Conservatism In The Tea Party

In 18th and 19th century Europe, three main political ideologies arose. They were liberalism, conservatism, and socialism. These later broke into sub-ideologies. Liberalism gave rise to American liberalism and American conservatism, while socialism broke into itself as well as its violent counterpart, communism. Each emphasises society is constructed in a different way. Liberalism is focused on citizens as individuals, conservatism is more concerned with society as a community, and socialism sees society as economic classes. This paper focuses on the differences between liberalism and conservatism, as well as the American political parties and how the Tea Party fits in.

The United States’ political system is built off variations of liberalism.

Liberalism was first developed in medieval Europe as the ideology for the underdogs (Shively 28). Liberalism is concerned with the advancement of the individual, and the idea that every citizen should advance their talents to the fullest in order to help their society thrive. Some of the basic liberal principles are that democracy is the proper form of government, citizens should have intellectual freedoms, government interference should remain minimal, citizens should be able to regulate their own economic activity, and having power over each other is wrong (Shively 30). Liberalism followed the British colonists to America, where it continued to grow and flourish. It then became the basis for the government, and American Liberalism and American Conservatism blossomed out of it.
Liberalism was formed as a reaction to the existing social patterns, but it was not accepted by those who favored the previous system.

Conservatism is an ideology that emphasizes the importance of community as a whole (Shively 31). The United States has never seen had first hand experience with true conservatism, only American Conservatism. While liberalism emphasizes the importance of governmental restraint, conservatism requires a strong government to provide order and maintain standards of morality. This ideology also focuses on the importance of religion and traditional moral values (Shively 33). Conservatism also tends to oppose feminism and instead, is more concerned with tradition and family

values.
American Liberalism is supportive of the underdogs, this is displayed through concerns for economic equality. American Liberals tend to support programs like Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. They also show support for minorities (by gender, sexual orientation, or race). This is displayed in their views on issues like same-sex marriage, women’s rights, and abortion. Liberals favor environmental protection, such as interest in developing renewable energy resources (Funk 1). As well as defense of freedom of expression, as shown by the American Civil Liberties Union (Shively 25).
American conservatism is passionate about keeping the government interference in the citizens’ lives. This idea has increased support for weakened gun control. In business they advocate for less government control and consumers being able to make decisions free of government regulation (Shively 25). Conservatism also includes a strong advocacy for protecting morality and spirituality. This has led to opposition to issues like abortion. Conservatism typically opposes legalized same-sex marriage because it does not fit well within Christianity.
The Tea Party describes itself as “a grassroots movement that calls awareness to any issue which challenges the security, sovereignty, or domestic tranquility of our beloved nation, the United States of America” (Tea Party 1).

They were established in 2004, though they date their beginnings back to the Boston Tea Party of 1774 (Tea Party 1). The Tea Party has 15 “non-negotiable core beliefs” that include “illegal aliens are here illegally, pro-domestic employment is indispensable, a strong military is essential, special interests must be eliminated, gun ownership is sacred, government must be downsized, the national budget must be balanced, deficit spending must end, bailout and stimulus plans are illegal, reducing personal income taxes is a must, reducing business income taxes is mandatory, political offices must be available to average citizens, intrusive government must be stopped, English as our core language is required, traditional family values are encouraged.” (Tea Party 1). All this comes directly from the Tea Party’s official website. Many of these values line up with conservative beliefs, like gun rights and a less intrusive government. However, most of their values are vague and unrealistic. They claim “bailout and stimulus plans are illegal” but political parties do not have the authority to decide what is and is not legal. Also, even though they claim to have roots going back to the Revolutionary War, the “president” of the Tea Party very simply states “we

are a Christian nation” on his website. However, the United States was founded on the principle of religious freedom, the colonists were trying to escape such rigid religious guidelines when they founded the country. The constitution even prohibits the establishment of a national religion.
While the Tea Party has some similarities to American conservatism, they are not identical. The Tea Party is more radical and shows little constructive planning for the country. They have a lot of vague ideas for policy changes, but these ideas are not even relevant to what the government is able to do. They want a “less intrusive government” but also think “traditional family values” should be encouraged, when the federal government has very little say in family affairs as it is. Forcing their “traditions” on families would only extend the government’s power, which is exactly what they’re fighting against.
This paper has demonstrated the differences between the basic ideologies liberalism and conservatism. Specifically, liberalism is focused on the ability of every citizen to advance him/herself to their fullest potential. While conservatism is concerned with the good of the community as a whole. Liberalism broke down into the ideologies of the two main American political parties. American liberalism is characterized by the support of the underdog, and ultimately the quest of equality of opportunity for everyone. American conservatism focuses on minimizing government involvement, especially in business. It also strives to keep morality and spirituality intact. The Tea Party is a radical sub-sect of conservatism and shares some similar values. They both agree on loosened gun control and minimal government interference. However, the Tea Party goes beyond emphasizing morality and spirituality and considers the country a “Christian nation”, outrightly contradicting the constitution. While the Tea Party is a portion of the United States’ conservative population, they do not represent the entire party, only an extremist few.