Political Ideologies
Ideologies are present in the world. People often use ideological language to express their actions or decisions in economic and political issues. These expressions are conveyed via media and over the Internet to millions of others. Ideological expressions are influenced by personal beliefs, preferences, values, culture, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality or social class (Sargent 1). These influences also have a major bearing on an individual’s opinion on political, education and social aspects. Political doctrines are based on diverse political ideologies comprising liberalism, conservatism, socialism, anarchism, fascism, feminism, ecologism, nationalism, fundamentalism and iconoclasm. Societies adopt various political ideologies based on social growth and movement. This paper shall focus on two political ideologies; liberalism and conservatism. The aim of the paper is to compare the two ideologies on the basis of historical and emergent perspectives, views of freedom and impact on the current political climate.
To understand the meaning of political ideology, it is important to first define an ideology. According to Sargent, an ideology is a shared “system of values and beliefs about institution and processes accepted by a group of people as a fact” (2). Ideologies communicate the common values and opinions of a group of individuals to others (Jost, Federico and Napier 309). A political ideology is an ideology focusing on the political system (3). It defines the way societies make decisions on important aspects, that is, the cognitive organization of political attitudes of the society. As such, most ideologies are based on the growth and movement of social systems. For instance, Marxism and anarchism occurred in the nineteenth century while liberation, feminism, nationalism are twentieth century ideologies (Jost, Federico and Napier 309). Conversely, globalization is an emerging ideology defining modern social movement (Sargent 3). Modernization and societal growth thus play a significant role in determining the adoption of political ideologies.
Political ideologies discussed herein are liberalism plus conservatism. These ideologies emphasize different social and economic aspects based on beliefs, culture and values of a given individual or group of individuals. Political liberalism emphasizes on the protection of personal rights and freedoms over societal demands or values. In a liberalist society the practices and behaviors of one person/group, whether morally accepted or not, should not be restricted unless those behaviors infringe on the rights of others. Liberalists can condone socially-rejectable conduct if it does not harm others. Thus liberalists may condone acts such as sexual promiscuity, masturbation or pornography so long as extra people are not harmed (Inbar, Pizarro and Bloom 2). From a moral dimension such behaviors, though degrading or unnatural, are not prohibited as the society adopts an innocuous view of morality. Only if the moral acts result in harm does the society step in and condemn the individual(s) involved. (Inbar, Pizarro & Bloom, 2). As a result, liberalists are more probable to tolerate immoral acts compared to conservatives. Similarly, liberalism has a high-disgust threshold compared to conservatives when it comes to practices such as abortion, gay matrimony, welfare, death penalty, confirmatory action, gun policies, tax cuts and the war on Iran and Iraq.
On the other hand, political conservatism emphasizes on reducing uncertainties and insecurities in the society and world (Jost, Naipe, Thorisdottir, Gosling, Palfai and Ostafin 990). According to this ideology, conservatives aim to reduce ambiguous and threatening situations by resisting change and retaining the status quo in society. Conservatives support the status quo by rejecting calls for equality and intolerance for equitability by retaining control in unambiguous social systems using defining clear-cut hierarchies (Jost et al 990). This is to ensure stability and power remains within a preferred social class. The disadvantaged majority exhibit conservatism by opting for the devil they know – to satisfy their social and economic needs- to the unknown devil. This could be due to chronic, dispositional, temporary or situational factors (such as avoiding uncertainty, necessity for order, resistance to change, anxiety due to death or injury, fear of death or loss, political instability and ambiguous situations) affecting the individuals at a particular time (Jost et al 990).
This paper presents a comparison of liberalism and conservatism political ideologies based on historical and emergent perspective and view of freedom. This comparison is important because it helps us understand the various aspects emphasized by each ideology, as political ideologies focus on different societal aspects. Moreover, a comparison helps us understand the different beliefs in the world, their context and reasons why the people believe them as facts or truth. Furthermore, differences in political ideologies aid us identify various approaches to doing things that may prove useful to the society (Sargent 13).
