Transcript Liberal or Conservative?

GOVT 2305, Module 6
LIBERALISM
The political philosophy
that favors the use of
government power to
foster the development of
the individual and
promote the welfare of
society.
CONSERVATISM
The political philosophy
that government power
undermines the
development of the
individual and diminishes
society as a whole.
The conservative position is sometimes called
the “right,” whereas the liberal position is
identified as the “left.” Right means
conservative; left means liberal.
LIBERAL
CONSERVATIVE
Liberals see society as a
community, working together
for the common good. People
succeed because of their hard
work but also because the
community provided support
through education and
training. Meanwhile, it’s
society’s place to help those
who can’t help themselves.
Conservatives see society as
individuals, divided between
takers and makers. The
makers succeed because of
talent and hard work. The
takers want government to
tax those who are successful
to provide them with the
benefits they are too lazy to
work for.
Liberals believe that the
government can (and should)
advance social progress by
promoting political equality,
social justice, and economic
prosperity. Liberals usually
favor government regulation
and generous levels of
government spending for
social programs. Liberals value
social and cultural diversity
and defend the right of
individual adult choice on
issues such as access to
abortion.
Who is this?
President John
Kennedy
Conservatives argue that
government regulations
and social programs
generally do harm rather
than good. Charities,
private businesses, and
individuals can solve
societal problems if the
government will just
leave them alone.
Conservatives also
believe that the
government should
defend the traditional
values of society.
Who is this?
President Ronald
Reagan
LIBERALISM
Liberals advocate government
action to assist disadvantaged
groups in society, such as the
elderly, poor, minorities, and
people with disabilities. They
generally support such
programs as Social Security,
Medicare, welfare assistance
for the poor, national health
insurance, federal aid for
education, and affirmative
action programs for women
and minorities.
CONSERVATISM
Conservatives argue that
government, especially the
national government, is too
inefficient to solve the nation's
social problems. They believe
that government should reduce
spending on social programs
and cut taxes in order to
promote economic growth,
which, the conservatives
argue, benefits everyone. As
President Ronald Reagan once
put it, "The best anti-poverty
program is a job."
LIBERALISM
Liberals believe in the use of
government power to regulate
business in the public interest. They
support environmental-protection
laws to safeguard air and water
quality, consumer-protection
regulations to protect the buying
public, occupational safety and
health standards to ensure safe
working conditions, and strict
regulation of utilities to guarantee
efficiency. Liberals are more likely
than conservatives are to endorse
trade restrictions to protect
American companies and workers
from foreign competition.
CONSERVATISM
Conservatives warn that
government regulations
usually involve undue
interference with the market
economy. They believe that
government regulations drive
up the cost of doing business,
increasing prices for consumers
and lowering wage rates for
workers. In this policy area, at
least, conservatives agree with
the motto: “The government
that governs least governs
best.”
Conservatives favor a more active government, whereas
liberals prefer less government involvement. Conservatives
define social issues in terms of traditional family values. They
regard pornography, gay and lesbian rights, abortion, assisted
suicide, stem cell research, and the Supreme Court's refusal to
allow government-mandated spoken prayer in public
schoolrooms as direct assaults on God, family, and country.
Conservatives generally support the rigorous enforcement of
pornography laws, the adoption of a constitutional
amendment against abortion, and the enactment of an
amendment permitting school prayer. Conservatives oppose
assisted suicide, most stem cell research, and laws protecting
gay men and lesbians from discrimination. They also oppose
same-sex marriage.
Liberals believe that adults should be free to decide
for themselves what books to read or films to
watch. They hold that women should be allowed to
pursue the career goals of their choice and should
be treated equally with men under the law.
Liberals believe that women should not be forced
to bear unwanted children; gay men and lesbians
should not suffer discrimination; and the
government should not dictate prayers for children
to recite in the public schools. They favor
government support for stem cell research aimed at
finding cures for disease. Liberals favor marriage
equality.
The best anti-poverty
program known to man
is a job. If Congress and
the president want to
help the poor, they
should cut taxes and
reduce regulations so
the economy will
prosper and
employment will rise.
conservative
conservative
Ever since they took
prayer out of the
schools, our young
people have been in
trouble. The teen-age
pregnancy rate is up,
juvenile crime is on the
rise, and test scores are
down. Actually, pregnancy
rates are down and
so is juvenile crime.
Thousands of single
mothers cannot get off
welfare because they can’t
afford adequate day care
for their children.
Congress and the
president need to address
this problem. The United
States is the only
industrialized nation in the
world that does not
provide governmentfunded daycare for the
children of working
families.
liberal
The Internet is an
avenue for
pornographers to get
in the homes of every
American. Congress
should pass legislation
to protect Americans
from online smut.
conservative
Regulations sound good in
theory but not in practice.
The supporters of minimumwage laws argue that they
help low-income wage
earners by increasing their
incomes. The truth, though,
is that minimum-wage laws
hurt small business and the
poor because businesses
can’t afford to pay good
wages to workers who have
no skills. Low-skill workers
will end up without jobs at all.
conservative
liberal
The best investment in
the economy is a college
education. The Texas
Legislature should adopt
legislation to provide a
free college education to
everyone who graduates
from high school having
completed a collegepreparatory curriculum.
Women and minorities
still earn substantially
less than white males.
The law needs to
protect women and
minorities from
discrimination if the
earnings gap is ever
going to be closed.
liberal
Jobs are more
important that trees
and owls. Government
regulations to protect
endangered species
such as the spotted owl
are making loggers an
endangered species.
conservative
We need to clean up
the air to protect our
health. Houston has
one of the highest
asthma rate in the
nation. The
government needs to
force polluters to clean
up the air to protect
the public health.
liberal
Marriage is a sacred
institution. The
government needs to
respond to the threat
against marriage by
enacting a constitutional
amendment to limit
marriage to one man and
one woman. Otherwise,
men and women will
stop marrying.
conservative
The United States
government spends
too much money on
the military. Some of
that money should be
spent on programs to
help the people.
liberal
The government
should strictly regulate
the sale of firearms,
especially high caliber
weapons, to keep them
out of the hands of
criminals.
liberal
Preferences based
on race, ethnicity,
and gender are
unfair. Colleges and
universities should
not consider
anything other than
test scores and
grades in making
admissions
decisions.
conservative
Are Americans liberal or conservative?

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Some people are consistently liberal on the
full range of issues.
Some people are consistently conservative on
the full range of issues.
Some people are liberal on some issues,
conservative on others, and moderate on
others.
Some people hold inconsistent views because
they have not thought much about issues.
More people identify as conservative than liberal, but
no group is in the majority.
Are Americans liberal or
conservative?
Somewhat more liberal, but the
figures have been close for the last
few years.
Are Americans liberal or
conservative?
More say conservative
by this measure.
Are Americans liberal or
conservative?
Conservative by this measure.
Are Americans conservative or
liberal?
More conservatives
by this measure
than liberals.
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If you ask people if they are conservative, liberal,
or moderate, more people say conservative than
say either moderate or liberal although no group
is in the majority.
If you ask people about the role of government,
more people take the conservative position on
most measures with the exception of questions
about promoting values.
That does not mean, however, that people take
liberal positions on every issue, as we will see.
What is liberalism? What
is conservatism?
 How do liberals and
conservatives feel about
the role of government?
 How do liberals and
conservatives view
particular issues?
 Are Americans
predominantly liberal or
conservative?
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