficult to find things that are agreed upon between parties. We all have the right to vote and many young people do not know the difference between the Republican party and Democrat party. The difference between the two is that Republicans are known as conservatives and Democrats are known as liberals.
There are two major ideologies in the American government: Conservatism and Liberalism. As every ideology, both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. These two ideologies have been leading the American Government to a more democratic and moral society, and both of them have contributed in certain ways to achieve new things or to keep things under control, both ideologies offer different ways to solve problems. Conservatism promotes retaining of traditions and minimal change in society and the consequences it may bring, Liberalism is the ideology founded in the ideas of equality and liberty.
One of the most important details to know when watching the news is their political views. Liberals fight against poverty and advocate for ways to help diminish it while conservatives usually go in