From a historical perspective, political liberalism plus conservatism ideologies date back to the eighteenth century where they were previously referred as the left-right dimension (Jost, Federico and Napier 310). The term is derived from the fact that during the French Assembly, conservatives sat on the right side while liberalists were located to the left of the assembly hall. The terminologies conservative and liberal were coined in the United States to replace right and left respectively (Jost, Federico and Napier 310). Similarly, the term left-wing and right-wing is used in place of liberalists with conservatives in the Netherlands and Germany (Jost, Federico and Napier 311).The conservatives supported the status quo, order and system maintenance while liberals advocated for social change, system change and equality. Since the eighteenth century, there has been ideological conflict amid the two sides especially in decisions concerning hierarchies, authorities and equality. Over the years, Western societies have adopted liberalist policies as regards equal individual rights, resources distribution and delegation of power and political authority. Social equality has increased over the years though contrally to conservatives and right-wing supporters (Jost, Federico and Napier 310).
From an emergent perspective, conservatism also liberalism emphasize on different social and political aspects. Conservative ideologies are concerned with retaining the status quo and oppose social equality because proponents perceive social changes as potential threats likely to cause social disorder and uncertainty (Jost, Federico and Napier 311). Given changing political and social environments brought about by globalization and technology change, the conservatives have gradually more become intolerant to uncertainty and insecurity such as risk of terrorism, adoption of gay marriage and leniency in abortion, gun policy and death penalty, political instability and fear of loss. These situations threaten to alter the status quo and this has increased their resistance to policy changes on the economy and social system.
Conversely, liberalist ideologies are more accepting to change and do not exhibit fears and anxiety due to social changes as their collegues. Globalization and technological advances are accommodated by liberalists who are more open to new experiences and uncertain situations (Jost, Federico and Napier 311). Liberalists can do well in structured as well as unstructured systems and do not fear loss or threats to security, only when threats will harm others. Liberalists have greater moral tolerance and condone practices such as use of birth controls, racial equality, social medicine, unionized employees and the concept of love. This is in contrast to conservatives who have set moral standards guiding individual behavior, and strict laws aimed at protecting the status quo (Jost, Federico& Napier 312).
From the impact on the current political climate, political ideologies can be compared on the basis of communal and economic dimensions. While social dimensions address attitudes on social or cultural issues, economic dimensions focus on entity and group attitudes on social issues (Jost, Federico & Napier 311). Individuals can exhibit various degrees of each dimension in each ideology. For instance, an individual may be a social liberalist, economic conservative, social conservative or even economic liberal (also referred as a populist) (Jost, Federico & Napier 313). Therefore, socio-economic factors play a crucial role in determining an individual’s adoption of liberalist or conservative theories. Jost, Federico and Napier observe that individuals with low socio-economic status are more likely to adopt left (liberalist) ideologies while those with high socio-economic status are inclined toward conservative tendencies (313). These high-economic class individuals favor structure and order, are intolerant of ambiguous situations threatening their class, have a negative perception about the world and are more resistant to change (Jost et al, 990).
From a freedom perspective, liberalist ideologies ensure greater personal freedoms compared to conservatives. Liberalists do not interfere with the basic rights on an individual, as long as the human’s freedoms do not harm or infringe on the rights of others. Alternatively, conservatives provide that individuals should follow rules and laws, and any contravention ought to be punished. On a triadic scale, conservatives show serious intolerance for personal freedoms that could destabilize social and economic systems compared to light-to-moderate scale observed by liberalists (Alexy 11). It should be observed that other indicators of graduation should be used to complement the triad model (Alexy 13).
In brief, this paper has focused on dual political ideologies; liberalism plus conservatism. Political liberalism emphasizes on the safeguarding of individual privileges and freedoms, and economic equality and social change. Alternatively, political conservatism focuses on reducing worries and insecurities in the society and world by retaining social status quo. Both ideologies have contributed to historical and emergent changes, freedom and current political climate.
Works Cited
Alexy, Robert. “The Construction of Constitutional Rights.” Law & Ethics of Human Rights 4.1(2010): 1-15. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.bepress.com/lehr/vol4/iss1/art2/>
Inbar Yoel, David A. Pizarro and Paul Bloom. “Conservatives are more easily disgusted than liberals.” Cognition and Emotion (2008): 1-12. Print.
Jost, John, Christopher Federico and Jaime Napier. “Political ideology: its structure, functions and elective affinities.” Annual Review of Psychology 60(2009): 307-337.
Jost, John, Jaime Naipe, Hulda Thorisdottir, Samuel Gosling, Tibor Palfai and Brian Ostafin. “Are needs to manage uncertainty and threat associated with political conservatism or ideological extremity?” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 33(2007): 989-1007. Print.
Sargent, Lyman Tower. Contemporary political ideologies: a comparative analysis. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2009. Print.
