Political Ideology
Notes
Ideology Defined
Ideology is a set of basic beliefs about life,
culture, government, and society.
A political ideology provides the framework
for looking at government and public policy.
Ideology
Most Americans don’t follow a strict ideology,
but rather decide their position on an issue
by issue basis.
Inconsistency – Many people might favor
lower taxes AND better schools and services.
Its never good to make generalizations about
what a certain “group” thinks
Liberal – “Left-ist”
A person with liberal ideology believes that
the national government should be active in
helping individuals and communities.
Respect civil/individual liberties/rights.
Every segment of society gets a fair deal.
Traditionally viewed as the group that favors
change and new ideas
Conservative – “Right-ist”
A conservative believes the role of government
in society should be very limited.
Individuals should be responsible for their own
well-being.
Government should not solve social problems,
but private institutions should.
Traditionally viewed as the group that avoided
change
Moderates
Moderate’s opinions fall somewhere between
liberal and conservative.
40% of Americans claim to be moderate.
Some Comparisons
Death Penalty
– Liberals – against it
– Conservatives – for it
Defense/Military Spending
– Liberals -- decrease or maintain amount
– Conservatives – increase amount
Minimum Wage
– Liberals – increase it
– Conservative – lower or eliminate it
Radical – Far Left
Believe society exploits people and want to
drastically change society in order to change
it.
Example group – anarchists, Earth First
Reactionary – Far Right
Strongly conservative
Small minority of people
Solve society’s problems by going back to an
earlier time or use religious based solutions
Libertarians
Center-Right side of spectrum
Believe in a very small government whose
role is limited to defense and resolving
disputes
Do not want any gov. involvement in
economics or society