Political Ideologies in American Government

Political Ideologies in American Government

Political ideologies can be defined as the alignment of citizens along the political spectrum. In the United States, political ideologies refer to the diverse ideological divisions of the population into groups like liberals, progressives, moderates, populists, and conservatives. In social arenas, political ideology is a term used to denote the set of ethical ideals, values, doctrinal biases, signs of social movements, values upheld by institutions, and societal orientations. Ideologies explain the working of the society and gave a blueprint for the social and political arms of society. Generally, ideology involves the allocation of power and the limits in which the power is to be used. Therefore, the political and social system of any country always tends to adopt specific ideologies as part of its principles.

The two main political parties in the US subscribe to different political ideologies. It is this ideological difference that brings a great difference in the characteristics of their supporter. Precisely, the Democratic Party subscribes to the liberal ideology, whereas the Republican Party subscribes to the conservative ideology (Carmines et al. 3). These ideologies affect the main policy debates in the United States. Many times, these debates revolve around the employment of government intervention in economic and social scenarios.

Ideologies are never uniform. Hence, one may never posit with confidence that there are only two political ideologies in the United States of America (Carmines et al. 2). Many smaller ideologies stand out in the United States and are also worth recognition. Whereas there is a close relationship between individual ideology and their choice of political affiliation, Americans generally hold a diverse range of ideas on economic and social issues. These opinions may not always fit in a left-right curve. Therefore, it has been proposed that there is a broad spectrum of ideologies in the united states besides the two main ideologies that attract the interest if the two political parties. Individual beliefs may be charted in many dimensions. Therefore, dissecting the two main ideologies in the nation may give a clear understanding of the affiliations of the people.

Liberalism as an ideology in the United States is more preservative in nature. It primarily targets the preservation and extension of human rights in the social and civil cadres (Starr 21). According to this ideology, the government must guarantee the provision of positive rights. Within this ideology, also, there are other divisions like progressivism and ordo-liberalism. On the other hand, conservatism involves a mix of economic liberalism and libertarianism, as well as social conservatism (Gross et al. 331). Mainly, this ideology targets to protect the idea of small governments and individual freedom while also arguing for the protection of traditional values on social matters.

Common Political Ideologies

The US has many political and social ideologies. Liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism, and populism are the main ideologies in the US (Lilie, and Maddox 5). Some citizens, however, identify themselves as being moderate and not extreme on any of the mentioned ideologies. This variation is because individuals absorb these ideologies to different levels. Therefore, in the analysis of the prominent ideologies, it is vital to study them in the context of social and economic preferences.

Conservatism

This ideology mainly formed in the latter half of the 20th century. The ideology was mainly birthed as a response to major events like the great depression, the tension of the Soviet Union during the cold war period, the civil rights movementnthat6 caused a revolution in American human rights system, the counterculture that came up in the 1960s, the degradation of the American economy, and the overthrowing of the New Deal Coalition. The terrorist threats of the century also promoted this ideology. Based on the conditions that led to its conceptualization, the ideology mainly defends economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and some social conservatism. These are mainly appealing to the Christian right.

To be conservative may be defined as the tendency to maintain the present state of affairs. This ideology describes the people that prefer to conserve the status quo, conserve morality, and conserve finances (Brody and Lawless 62). Most of the supporters of this ideology support tax-cuts and reduction of government interventions in matters. They tend to oppose same-sex marriages, abortion movements, and strict gun-control laws. On the flop, they appear to support increased military spending as preparedness for future dangers, and reduction of federal expenditures. They defend racial color-blindness and oppose spending on affirmative programs. Besides, they oppose secularism and atheism in public schools. Observably, those that support this ideology are resistant to changes and defend the maintenance of the present state of affairs.

A third of the American population identify themselves as conservatives. They tend to outnumber liberals in public squares.  However, all ideological groupings are outnumbered by centrists – people that tend to remain neutral on most ideologies and tend to stay at the center by supporting at least some aspects of most ideologies. The Military-industrial complex is a particular example of a conservative bastion according to research performed by the Military Times in 2003 (Wilson). Of the people that self-identify themselves as conservative, it is noted that most support the Republican Party. Therefore, it may rightly be argued that conservatism is more of republican ideology. Its uprising was mainly influenced by the desire of Americans to maintain the status quo. One may easily term this ideology as being resistant to change.

