Liberalism vs Conservatism and the Blurring of Lines Essay

The second point is that liberalism upholds the principle of equality for all regardless of name, social status, and gender, racial, cultural, or ethnic background. Liberalists advocate for a level playing ground which calls for the government to strictly control the economy and also have more power in the social arena so as to protect people from economic exploitation. Liberalists strongly push for controlled corporations, an economy that is well

The ideals and the composition of liberals and conservatives are radically different at times, and yet these same beliefs work together to make up the basic framework of American political thought. They both have the same goals for prosperity and yet they have polar opposite ways of achieving them. Ideologically, they are at odds with the size of government and the role that it plays. Some want big government that provides for people, while others elect for a small government that does not interfere with the lives of people. As is expected liberals tend to vote for certain issues that conservatives will disagree with and vice versa. Of course the issues are not random, each side will vote for and against particular kinds of issues.

differences between their parties and policies. Although there are similarities between the parties, they tend to be overshadowed by individual party ideologies. With so many fundamental differences between the parties, finding topics or issues upon which constituents agree upon can at times be somewhat difficult. Although there are chasms between the voting practices of the parties, there are also some fundamental similarities as well.

Liberalism started with the ideas of the Enlightenment. Two of these ideas were freedom of speech and freedom of the individual, and kept growing from there. Liberalism is the belief in a small central government and no monarchy. The liberalists defended the ideas of the definitive rights of an individual’s liberty, equality and property. The liberalists wanted their government to be established on written laws and a constitution based on equality.

Modern and Classical liberalism can be distinguished historically. Indeed when most people attempt to distinguish the two, placing the strands into time periods is perhaps the most obvious and easiest distinctions to make. The period in between the late 18th century and the mid 19th is that magnanimous with Classical liberalism. It was the earliest liberal tradition, and reached its high point during the early industrialization of the 19th century and is therefore sometimes referred to as ‘19th century liberalism’. Politicians and thinkers associated with it are Smith, Ricardo and Locke. Modern liberal ideas were related to the further development of industrialization and thus people associate it with the period between the mid-19th century and the mid-20th century and with figures such as J. S. Mill, Green and Lloyd- George. Indeed the historical development of society led to a parallel evolution of liberalism, with the character of liberalism changing as the ‘rising middle classes’ succeeded in establishing their economic and political dominance. Liberalism was no longer radical or revolutionary, but had become increasingly conservative and concerned itself less with change and reform, but instead with the maintenance of the status quo. This lead to liberals in the late 19th century beginning to question the

There are two major political aspects in our society today, liberals and conservatives. Both of these ideologies share a similar goal in which they both try to find solutions to the society’s issues. But the way liberals and conservatives perceive a problem and try to find solutions is what differentiates them both. Liberals tend to favor a change to promote growth, while conservatives on the other hand stick with traditions and religious values and are not in favor of a change. Although liberals and conservatives share a similar goal, they have opposing perspectives on social, economic and political issues.

In the United States we are divided by the left and right side on the political spectrum; even further divided into political parties such as Republicans, on the right, and Democrats, on the left side. These two political parties show philosophical differences through their viewpoints on major topics such as the economy, separation of church and state, abortion, and gun control.

The main purpose of the article by Matt Motyl titled, “Liberals and conservatives are (geographically) dividing” is that political parties’ affiliations are dividing the U.S. This can be seen through the locations many Americans live such as liberals going to more urban areas as opposed to the conservatives to go to less populated areas in rural states (Motyl, 2014). The author uses the Ideological Enclavement Theory to explain the division of people in the U.S through ideological-segregated enclaves (Motyl, 2014).

The conservative movement has played a crucial role in American politics in the post war era. Ronald Story and Bruce Laurie indentify various elements of the American conservatism. These elements include challenging authoritarian governments and modernist culture, upholding tradition, Christian religion and the rule of law, defending western civilization, and supporting republicanism. American conservatism has been characterized by competing ideologies and tension throughout history. The Americans who are politically liberal and economically conservative favor free trade, minimal state intervention, low taxes, and a small government. On the other hand, conservatives hold the view that American traditional values are normally undermined by

The 1950s in America are often described as a time of complacency. By contrast, the 1960s and 1970s were a time of great change. But the economy of the 70s was not stable because of the Oil crisis and presidents did not seem to find a solution to get the economy work again. For the right, the federal government had been spending too much money on the social programs. Conservatism believes that the best way to run a society is to maintain social and political framework and that the government should be as limited as possible,

Everyone has heard the following words at one time or another "Democrats are liberal, while Republicans are Conservative". Is this really true? In order to resolve this question, two questions must be answered, what do the two terms mean? What is liberal and what is Conservative? Some Democrats are conservative and some Republicans are liberal. In this time of turmoil, Democrats and Republicans must work together to promote the common welfare.

According to Ball and Dagger (2014), conservatism is a tricky ideology to define due to the differing viewpoints1. However, what does seem to be shared by all conservatives is

In America, there are three major civic stances: conservatism, liberalism, and libertarianism. The liberal stance is the only stance, which offers the foundation to move forward. The following paper will briefly explain, certain aspects of conservatism and libertarianism, and will advance the idea, America must move forward with a more liberal attitude. At heart, this writing will argue a strong government is of the utmost importance in moving this country forward to the future. While other political agendas advocate liberty and freedom, the liberal stance truly offers a realistic approach and method of achieving those aspects of American life.

Liberal, for example, believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. And it is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and

Conservatism, classical liberalism, and socialism have informed Western political economies since the Enlightenment. Conservatism views the individual as irrational, as well as being unequal in intelligence, status, and skills. Classical liberalism would say that individuals are viewed as having rights to life, liberty, and property and is capable of reasoning out the laws of nature. Socialism views individuals as caring and social beings. Conservatism views society as separated into groups and that harmony exists when these groups are capable of working together.