Liberalism and Conservatism in America - Essay Example

Liberalism and Conservatism in America al affiliation: Thesis ment Liberalism and conservatism are some of the major factors that govern the political thoughts, policies and laws in the United States of America. In my project, I have underlined the fact that liberalism gives support to the government in addressing the plights of the citizens, for instance, issues of taxations. Furthermore, I have discussed the analogy that the role that the government plays in shaping up the democracy in the society has ever since changed; however; the principles have remained the same. Furthermore, in my project I posit that one origin for the breakdown of equality in America originates from the governments of Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Because of the Cold War period and the uncertainties it brought to the American citizens, the administrations supposed it was essential to stiffen down and take control (Hoffman, 2012). To do this, they called for more controls to the executive subdivision. Liberalism and conservatism The political ideology of the Americans vary on the classical liberalism; consequently, the ideas in most cases are alike. For instance, a bigger population of the United States believes in limited government, the perfect market, and individual freedom. On particular occasions, the two major political parties in the United States tend to have a controversial opinion from one another whereby one tend to lean to the right while the other lean to the left. There can also be a case in which the issues emanate in a particular party, for instance, the Democrat party having the problem amongst its members. In America, political scientist organizes the political ideologies with respect to how they affect the political government in the country. The liberalism and the conservatives always represent the two ends of the political situations in America. American liberalism posits that the state is supposed to act so as to bring the equality amongst the citizens. Traditionally, the liberal cluster has been working towards the civil rights of the Americans and the minority group. Conservatives have always come out stronger in defending the government than the liberalism. However, in the late twentieth-century liberalism and conservatism in strengthening the military status of American and more often than not, they got involved in the war. For instance in 1960s, the American president, John F. Kennedy increased the spending so as to strengthen the security while Lyndon Johnson on the other side of the ideology played a significant role in Vietnam War. The American conservatism contends that the primary duty of the state is to ensure that the security and the freedom of the public are not at a stake. The ideology further argues that the state should not meddle in the affairs of the society instead it should let the citizens exercise their freedom without interference. The ideology further posits that should promote freedom without taking into consideration how it affects the equality. American conservative argues that the best way through which the government can realize prosperity is when it stays out of the economy and leaves it freely. Taxes should be small and directive minimal such that the market can work more competently. Although the state should not disregard the predicament of the underprivileged, the finest way to help the poor is to give them chances to better their plights. Moreover, a minor but equally significant ideology of American is libertarianism. Libertarians consider that individual liberty outdoes all other concerns. Consequently, according to the American libertarianism, the government should be out of citizens’ lives and welfare as much as possible. So libertarians need the government to reduce the levies, decrease its size radically, and leave publics alone. Furthermore, some citizens advocate contentious positions, such as the validation of drugs, obliterating income levies, and the culmination of all welfare programs. However, libertarians are not many in number, but they have exercised imperative impacts on the politics of American. However, both liberals and conservatives try to attack libertarianism in one way or the other. Liberals need the American government always to play a vigorous duty in the American economy. On the other hand, conservatives do not want to spread liberty to conducts such as usage of drugs. Libertarians are not liberal or conservative. However, they, in essence, differ from nihilists in that libertarians need a very limited government, while nihilists need no government. Moreover, the Libertarian epitomes contributed to the formation of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). It played a fundamental role in observing what it sees as unwarranted government supremacy, in the initial twentieth century. Even though the ACLU is not, austerely speaking, a libertarian society, several of its opinions is libertarian in nature. On the other hand, the Cato Institute is a conservative reason tank. It has with it very strong libertarian outlooks (Mann, 2013). Both the two sets have fashioned strategy and humanity for epochs. Besides, the American socialists support strong federal governance and non-devolution of the economy so as to deliver the utmost public good by helping as many people as possible (Heyduck, 2002). Moreover, a good number of the American socialists are democratic socialists. Their primary aim is to preserve the American custom of representative government, even though, there are some of the few communist parties within the United States of America that still have faith that revolution is indispensable in order to defeat the capitalist order. Furthermore, both the American conservatives and liberals equally attack socialism due to the United States of America’s antiquity of combating communism throughout the Cold War and because socialism defies the credence in the free-market economy. On the other hand, protagonists of socialism have predisposed conventional American political affairs many times, most outstandingly throughout the Great Depression. By then, American President Franklin Roosevelt and Democrats in Congress approved a diversity of New Deal bills intended to help the underprivileged Americans. Conclusion It is true as put forward in the thesis statement that the two political ideology, that is liberalism and conservatism shape the politics in United States. Moreover, the two ideological ends are for the benefits of the citizens of America. In my discussion, I have stated the necessity of the government to take into consideration the issues that the ideologies address so as to make a step in capturing the real face of the government in the society. References Wayne, S. J., & Burks, S. W. (1974). Investigating the American political system: Problems, methods, and projects. Cambridge, Mass: Schenkman Pub. Co. Hoffman, E. C. (2012). Major problems in American history: Documents and essays. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning. Mann, T. E., & Ornstein, N. J. (2013). Its even worse than it looks: How the American constitutional system collided with the new politics of extremism. New York: Basic Books. Hayduck, R. (2002). Democracys moment: Reforming the American political system for the 21st century. Lanham, MD [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More