Liberalism

In the United States, this ideology is mainly characterized by a combination of social liberalism and progressivism. However, traces of ordo-liberalism are also noted. This liberalism may also be understood as classical neoliberalism (Starr 22). Different from the conservatives, liberals believe in the protection of civil rights and the progression of the country socially. According to the proponents of this ideology, social systems are never fixed. They should be open to change when the need arises. Therefore, when it is appropriate to modify something for a greater social good or for the sake of those that wish to engage in such arrangements, the system must evolve appropriately and allow people the freedom of choice. The ideology, hence, is built on the idea that government action is needed to ensure that people live as free as possible – without the hindrance of rigid laws and principles that do not evolve to admit modern changes. The role of the government in this case, thus, is to protect civil rights, provide positive rights, and foster equality.

Liberal believe that a mixed economy – a capitalist fee market that is less interfered with by the government – is the preferred ideal. Therefore, the proponents of this ideology resist the ideas of capitalism and socialism as a way of supporting the economy (Starr 22). To liberals, it is preferred to let the economy flow as a fluid – to take direction based on the continuous changes and not regulation and intervention by the government. Liberals have been spotted in recent days making movements against social welfare programs that generally win the favor of pro-government conservatives. Therefore, cultural pluralism remains to be a common observation among liberal communities.

Research confirms that the population of strictly liberal Americans is quite low. These are mainly differentiated from others by their belief in social progressiveness. Initially, they were the only groups that advocated for the adoption of same-sex marriages in the US and the use of euthanasia. The Nation, The American Prospect, and The New Republic are among the most prominent liberal periodicals. Statistically, about a fifth of the US population is liberal.

The Moderates

The moderates employ a mix of ideas from liberalism and conservatism. Their perspectives, hence, are a mix of the aspects of the two prominent ideologies. Generally, it is common to see people that believe in the maintenance of some aspects of the status quo while also holding that the social and economical state of a country needs to be open to changes based on need. They believe that change is inevitable and necessary but also believe that the embracing of such changes must be done cautiously so that the beliefs and substance of a nation are not lost in the process. In the United States, the moderates seem to be the second-largest group in terms of political affiliation, coming in second to the conservatives (PARTY AFFILIATION / IDEOLOGY). To this group, it is vital to interrogate everything to decide whether to accept a change or maintain the present state of affairs.

Conclusion

The idea of ideologies in the United States is pegged on the people’s receptiveness of change. While a segment of the population – the liberals – hold that change is necessary and inevitable, the other segment – the conservatives – believe that change is not always necessary, and the maintenance of the status quo should be the ideal. However, besides these two prominent groups, there is a group in between that believes in specific aspects of each ideology. This group is referred to as moderate. It appears certain that ideological affiliations in the United States are significant, and most people at least believe in one ideology.

Works Cited

Brody, Richard A., and Jennifer L. Lawless. “Political Ideology in the United States: Conservatism and Liberalism in the 1980S and 1990S”. Conservative Parties and Right-Wing Politics in North America, 2003, pp. 53-77. VS Verlag Für Sozialwissenschaften, doi:10.1007/978-3-663-09508-8_3. Accessed 26 June 2020.

Carmines, Edward G. et al. “Political Ideology in American Politics: One, Two, or None?” The Forum, vol 10, no. 3, 2012. Walter De Gruyter Gmbh, doi:10.1515/1540-8884.1526. Accessed 26 June 2020.

Gross, Neil et al. “The Contemporary American Conservative Movement.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol 37, no. 1, 2011, pp. 325-354. Annual Reviews, doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150050. Accessed 26 June 2020.

Lilie, Stuart A., and William S. Maddox. “An Alternative Analysis of Mass Belief Systems: Liberal, Conservative, Populist, and Libertarian.” Cato Institute, no. 3, 1981, https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa003.pdf. Accessed 26 June 2020.

PARTY AFFILIATION / IDEOLOGY. Ipsos Public Affairs, 2007, p. 1, https://web.archive.org/web/20070724183616/http://www.bipartisandisorder.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/ap-ipsos-thompson.pdf. Accessed 26 June 2020.

Starr, P. “War and Liberalism; Why Power Is Not the Enemy of Freedom.” The New Republic, 2007, pp. 21-24, https://newrepublic.com/article/63675/war-and-liberalism-why-power-not-the-enemy-freedom. Accessed 26 June 2020.

Wilson, Bob. “Bob Wilson on the Conservative Military.” Spectacle.Org, 2020, http://www.spectacle.org/198/wilson.html.